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One of the most common statements I hear people make is, “I don’t have enough space”! I completely understand on a personal level how difficult it can be when your living space is a bit small. So, what can you do about it? I am sharing all of the organizing secrets that made me love my small space!
I lived in an apartment for years when I was single, and for a few years when my husband and I married. Imagine the congestion once we had two children! That was when we moved into our first home. But besides having a basement and a backyard, the rest of the home still lacked the needed space. The closets were very small and definitely didn’t fit my 109 pairs of shoes. Yeah I had a bit of a shoe addiction. Don’t judge me. I would complain to my husband constantly saying, “I don’t have enough space”. He would tell me to get rid of some of my shoes and handbags. But that was a hard NO for me! I finally stopped complaining and organized in a way to make it functional and easy.
First, I took a hard look at my wardrobe and decluttered a lot of clothing that I hadn’t worn in years or didn’t wear often. Next, I separated my clothing by season and stored the out-of-season clothing in weathertight totes. This would help preserve the clothing and keep out any creepy crawly things. I also labeled the totes so that I knew what season or items (winter skirts, sweaters, pants, etc) were in there without needing to open the tote. In my apartment I stored the flat totes under my bed, and the larger totes in my storage unit. In our starter home I stored all of the totes in the basement under the stairs. From that point I only kept clothing in my closet for the current season. That freed up a ton of space and I could actually see what I had.
After taking a good look at all of my shoes I realized that I could get rid of a few. I donated about twenty pairs of shoes, which was a huge thing for me to do. I still wasn’t able to fit the remainder in the closet, so I stored the out-of-season shoes in the basement on a 4-tier shelf we bought really cheap at Lowe’s. I stored them in the storage unit when we lived in our apartment. The current season shoes were able to fit on the top shelf and floor of the closet in our apartment and starter home. I took the time to swap them out twice a year (spring and fall) to keep from doing it every few months. Once the inside of the closet was being utilized more efficiently I needed to figure out how to store handbags, scarves, and belts.
Over the door hooks work miracles on a closet! I purchased over the door hooks with multiple hooks to hang scarves and belts. I utilized the vertical wall space next to my closet to attach command hooks for hanging my handbags. If done properly it can function as a fun handbag display. Now that the closet was under control it was time to move on to the rest of the space. Throughout our apartment and starter home, I hung floating shelves. Not only do floating shelves maximize your vertical space, they’re also great for adding decor like candles or small accent pieces. I steered clear of any bulky items that would take up unnecessary space. I purchased leather storage ottomans for our family room, which doubled as storage for blankets on movie nights and extra seating when we had guests over. In our kitchen we kept everything to a minimum which I give tips on in my blog, “Great Kitchen Ideas to Maximize Space”.
The long and short of it is that in a smaller space you have to get very creative. You don’t want to overcrowd your space or add items that will make it feel even smaller. Be strategic about what you buy and look for items that can serve more than one purpose. And if you need even more great tips on organizing a small space, Michaele's Precise Planning was named a top Detroit, MI, decluttering expert by Redfin. Check out the article we were featured in: [How to Organize a One-Bedroom Apartment: Keep the Clutter Out of Your Sleep Space | Redfin] and you’ll never say, “I don’t have enough space” again!
Happy Organizing!
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