So, this week I discovered vacuum seal storage bags! Why has no body bothered to recommend these to me already. I am shocked and amazed at how much space is taken up by AIR. My girlfriend with no children, and therefore, no storage problem, commented that they' ve been around forever. But no one ever suggested them to me. So now I can pack twice as many clothes into half as much space.
This solves the problem of storing outgrown clothing that the children will pass down to the next sibling. But I guess it won't solve the problem of their over abundance of clothing that fits.
I did find myself wondering what would happen in I used this storage method for stuffed animals. What would the removal of air do to the stuffed animal? Would they ever be able to regain their original shapes? Out of a fear of turning teddy bears into monsters, I'm not going to persue this one, but it probably would add quite a lot of space to our home.