Small homes, apartments or condos often have smaller or fewer closets, smaller living spaces in general, less kitchen cupboards, and no basement or attic to store infrequently used items.
Whether you have just downsized, or have been living in a smaller home for a while, making the most of your space is crucial!
1. Make use of VERTICAL SPACE.
Vertical space is so important in a smaller home! You will have less floor space and less cupboards/closets, but the ceiling height is usually the standard 8ft or so. Make use of your walls and install floating shelves for books and kitchen items. Hang your pots and pans from the ceiling above the bar, or instead of using a knife block have a magnetic strip on the wall to store them. Usually closets only have one bar with a shelf above, so use double-hang bars in closets to use up all of the space to hang shorter items like shirts.
2. Use areas UNDER THINGS.
Make sure to use the space under things – under your bed, under your couch, under your coffee table. If you don’t have space under your bed, get some bed risers to lift your bed a few inches, that way you can store out of season clothing, decorations or memorabilia out of the way but still accessible. Maybe you have a bit of room under your couch that you can store short boxes or bins. If you have a simple coffee table, consider investing in one that has shelves underneath that you can store remotes, books, papers, etc. You might not have room for tables beside the couch in a smaller space.
3. Make use of NOOKS AND CRANNIES.
Do you have a closet with your washer and dryer in it? There may be a bit of space at the side where you can fit a cart for your detergent! Do you have a weird narrow kitchen cupboard? Those are great for cutting boards and baking sheets! See what odd little spaces you have in your home and make use of them!
If you have items stored in bins, check to see if the space is being used efficiently. If there is still quite a lot of space available and you aren’t planning on adding anything to that bin, switch it to a smaller bin! There’s no sense in having a bin taking up space to store air.
4. Have items with MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS.
This applies to smaller items like kitchen gadgets, as well as larger items like furniture.
For smaller items, make sure your limited kitchen drawers are not being taken over by kitchen gadgets that only have one function. Rather than having an apple slicer, just use a knife instead. Do you really use that cherry pitter often enough to warrant it taking up space?
For furniture, make sure to get items that have multiple functions if you can! Ottomans are great because they are somewhere to put your feet, a place to sit, as well as a storage unit. Maybe get a coffee table that lifts up so you can also use it as a dining table when sitting at the couch. Have a couch that pulls out to make a sleeping area for guests.
Since your space is more limited, you may not be able to have a guest room or a whole bunch of chairs in the living room, or even a dining room! So having items with multiple functions is very helpful.
5. Make sure to DECLUTTER OFTEN.
A habit that many people get in to when they are living in a large space is to put things away to deal with “later” – in the garage, basement or attic. With a smaller space, that won’t be an option! To get in the habit, make it a weekly chore. Write it on your calendar or put an alarm on your phone to go through your closet, kitchen cupboards or bookshelves to see what you don’t need anymore, and deal with it immediately!
