How well organized are you?
If you take one look at the clutter in your home and your anxiety skyrockets, you’re not alone. Research shows that clutter causes anxiety and stress. This is especially true when dealing with a lack of room.
Here are some brilliant tips on organizing small spaces. Use them to become more efficient. In turn, you may find that clearing the clutter reduces some of your life’s greatest stressers.
1. Choose Furniture With Storage
Do you own a bed with drawers?
How about a coffee table that doubles as a storage container.
If you don’t own furniture that doubles as storage space, make that your next big purchase. This type of furniture is your first step toward getting more organized. You can get multipurpose furniture for every room in your home. For instance, your kitchen may benefit from an expandable pantry. Also, you can buy a small kitchen table that can expand into a full-size one.
Your bathroom medicine cabinet can also be your mirror. For a more creative touch, you can even buy an ottoman for your living room that has storage room under its lid.
2. Organizing Small Spaces Equals Storage Containers
If you hate storage containers, this may be the reason why you struggle with staying organized.
In a clutter-free home, storage containers are your friend.
For maximum portability, purchase light but durable containers. You can even get some of those popular plastic filing cabinets to store small objects and important paperwork.
Compact storage containers can be moved around as needed, and you can label each one based on what you’re storing inside. This way, if you need or want to move your stuff around again, you won’t become disorganized in the process.
3. Use Nooks And Crannies Wisely
Take a look around each room in your home: How many small nooks and crannies do you notice?
Those small spaces are built in to accommodate doorways, to create the shape of a particular room, or to accommodate a remodel. They can benefit your organization efforts as well, though.
Measure the size of each nook in your home. Don’t forget to look behind doors, near entryways, and in small corners. Can you fit a small shelf in any of them? Can any of those spaces serve as storage where you keep important items on hand?
Nooks and crannies are especially useful in your kitchen. You can put a skinny shelving unit to hold extra spices near a doorway, for instance. Or you can expand your pantry.
In some cases, moving some furniture around can create more nooks for you to put to good use. If you run out of nooks and crannies to make use of, check out this Seattle storage guide for more tips on where to put your stuff.
4. Install Floating Shelves And Hanging Rods
Do you use floating shelves in your home?
Whether you realize it or not, an early adaptation of floating shelves is the traditional kitchen cabinet.
You can install floating shelves in almost every area of your home. Try combining a floating shelf with your existing kitchen cabinets. Put the shelf below the cabinet or right above it.
If you have kids, you can outfit their bedrooms with floating shelves as well. This type of storage is ideal for toys and even small clothes.
5. Use Small Wire Racks
Are you a fan of wire racks?
If not, stock up on some wire-rack storage and enjoy better organization with more flexibility and convenience. Wire racks can be free-standing, and they can easily go anywhere.
These racks also come in various colors to suit your favorite decor. If you’re a fan of a more modern industrial look, you can easily get stainless steel or chrome wire racks.
Wire racks are light and portable. You can install them in your closets for more storage space, or arrange them on your kitchen counter. They are especially ideal for small bathrooms. Purchase a small over-the-toilet rack, or use a wire shower caddy, for instance. You can even set a small, tasteful wire rack in a bathroom nook in place of a cabinet under the sink.
6. Recess Your Shelving Units
Is there room in your kitchen or bathroom to recess your shelves and cabinets?
You may think this is impossible, or that it’s hard to do. But if there’s space behind a wall in your kitchen, for instance, you can carve some of the wall out to accommodate your shelf.
this way, your storage space is even with the wall itself instead of sticking out. Recessed shelves create more room for you to move around, and they look chic as well.
- Use a stud finder to locate any studs in your walls.
- Measure out how much space your shelves will take up.
- Finally, make sure there aren’t any obstructions in the space where you found the studs.
Once you follow the above steps, you can safely cut out some of your wall to accommodate the shelf.
7. Make Use Of Luggage
Do you own a suitcase or two?
Most people store their luggage until they’re ready to travel. But since you’re limited on storage space, why take up precious room with empty luggage?
Put those suitcases to good use; make them into storage bins for the time being.
This solution is ideal for storing seasonal outfits or rotating kids’ toys. You can even store books in suitcases if you have no room to put them on shelves.
Suitcases are much more convenient than boxes. For starters, they can be stowed away and retrieved easily (they have wheels, after all). Also, they’re less unsightly than regular cardboard boxes, which always leave the unsettling impression that you’re not quite moved into your home.
Ready To Get Organized?
Organizing small spaces can be a headache-inducing challenge. But if you put your creativity to good use along with these space-saving hacks above, you can make the most of your small home or apartment.
For more tips on anything related to home decor and life in general, make sure to stop by our blog every day. We’re eager to share tips and strategies to make your life a little easier.
