Organizing can be quite the struggle when space is limited, but it’s also so much more essential when you are working with small spaces! Our family of 4 lives in a 2 bedroom apartment. The kids are too young to share a room right now, so our daughter sleeps in the dining room.
We’re saving up to buy a house, but until then, we don’t have much room to spare. I’ve naturally had to get creative when it comes to organizing our things and attempting to keep our apartment tidy. Here are a few of my best organizing tips especially for those of us who are trying to organize a small house!
- Make Sure Everything Has a Place – One of the biggest reasons things pile up around our house is because they don’t actually have a designated place they are supposed to be. Papers and other random things tend to congregate on our dresser and on the bar area in our living room simply because they don’t have a permanent home and I need to put them somewhere that the toddlers can’t reach. Every so often I go through these areas and find permanent homes for the things that are piling up. Sometimes it’s the trash can, and other times I’m forced to use one of the following tricks to find a place, but it’s important to make sure everything has a place to go!
- Box it up – Since I know that things tend to pile up in 2 specific places in my home, I like to put a small (decorative) box in each of those places. This way I can pile things in the box until I have time to sort through it all and the place looks less cluttered.
- Buy Cheap Storage Furniture – Look for Storage Drawer Organizers
(affiliate link) to use in closets. I fit one in the bottom of our smallest coat-closet and it has enabled me to store a lot more in that closet than I would have been able to otherwise. Plastic organizers like the above are pretty cheap, and they can really help maximize your space, especially in closets!
- Don’t Limit Yourself – Start organizing based on where you have space, not what room things are “supposed” to be in. For example, we have some extra-high cabinents in our kitchen that are not useful for any kitchen gadgets, because they are so hard to access. Instead of keeping the shelf empty, I boxed up our Christmas decorations and put them there. The kitchen isn’t the first place that would usually be thought of to find Christmas decor, but it’s where we had room for it, and since it’s something I only get out once a year, it makes sense to put it in one of the harder-to-reach areas of our home. I’ve started to store things according to ease of access and frequency of use instead of by categorical rooms, and it has helped a lot!
- Under Beds (ALL the Beds) – I’d been storing things under my bed for years, but I’m a little ashamed to admit how long it took me to realize I could store things under the baby’s crib and the toddler’s bed too. Everything from baby clothes to out-of-season clothing goes under their beds! I tape the boxes shut in case the kids try to get into them and then we’re set!
What’s your best tip for finding storage in small spaces?
See more tips on how to organize a toddler room.
Also, my friend Becky has a FANTASTIC 40 part series on organizing the home based on area (e.g. refrigerator, pantry, closets, bathrooms etc.)! Be sure to check it out and let her know I sent you!
Georgia says
Ah the baby clothes… The never ending parade of clothes with holes in them! (mine at least). I’ve heard that all people who manage to keep their homes clean really do have a place for everything…
Okay. I’ve got to go clean. This post lit a fire under my yoga-pantsed bottom.
:)
Thanks!
Georgia
Stephanie says
I have 1,300 sq ft, but this stupid place has no storage closets at all. Just the three bedroom closets. I had to let go of the notion that everything should be out of sight. When I realized that NO ONE CARED, I felt much better. Now I don’t mind that bulk items are stored out in the open (like bottles of water and tea, paper towels, & trash bags).
I also make as much use of vertical spaces as I can. My paper towel holder hangs vertically on the side of a cabinet above my sink; I have hooks on the side of my vanity to hang stuff like hand mirrors and my blow dryer. I wrote a post about organizing sometime last year if you want to wander over and look (it’s called 6 Why Didn’t I Think Of That Organization Tips), it might be helpful.
Jamie Koenig says
Girl I need all the help I can get when it comes to keeping my house organized. Don’t even try to look in my garage…OOOO the horrors. ‘this is very helpful for me thank you for sharing
Becca Hall says
This is such a useful post! I live in an apartment and have been complaining incessantly to my boyfriend about our lack of space. I don’t know why I’ve not considered under our bed! Probably from all the times I would clean my room as a kid and have my mom yell for me just shoving everything under there (hehe). Thanks for sharing these tips!
Emily says
I am always looking for ways to use every inch of space in our little house. With 5 people, it’s necessary! We have recently moved the kids to beds that have storage built in. While I actually feel that we don’t have as much usable space this way, at least it is all organized and looks much neater than it did before. I really want to store the kids out of season clothes under the slats of the unused space but hubby thinks that is going overboard…
Heather {Woods of Bell Trees} says
Excellent tips! I am always struggling with space, recently I started purging even though I thought I was doing a good job at keeping things out I wasn’t. I am hoping to not have sooo many piles in the near future.
Theresa @DearCreatives says
Great tips! Thanks for linking up with My Favorite Things party! Theresa @DearCreatives
Erin says
Great tips! My husband and I are the opposites of hoarders, we throw everything we don’t need away or donate it. And still in a small house with a teenage boy it seems our house is always cluttered and in need of organization…lol. It feels like a losing battle some times.
Good luck.
XOXO,
Erin
thevaughnlife.us
Amy @ItsAMindfulLife says
Hello Paula:
Fun finding you through #LOBS! Your website is lovely! I just followed you on Facebook and will definitely be back!
Corinna Ashley [ForMyLoveOf] says
Wonderful tips about the kitchen cabinets! We have SO MUCH storage, but attic’s are such a bear to get in and out of. I’d like to put things I have to access more than once yearly in more accessible places!
wendy says
Hi. I just found you through ABFOL. These are some great tips. I am a ruthless purger, and that helps a lot. But even I (and most certainly my boys) can suffer from we-might-need-it-someday-itis. My tip is to pack everything that you are having trouble getting rid of into a box and then tape the box shut. Keep it nearby, but out of the way for a month. If you find that you didn’t need to open the box once then it’s time to take the box (still unopened) to your local donation center. I have to say that I have never regretted anything that I got rid of.
Cara Rutland says
Not only do I store things under the bed, but I bought risers for our bed. It raised the bed up another 6 inches. Not only do I have more room than ever under there, but I have a “fancy” bed with a long bedskirt, that you have to climb up into (which is great until you have surgery)!
Patricia Routt says
Our home is 1300 square ft. and as far as closets go it’s pretty goo for a house this size, and we are very fortunate that we have a nice big basement,but I don’t like putting some things in the basement, just as soon as I do the next day I will have to go back down there and get it for one reason or another. My husband has to big garages and still manages to bring junk into this house. I love your idea of boxes in the closets for papers since the hubs doesn’t throw anything away, ever. Thank you for sharing.
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
Good tips! I was just part of a discussion on Facebook about keeping a house clean and tidy. We don’t have much storage space either for our family of 7. My biggest tip was not letting the clutter come into our home. You would never know 7 people live here because I keep what we have to a minimum.
Kim {Pinspired Home} says
Great tips! We don’t live in a small house anymore, but I still find myself using some of these strategies anyway. :)
Found you at Strut Your Stuff Saturday :)
Rachel G says
Shortly before I moved out and got married, my family (2 parents + 7 kids) moved into a 1,000 sq. foot apartment with 3 bedrooms for the 9 of us. That was a good lesson in learning to live in small spaces! Now my husband and I are going to be moving into a 300 sq. foot studio apartment next month–my best advice to live in a small place and keep in looking inviting and clean is to just own as few things as possible–it helps!
Cat @ MaryMarthaMama says
I LOVE the point that you make about not limiting yourself. Sometimes thinking of something in a different or new way will totally lead to a great solution. I used to keep all my random seldom used kitchen appliances in the kitchen, but it made my cupboards way too clutter, so I moved those to the basement. I even had enough room to dedicate one cupboard to my kids art supplies, which previously had been difficult to access where they were on top of the fridge.
Jill S. says
We have to store out of season clothes in tubs. I label one side summer and the other side winter. When our summer clothes are in the closet, then my winter are in a tub with the “winter” label showing and vice versa. Also, we used to have a space where I kept mittens in winter and once those got put away, we used the same space for beach towels and accessories. Book shelf space is also a premium in our house. I put holiday books in separate tubs and bring out the right holiday or seasonal titles during that time.
Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above says
Thank you so much for sharing with Adorned From Above’s Link Party
Debi @ Adorned From Above
Nicole says
Great post! I pinned it to my Organizing Tips board. I just moved into a house with a much smaller bedroom than I had before so I’m anxious to work at getting it organized! I find that process to be a lot of fun. :)
Nicole
Martha says
We hung shelves over doorways. In the kitchen we placed jars of pasta, nuts, etc. In the bathroom we placed extra bottles of shampoo, new tissue boxes. In the bedrooms, baskets of out of season clothing or hats and mittens or swim suits out of season.
Maria Smith says
I just read your blog. My problem is my bedroom. I just put stuff any where half the time. Now my room starting to look like a garage sale. My closet is very small and full of blanket’s and clothes. I just get so overwelhemd. that I just don’t feel like touching it. Can you help me where do I begin??