Living in a tiny apartment has its perks – lower rent, cheaper electricity, and everything within reach of your hand. However, if you don’t want to be swimming in your stuff, you have to think up some creative storage ideas since the usual tricks just won’t cut it. So, we’ve prepared hacks for every area in your home to ensure you optimize every inch to its full capacity.
Know That Creative Storage Ideas for Small Spaces Can Only Go So Far if You’re a Hoarder
So, you might be wondering how do you store a lot of things in a small space? Well, first of all, you don’t – it’s not physically possible to. That means that ideally before you move to a new city or a new apartment, you’ll have to declutter your belongings.
Your packing list should never exceed a certain length, depending on how big the space you’re relocating to is. So, don’t make the biggest moving mistake and move all your belongings with you, but rather try to do one of the following before you move:
- Gift away items in good condition – Making friends in a new city is never easy, so it’s best to take care of those you already have. And we are not saying you should bribe your pals, but give them the first pick among the stuff you no longer wish to keep. Surely, they will be thankful you thought of them.
- Donate things and support a cause – Everyone has a cause they’re passionate about, and if yours is to keep the planet alive, you’re already on the right track. Near you, there are certainly donation centers that give stuff to those in need, so check those out before you throw anything away.
- Throwing away things should be the last resort – There are a few more things we can recommend doing with the surplus of your stuff. First, you might want to sell some to make up for the moving costs. And then, there is recycling which is also an environmentally friendly option to declutter old and used stuff. And if all else fails, you can throw items away too, just don’t if there are other options.
What to do with the rest of your house inventory? Well, we propose posing a different question, and it goes something like this: How do I create space in a small room, and what can I do with small storage space? With that, we can help, and we are about to give you some suggestions for each room of your tiny apartment.
Creative Storage Solutions for Your Bedroom and Living Space
The majority of smaller homes have the bedroom and living spaces combined. And once you’ve unpacked your things, you might just realize there isn’t enough room for them in your home. So, to help you figure out what all those items east coast movers brought in after you move, we present to you some of the best ways you can store them so that your rooms don’t seem overcrowded.
Some Ideas to Optimize Your Closet and Wardrobe Organization
If you have a small wardrobe, the first thing you might want to do is get a singular rack you can move around the room. You can hang those oversized items such as coats and jackets that take up a lot of space on it. You can color-code these clothes so that they look chic. And a rack like this will bring in a more minimalist design to your rooms. Additionally, we recommend using the inner side of your wardrobe door to sort out shoes and accessories such as belts and ties.
Place Racks on the Inside Of Your Wardrobe Door
Depending on how sturdy the doors are, you can place your shoes on it. You should place the heels on the rack and organize your pairs in this way. This can be a bit trickier if you mostly wear sneakers, but anything with a heel a bit higher than the rest of the sole will lay perfectly.
If your shoes won’t fit, put organizers for belts and ties on the inner part of the wardrobe door. That can be done by taking one plank and knocking it so close to the door there’s only enough room for these thinner items. You won’t need to add any additional hooks since belts have buckles that will keep these in place and ties you can just throw over the board or rack and call it a day.
Give your room the feel of an expensive store with one simple wooden rack
A Rack Can Do a Lot, But to Store Your Accessories Better, Use a DIY Organizer
While a rack can be a great way to hide your accessories, there are ways to go about storing them so that they are out in the open and the rooms will still look put together. One of these would be to place a corkboard for jewelry. This works especially well for earrings. You just take a large corkboard with a cute wooden frame you can even paint over, and then pin needles on it and place a pair of earrings on each one.
Not only is this a cute way to display your jewelry, but it makes choosing the pair you’ll match with the outfit of the day that much easier. Otherwise, using a pegboard can do wonders for your accessories, and not only jewelry, but handbags, belts, and hats too.
Hanging Baskets Are Great for Socks and Shawls
Contrary to popular belief, hanging baskets are not only for fruit. You might buy cotton ones meant for clothes, but we have a pro packing hack for you: get metal baskets for fruit. Of course, if you don’t want to deal with tape residue, later on, check with your landlord if it’s okay to screw them to the ceiling. You can take fairy lights and twist them around the baskets to make it cuter, and this will be a great way to store things such as shawls, socks, and hats too.
A cork board is not only an amazing DIY jewelry depository but can be your personal art gallery too
It May Not Seem Like a Unique Storage Idea to Use Your Wall, But Here Are Some Ways to Optimize It to Its Full Capacity
A wall is not only for artwork – it can be a great place to store your belongings too. And large open cabinets can take up a lot of space and visually decrease the size of your bedroom as well. So, we recommend going for smaller floating shelves that can still be within your reach so that you can easily reach books, clocks, plants, or even lamps you packed.
Shelves All Along the Bedroom Wall Will Give of the Illusion of a Framed Space
If your apartment is really small and ideally has high ceilings, you might want to place shelves that go all the way around the room. These will surely be a great way to store books and can even be used to hang baskets with hooks on them. You can use this design to place plants that fall down to the floor on the shelves and make the room look like a little botanical garden. Additionally, if you moved with a dog, you’ll ensure that they don’t eat all of your flowers, so it’s really a win-win.
Floating shelves are not only beautiful but come in handy really well for smaller homes
Your Bed Can Become a Shelf or Storage Space in its Own Right
When you are buying furniture, we suggest you think through your purchase thoroughly, especially if you don’t want to disassemble furniture every three days when the space feels overwhelmingly crowded. The best thing you can do is get a bed that has a shelf for its headboard. Not only does this look really clean, but it makes going to sleep that much easier because your alarm, lamp, books, and diary can rest there without you having to make a single step to reach them. Not to mention a glass of water or anything else that falls into your nighttime or early morning routine.
If you can afford it, you may even get a headboard that is full of shelves. There you can place little sculptures and lots of books and candles you packed without it looking messy. One of our favorite tricks, however, is getting a platform bed you can place containers beneath. Or, a bed that has drawers below it, you can store all those heavy-duty items such as bedsheets, comforters, blankets, and pillows.
Use Your Other Furniture as a Means of Storage, Too
If you aren’t moving furniture but getting new ones, we suggest buying coffee tables and chairs that have storage built-in. These come in various sizes and shapes, and their design can make it seem as if you aren’t actually in need of more room. In case you can’t afford to change up your furniture, you can always optimize those you already have. That would mean doing things like placing hooks underneath your work table so that you can hang bags on them, keeping them away from any guests’ eyes.
A bed can be so much more if you know how to organize it
Creative Bathroom Storage Ideas
A bathroom is always one of the smallest spaces in any home. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t DIY your way around it. Use nooks in your bathroom to place towel cabinets. These, you might want to have made so that they fit the exact shape of a corner, but it will surely be worth it. With a DIY design, you can ensure you get the most out of your bathroom, and not to mention, match the cabinets to the color of your ties and wall.
Another great idea is to put a shelf over your bathroom door. It will be almost invisible and can save much space you would otherwise use for storing bathing products and toilet paper. And the same way you put racks on the back of your wardrobe door, we recommend placing one for towels and bathrobes.
A Makeup Organizer Will Save You a Lot of Bathroom Room
Everyone who uses makeup knows how much room it can take up. While you were packing makeup, you probably realized it isn’t only lipstick and foundation – it’s also a bunch of brushes and beauty blenders. These can be difficult to place in drawers, and if they are left outside, they collect a lot of dust which isn’t good for your skin.
So it’s best to keep them in a drawer but to maximize drawer space with organizers. You can also adapt your drawers to how much makeup and brushes you own and tailor it to your own needs. If you need more DIY ideas on organizing makeup, we recommend checking out the following video:
Clever Storage Ideas for Small Kitchens
Cabinet doors, especially in a kitchen, can take up a lot of room. So, it’s a good idea to have open storage. At the same time, your fine china will always be on display, and you won’t have to worry about how much space cabinet doors will take up. However, that does mean you’ll have to think about what mugs you buy a bit harder next time you’re out shopping.
A Kitchen Island With Room Inside Is a Great Substitute for a Cabinet
If you can’t use the walls to put in new open cabinets, you might want to switch up your kitchen island for a new one that is hollow. Kitchen islands are great for having people over – you can socialize when you cook and use them as your own personal bar.
If the kitchen island has room inside, the bar space will become a mini-bar where you can place anything from a small fridge to cocktail glasses and even pots. And that brings us to our next point: get hanging racks for all your pots and pans. This will make any cooking twice as easy, and not to mention that it looks really pretty.
Hanging pots give a kitchen a very French look
If It Feels as if You Have Too Much Stuff, Get Long Distance Movers to Relocate Some to a Storage Unit
If you just relocated and transported your vehicle, you might not feel like hiring a long-distance moving company again. However, the best way to deal with items you don’t know where to put is by doing just that. West Coast movers can help you with their packing services and transport the surplus of your stuff to a storage unit.
Because sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the best storage is the one to which cross country movers move your things. So, instead of trying to squeeze in everything all by yourself, getting cross-country moving services might be a better way to minimize the quantity of stuff in your home.
