Ripping music to save space

If you haven't ripped all your music CDs by now you should. Do a search on 'saving space by ripping music' and you will get lots of links about saving space on your PC. But ripping music can save what I call "premium space". Premium space is the living space located at and adjacent to the best locations in your home. It's ground zero of where you do most of your activities or relaxing, which includes the space around your entertainment system or your computer desk. You can maximize this space by ripping all your CDs to your PC, thereby getting rid of all the CD towers or stacks of CD boxes. It also makes your music mobile, easy to access and to play. I don't know about you, but anything I can get off my computer desk is a relief.

Unfortunately, because of copyright laws, I can't recommend throwing your original CDs away, but you can take all of them out of their jewel cases and file them in a more compact storage case. I ended up putting my CDs and their liners in 3-ring binders and stashing them in a far corner of my study. I have them if I ever want to rerecord the music or prove I have 'fair use' rights, but they aren't taking up prime space.

As for empty jewel boxes, check with your local library to see if they can use your empty jewel boxes. Mine will take some and they use them to repair CD cases that get returned broken by library patrons. Every little bit of reuse helps, particularly with jewel cases, which may not be recyclable where you are.

This site has two ideas on recycling old jewel boxes. Another person says the only practical reuse is as picture frames.

Other sites have suggested that you offer the boxes to non-profits who may be able to sell them.

Small-space Solutions from This Old House magazine

There is a magazine I like called, This Old House. But don't let the word 'old' stop you. This magazine has new ideas for both older homes and for those not yet built!

The online articles are usually a series of 'slides' for you to scroll through. Here's a few samples:

Little Big Ideas - has some basic but classic ideas for making the most of your home.

14 Kitchen and Bath Space Savers - ideas for maximizing space.

Entertaining in Small Spaces - is a review of party friendly products that have maximum impact for minimal storage. Number three is the folding kitchen island/cart I've had my eye on for my own kitchen. Number five can serve has a hall table until a dining table and four chairs are needed for guests.

This Old Studio Apartment - check out what this person did with only 450 sq. ft.! Never say your place is too small again.

In the May 2009 print edition of This Old House (sorry this article isn't available online), Keith Pandolfi lists 9 tips for saving space, including;

• Painting the crown molding to match the ceiling paint in order to widen a narrow room


• Placing "large mirrors facing each other to create the illusion of more space."


• Maximize square footage and natural light by adding bay windows.


• "Use tall furniture and built-ins to draw the eye upward."


• His ninth suggestions is that you incorporate a spiral staircase, but in other article and books I've seen people add storage or shelving under the staircase. One such book showed how they built drawers under the treads, a large cascading chest of drawers if you like. You could do both and really maximize a small space.

Folding kitchen cart

I've had my eye on a folding kitchen cart for awhile but I've been wondering how good it is and how well it would work in my galley kitchen. Has anyone who has bought one have comments about their experience with it?

Here's my favorite so far - Folding Kitchen Island and a review by someone whose has one.

Here are links to some others;

Oasis Folding Kitchen Carts - several variations available

Winsome Wood Foldable Kitchen Cart with Knife Block, Light Oak

Kitchen Island Company has several varieties available

Collapsible bowls

We had a friend over the other day for grilled hamburgers and she brought some vegetable dishes in collapsible bowls. I think they were from Rubbermaid and they are available in a variety of sizes. You should be able to find them in your local stores, if not, Amazon has them as well.

What she likes about hers is that they don't need to take up a lot of space in her cupboards when not in use. She can also adjust the size of the bowl to fit the amount of food whether bigger before the meal, or smaller to fit the leftovers in the fridge easier.

I'm not sure that these would be appropriate for heavy everyday use, but if you want the security of having enough bowls on hand for any occasion, without losing a lot of space, then these would be a good choice.

Filtered water we finally drink

I bought one of those Brita Water Pitcher to filter our tap water. See this photo of ours.

You should be able to find this and similar Brita products in your local area and there are lots of choices. You could even get one of the faucet filters or in-line water filters available now.

We use our pitcher to fill a water pitcher in the fridge. So we always have lots of cold, filtered water available to drink. This means we have no need to buy bottled water, which saves us both money and space.

I don't know about you, but I usually don't drink as much water as I should. The Brita really helps me drink lots more water!

Trying before I buy @ my library

Lately I have been saving both money and space. I go down to my local library and borrow materials. But no matter how good a library mine (or yours) is, they can't afford to collect everything. But one of the many services the library provides is something called 'Interlibrary Loan' (ILL). This means on your behalf they will borrow books from other libraries. Other libraries throughout the U.S. and few other countries!

My library has a small postage fee, but many libraries will do this completely free. So if there's a book, audio book, video, or music CD you are not sure you want to buy, one trick is to borrow from your local library via ILL. That way you can read, watch, or listen for free. If the item was disappointing you're not out any money. If you loved it, and your library still isn't willing to buy a copy for their collection, then you can still buy your own copy knowing it's money well spent.

Another advantage to using your local library and ILL, is that you don't have to store the material in your home once you're done with it.

One warning, ILL's must be returned on time and often have higher late fees than regular library materials. But you can always ask if renewals are available. Remember that libraries charge late fees to keep people from hogging the materials, NOT to make money. So be prompt and be gracious. After all, they are saving you money and getting nothing in return! In my case, I probably save hundreds of dollars a year. Oh who am I kidding? They save me hundreds of dollars a month!

If you don't believe me try anyone of these library use calculators, or do your own estimates. Books, videos, and CD's aren't cheap.

Library Savings Calculator
Maine State Library
Umtilla Public Library
Jackson County Library Services

Dishes that stack well

We use to have a set of fancy brand name dishes for everyday use. But over time utensils left marks that were almost impossible to remove, even with special cleaners. I grew to hate them and one day I gave up. I hated how they looked and I hated the space they took to stack. So I went out and bought some plain white Corelle dishes.

This turned out to be a great idea! I had no idea how much kitchen cabinet space I would save. The Corelle dishes are not as thick and they stack far, far better. So now I can get 3-4 times as many dishes in the same space! Admittedly I didn't buy the matching cups which helped to save space. We have plenty of mugs (even after weeding), but because we selected plain white dishes, our remaining mugs work fine.

The individual dishes are just as big, or I should say, they hold as much food as the previous set. The Corelle set is for our everyday use and so far have held up beautifully. They still look as good as when I bought them, a refreshing change from my previous experience.

They've made a big change in my kitchen and I highly recommend them. Corelle has many styles and colors to choose from and they're made in the U.S. (at least my set was). If possible, go somewhere where they have enough dishes on display that you can experiment with stacking to get an idea of the space you can save.

In the interest of full confession we also own a fancy set of china that we inherited. We use the china for formal occasions, the Corelle for everday use. All in all, the new everyday dishes have made an unbelievable difference in our kitchen.

Cats - sneaky space stealers

When we moved into our current home we had two cats. In the last two years they have both died. Since I'm technically allergic to cats I'm not planning to replace them. So we've been busy removing all the cat stuff in our house and thereby help reduce my temptation to get another cat. What amazes me after the fact is just how much cat related material was in our home!

There were two kitty litter boxes, supplies of fresh kitty litter, litter scoops, a large cat perch, two sets of food and water dishes, 4 or 5 scratching pads (if you want to save your furniture having lots of these is good insurance), multiple books, bags of catnip, bags of cat food, cans of cat food, kitty treats, grass seed, a pot of grass for the cats to chew on (instead of my house plants), multiple packages of special wipes (to remove cat allergens), tons of toys, 'purr pad' beds, medicines, two cat carriers, two cages from our cross country move, and much, much more. And even though I think we've found everything I won't be surprised anymore if something else doesn't surface! While you can have cats with less paraphernalia, if you love them and spoil them it's easy to accumulate.

And once we haul out or give away the last of it we will have more room in our house and garage. Woo Hoo! Miss the cats though.

I've been trying to share the wealth with the local pet rescue organizations while weeding. They can use any fresh kitty litter, cat carriers, cages, cat food, etc. that is clean and in good condition. If you ever do the same, call before you descend on them to verify what they will accept.