Adjusting to apartment life isn’t always easy. There never seems to be enough space to keep all your stuff. When your apartment starts to get cluttered, it often looks messy.
A messy environment can begin to make you feel claustrophobic and is much more challenging to keep clean.
Instead of staying frustrated, follow these seven expert secrets to maximize the amount of space in your apartment.
1. Buy Furniture That Takes Up Less Floor Space
An empty apartment always looks roomy, right?
Then you start bringing in all your belongings, and before you know it, there’s no room to breathe!
The trick is to limit the size of the items that take up the most space — your furniture.
Past generations enjoyed bulky furniture but luckily, slim and sleek is in. So take advantage of the current fashion and save some space simultaneously.
Look around your home and take note of the pieces of furniture that take up the most space.
Can you find a slimmer version of that item?
Take the dining room table. It often eats up a significant part of the kitchen floor. You could potentially open up your kitchen to more possibilities if you can find a narrower table.
Skinny tables can also take the place of desks, side tables, and even coffee tables.
Speaking of coffee tables, who needs them?
Just add a small behind the couch ledge to place your beverages on, and you can forgo any table in the middle of the living room. Now your living room will appear much larger.
We all enjoy a plush chair or couch, but they don’t have to be bulky to be comfy. An apartment is no place for a sectional. Invest in just enough sitting space for those who live in the apartment and buy some folding chairs for when you have visitors.
Let’s move our discussion to the bedroom, shall we?
The elephant in this room is most obviously the bed. There are many ways to adjust your bed to add much more floor space to the room.
You can transform your bed into a Murphy bed or a loft bed and use the floor space however you choose while you aren’t sleeping.
2. Whatever You Use the Top of, Use The Inside As Well
You can make just about any furniture serve a double purpose if you choose the right pieces.
When shopping, look for tables with under storage. A space-saving coffee or end table will use every square inch of its construction functionally.
Look for tables with built-in shelving or drawers. The same goes for desks. They should also maximize the space under the working surface.
If you are the type that enjoys using an ottoman, find one that opens for a storage area inside.
3. Fold Anything You Can
We’ve already mentioned using folding chairs for guests, but you can use them for everyday living as well. You can put foldable furniture away when not in use, providing much more space in your apartment.
Due to the rise in the tiny living movement, you can find many more folding furniture options. You don’t have to be a minimalist to take advantage of these items.
A desk that attaches to the wall on one side and folds down when not in use is an excellent example of this. Fold extra chairs and keep them in the closet.
If you usually eat on the counter or in the living room, you don’t need a permanent dining table. You can still own a foldaway table for playing cards or when you want a more civilized dinner.
4. Add Your Own Shelving
Apartments are notoriously bare when it comes to wall storage. That’s why most people install their own shelving.
Not only will this add plenty of extra space for your stuff, but you can choose what type of shelving to use and where to put it.
You can add some floating shelves here and corner shelving there, above the door shelving here, and a built-in bookshelf there.
What if you can’t add screws to the walls?
You still have options.
You can build your own faux built-in shelving system by screwing multiple bookcases together. You can also use pegboard shelving attached to the wall with industrial-strength sticky tape.
5. Consider the Ceiling
Look up! There’s plenty of room from above. You can use the ceiling to make even more space in your apartment.
You can add hooks to hang oversized items like bikes and canoes from the ceiling. You can also hang baskets from these hooks and store smaller items in the baskets.
There are plenty of ways to hang or hook things from your apartment ceiling that will free up a lot of space and declutter your home.
6. Invest in Organizational Tools
There are times when our clutter is just so unorganized that it doesn’t matter how hard we try — we can’t seem to clear it up. There’s no shame in buying tools to help us organize.
A trip to IKEA, anyone?
The innovative and stylish design that IKEA uses for their storage solutions makes going it alone simply foolish. Plus, they are super affordable!
You can find many organizers to use in the bathroom for makeup or even as a shower caddy. They even have cute rolling storage for smaller spaces that would be perfect for a bathroom.
You can use their hanging pot holder to organize your frying pans and a magnetic strip for utensils and knives in the kitchen.
Need help with your entryway?
They have organizers for mail, keys, wallets, and even shoes.
Of course, IKEA isn’t the only store that offers organizational products, but they certainly have one of the widest selections.
7. Transform Your Closet
Most people would say, “Well, I already use my entire closet.” But your closet has so much untapped potential if you simply use it in the traditional sense.
Use the dead space up by adding extra storage.
Hang baskets from the wall. Mount a second rod for shorter clothing items, and pop in a shoe rack to organize your shoes instead of letting them pile up in a mess on the floor.
Conclusion
Not everyone is born with the best organizational skills.
Luckily, we can still learn from the pros and put some major organization into practice in our apartment. That way, we can fit all our belongings and not feel like we’re living in a box.
Not only will you be able to own more, but you will also enjoy a much more peaceful living space free from clutter.
[Author bio]
Susie is our General Manager and has been with Copper Beech at Auburn for ten years! Susie is a huge asset to our team. In Susie’s spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, her three boys, and her dog Gunner.
