Project of the Year: How to Fit 7 People in our house... for the long haul

So we tried to buy a bigger house. It's a long story. It didn't happen.

So, now I am left trying to make the house we are in work. We had our 5th child last April, 10 days after my husband was made a Mormon Bishop. That meant that we were somewhat committed to living within a certain geographical area while he serves in this capacity.

We found the perfect house. We saved for a down payment. Then the loan was sold, the new bank won't foreclose and it for who knows how long. Then the owners declared bankruptcy, and before heading back to Mexico, completely stripped the house. They even took the air conditioners and the 2 car garage shed!!!

So we probably don't even want that house anymore.

We looked into building.

The one builder who would build us a 5 bedroom house counted everything as an upgrade. It looked like we were going to add over $100k to our mortgage just to get one. more. bedroom.

We didn't feel good about that option.

And trust me, we have looked at every single home for sale in our ward boundaries that would be big enough. They would all be a huge step down from our current home except for that one. more. bedroom.

Some even have fewer bathrooms than we have now.

So that really has left us one option: Staying put.

And really, it's not a bad option. I love my house, I just need one. more. bedroom.

So, I finally had a brilliant plan to turn our front balcony into the worlds smallest bedroom. If we can get the permit ok, construction should begin by the end of next week, and finish up about 2 weeks later.

But the reality is that if we truly want to be comfortable in this home for the long run, there are a few other changes that need to be made. I am slowly getting rid of stuff. It's like peeling off a band aide. I know I should just rip it off at once and do a total purge, but I'm doing it slowly. And painfully.

But we won't get into that.

Another solution that I came up with is to use the walls in our garage for extra storage.
I hired a handy man to put these up on each side of my garage.

They are each 16 feet long, which means I have 32 linear feet of extra storage space! I think I'll be filling them up pretty quickly, but with some purging along with it, I think we'll be able to make it all work out.

So, over the upcoming weeks and months, I hope to be able to share with you ways that we have made this house work. It will involve a lot of little projects and many before and afters.

And, if any of you have any great ideas to help us fit, I'm all ears!!