Top Space-Saving Tips

[beatnik]

As boaters, I'm sure you're all as obsessed as I am with space saving ideas.

 

So.... don't be shy, share your ingenious ideas with us!

 

 

So far we've got:

 

a tiny washing machine built in under stern stairs (into saloon) with removable steps down the side (back side of the lower steps is a little cabinet for storage of washing powder etc..) then space behind where they were is cupboard.

 

Folding table slides out from a narrow cuboard behind kitchen units and props up on stays under the side door for a breakfast area (don't have a dinette)

 

Planning to do the wine 'cellar' under the floorboards

 

The now nearly ubiquitous slide out pantry.

 

Oh, and will get those vacuum storage bags so that guest bedding won't take up too much space when it's just the two of us living aboard.

 

 

 

So, what have you got?

[CLIVE AND JUDY]

Lakeland do a 3-in-1 machine thats a slow cooker, steamer and rice cooker.

 

Its great for hot meals when you get home from w**k and saves hob space when cooking rice or veg.

 

It doesn't take up much spaces and uses very little electric.

 

There are some GREAT slow cooker recipes on this forum too. Everybody wins!!

[DHutch]

We have the floors cut out of our kitchen cupboards, which allows us to store a load of tins on the floor beneath, all labled on the end with the contence and bestbeforedate for easy identification, IE "BB 06" for some slightly aging bakedbeans!!

 

- And another cupboard then has a folddown kickboard to allow newpapers for firelighting to be stored in the same place.

 

 

Daniel

[Mick and Pauline]

Lakeland do a 3-in-1 machine that's a slow cooker, steamer and rice cooker.

 

Its great for hot meals when you get home from w**k and saves hob space when cooking rice or veg.

 

It doesn't take up much spaces and uses very little electric.

 

There are some GREAT slow cooker recipes on this forum too. Everybody wins!!

 

Hi,

This 3-in-1 machine sounds like just what we are looking for to kit out our nearly completed boat but I can't find it on the Lakeland site.

 

Could you give me more details, ie maker, price etc, to help find the right one.

 

M&P.

[Guest]

That raised floor under our dining table has a rmovable lid. The height was made suffiicent to fit a standard sized tin of food under, so we can store loads of tins and stuff. We raised the floor a few inches where the stove sits across the front, so two drawers go underneath. We have some B&Q draw kits to fit drawers in the plinth under the kitchen/bathroom units (mental note-must do). Built in sofa rather than bed setee, whcih has huge storage underneath. Cupboards wherever possible.

Edited February 6, 2007 by Guest

[nursegrowl]

As boaters, I'm sure you're all as obsessed as I am with space saving ideas.

 

So.... don't be shy, share your ingenious ideas with us!

So far we've got:

 

a tiny washing machine built in under stern stairs (into saloon) with removable steps down the side (back side of the lower steps is a little cabinet for storage of washing powder etc..) then space behind where they were is cupboard.

 

Folding table slides out from a narrow cuboard behind kitchen units and props up on stays under the side door for a breakfast area (don't have a dinette)

 

Planning to do the wine 'cellar' under the floorboards

 

The now nearly ubiquitous slide out pantry.

 

Oh, and will get those vacuum storage bags so that guest bedding won't take up too much space when it's just the two of us living aboard.

So, what have you got?

I like the idea of a tiny washing machine, where can you get one from?

[blackrose]

We have the floors cut out of our kitchen cupboards, which allows us to store a load of tins on the floor beneath, all labled on the end with the contence and bestbeforedate for easy identification, IE "BB 06" for some slightly aging bakedbeans!!

 

A friend of mine did that and all his tins went rusty!

[beatnik]

Its a Candy Aqua 1000T

 

Zanussi also do a small one.

 

Both 3.5 kg wash load (normal is 6)

[Lady Muck]

Scan in recipe cuttings and keep them on cd

If you can't face burning your cd collection onto a hard drive, ditch the crystal cd cases and use plastic cd wallets instead, they take up far less space.

[Liam]

This has probably been done lots of times before, as I saw it on a professional fit out from Bridgewater Boats..

 

For people that have a "U" shaped galley, the space on the cabin side underneath the gunnels usually goes unused, but on this particular boat it had lots of narrow, semi shallow shelves for storing all your tins.. baked beans, stew etc. It was all covered up with flat doors which slid behind each other when opened.

[pagan witch]

1) Flat pack bookshelves (available from all over the place) make great storeage space for food tins but you will need to make extra shelves as the 2 - 3 they normally supply will be insufficient to make best use. Trim the bottom so that it lays tilting back slightly against the boat side or put a fiddle rail along the edges to stop tins falling off.

 

2) Put a canoe on the roof and tell the kids it is a loft conversion and it is their room

 

3) Convince the eldest daugther to become a nudist and immediately free up 5 drawers and a wardrobe

[Lucy Cassidy]

Buy walking trousers instead of jeans: take up half the space, easy to hand wash, drip dry very quickly.

 

"A place for everything and everything in it's place" . Get the neatness habit.

 

Forget fashion - live and die in garments until they fall apart, then get new ones. Don't store more clothes than you actually wear - if you no longer wear something, dump it! (obviously there's a seasonal element to it, but you know what I mean!)

[honey ryder]

space saving ideas, ( i visited a womans house yesterday who made me think of this thread and maybe she should read it)

 

DONT collect shit. I mean, dont collect things for the sake of it. ornaments, glassware, brickabrack, anything "collectable" is a total waste of space. ( and money) get rid of it! why do people collect things anyway? unless you are going to use it what is the point?

 

be ruthless with the wardrobe, we only need on average 25% of what we actually have, often less than that. So try this: live for 15 days without washing anything, wear the clothes you want to, put it in the wash sack or bin as usual ( but dont wash it until the 15th day), and then at the end of 15 days those clean clothes are now your entire wardrobe, get rid of any surplus clothes you havent worn. take into account the seasons of course.

if you want to really cut back, make it an 8day cycle and you will be amazed how little clothing you actually need.

 

with my old cd collection, I filled an extra large bin liner with the cases, now they take up the space of a lever arch file.

[Ernie]

with my old cd collection, I filled an extra large bin liner with the cases, now they take up the space of a lever arch file.

Talking of CDs, my CD collection, when stacked one on top of the other in four piles came to 4 feet high.

 

I have converted them all to high quality MP3s and loaded them all on to my 40GB MP3 player which would fit into a large match box. The CDs have all gone to the charity shop. All in all, a huge reduction in storage space required for my music.

 

I plug my MP3 player into my stereo amp and my 51 year old ears can't tell the difference between the original CDs and the MP3s.

 

I also keep two other copies of the MP3s - just in case. One copy on my laptop and another copy on a 500GB external hard drive. My brother-in-law also holds a copy, again, just in case.

[Guest]

Talking of CDs, my CD collection, when stacked one on top of the other in four piles came to 4 feet high.

 

I have converted them all to high quality MP3s and loaded them all on to my 40GB MP3 player which would fit into a large match box. The CDs have all gone to the charity shop. All in all, a huge reduction in storage space required for my music.

 

I plug my MP3 player into my stereo amp and my 51 year old ears can't tell the difference between the original CDs and the MP3s.

 

I also keep two other copies of the MP3s - just in case. One copy on my laptop and another copy on a 500GB external hard drive. My brother-in-law also holds a copy, again, just in case.

Same here. It is important to keep a backup as you say. My fading hearing can barely tell the difference now.

[carlt]

Talking of CDs, my CD collection, when stacked one on top of the other in four piles came to 4 feet high.

 

I have converted them all to high quality MP3s and loaded them all on to my 40GB MP3 player which would fit into a large match box. The CDs have all gone to the charity shop. All in all, a huge reduction in storage space required for my music.

 

I plug my MP3 player into my stereo amp and my 51 year old ears can't tell the difference between the original CDs and the MP3s.

 

I also keep two other copies of the MP3s - just in case. One copy on my laptop and another copy on a 500GB external hard drive. My brother-in-law also holds a copy, again, just in case.

My cd pile would be 12' but I've condensed this to 4, 3' shelves. I just can't bear to part with them.

 

I've made two nice compact boxes to put the kids in. The gaffer tape was marking the chair arms.

[Moley]

I have converted them all to high quality MP3s and loaded them all on to my 40GB MP3 player which would fit into a large match box. The CDs have all gone to the charity shop.

 

so technically speaking you no longer own the copyrighted material if anyone should question your mp3 collection

[honey ryder]

i keep all the cd sleeves in my binder though so i can read the lyrics and stuff on some of the better cds.

i still like to be able to put cds in my old battery powered cd player, it will play almost anything and its nearly 20 years old now. nobody wants to nick old stuff so we dont have to hide it away or take it with us like the laptop and ipod which we would never dare leave on the boat.

 

another space saving idea is, if you want a dog, dont bother with a large space consuming Labrador or similar, a chihuahua is the perfect boat sized dog. they can sleep in the smallest of spaces, the more closed in and confined the better, they prefer it that way. good watch dog too, they will let you know if someone is prowling about.

they also fit into a small rucksack so very portable too.

[carlt]

another space saving idea is, if you want a dog, dont bother with a large space consuming Labrador or similar, a chihuahua is the perfect boat sized dog. they can sleep in the smallest of spaces, the more closed in and confined the better, they prefer it that way. good watch dog too, they will let you know if someone is prowling about.

they also fit into a small rucksack so very portable too.

A chihuahua? I'd rather have a cat! Never have a dog that won't keep you fed for less than a week if you are stranded with no food.

[honey ryder]

but chihuahuas are excellent chick magnets, anyone who sees a tiny dog tries to give them food, as long as you train the dog to give it to the owner first then everyones a winner. its highly possible you wont need to cook anyway, because the chicks the dog attact might invite you over for dinner.

Edited February 27, 2007 by honey ryder

[Ernie]

so technically speaking you no longer own the copyrighted material if anyone should question your mp3 collection

Don't think I will stay awake at nights worrying about this one!!

[NB Phoenix]

but chihuahuas are excellent chick magnets, anyone who sees a tiny dog tries to give them food, as long as you train the dog to give it to the owner first then everyones a winner. its highly possible you wont need to cook anyway, because the chicks the dog attact might invite you over for dinner.

 

And a chihuahuas will fit into a microwave in one go. Can't do that with an old labrador

[Guest]

so technically speaking you no longer own the copyrighted material if anyone should question your mp3 collection

An interesting point Moley, but one that has been around since the invention of the tape rcorder. If you own the CD to start with, what is the position re making into MP3's?

[Moley]

If you own the CD to start with, what is the position re making into MP3's?

 

I will probably be wrong and I don't doubt that someone will correct me, but I think this is called format shifting, and is technically illegal, but record companies have always agreed that you could make a copy for your own use, eg record an LP to cassette for the car or rip a CD to your mp3 player.

 

So, I've got quite a bit in my mp3 collection where I have rented CDs from the local library and ripped tracks. Where do I stand on that? I assume that the library has some PRS liability but I wouldn't know for certain.

[Guest]

I will probably be wrong and I don't doubt that someone will correct me, but I think this is called format shifting, and is technically illegal, but record companies have always agreed that you could make a copy for your own use, eg record an LP to cassette for the car or rip a CD to your mp3 player.

 

So, I've got quite a bit in my mp3 collection where I have rented CDs from the local library and ripped tracks. Where do I stand on that? I assume that the library has some PRS liability but I wouldn't know for certain.

Not sure about the library. I know that under the education authority for whom I work, that we have to be careful as to what we copy, photocopy and suchlike. There is a rather large manual somewhere which nobody ever reads. I think that rightly or wrongly, the music industry have lost the MP3 battle though.