Small Apartment: Best Organization Tips

zaq

Thu, Jan 26 2023, 11:03 am

My main one is "have less stuff."
For lots of creative ideas, go to apartmenttherapy.com. Sadly, the current site is not as good as it used to be; it has way too much pushing of products by certain vendors--many of the features are merely ads masquerading as informative articles-- and fewer concrete ideas for organizing, but there's still plenty to work with.

Other principles:
Think frequent reuse: fewer clothes, more frequent washing.
Think vertical: tall furniture, shelves climbing the walls, bunk beds, shelves mounted up near ceiling for long-term storage
Think multipurpose: ottomans or coffee tables with hidden storage; sofabeds or chairbeds;tables that can be extended with extra leave
Think smaller scale: loveseat instead of sofa, 33-inch beds instead of 39-inch, folding chairs instead of standard dining chairs or armchairs, simple furniture styles devoid of space-hogging features that contribute nothing to functionality
Think fewer bulk purchases and more frequent shopping. No reason to buy a year's worth of shampoo and conditioner at a time.

There is often an inverse relationship between saving money and living small. As an example, there is very little selection and never any special sale on 24-inch-wide wash machines; you can get a standard-size washer AND dryer on sale for less than a single 24-inch washer. But if the space you have is just 24 inches wide, you haven't much choice. Similarly, you may be able to buy a year's worth of diapers for peanuts on a crazy blowout sale, but is the money you save worth the inconvenience of having to store all those diapers for a year?