Too much stuff but too little room? It's a struggle.
Making small spaces work is often necessary if you find yourself living in a capital, big city or simply just living on a student income. Making the most of a small space might just be your only option when it comes to housing. So why not make the most of it? Let’s take a look at how you can do just that.
Storage
In any home, storage space is vital for all the things you don’t leave out or might not need as often as you use your computer, headphones or favourite book. Whether or not you have a lot of stuff, storage is almost always needed, so create storage space wherever possible.
One example is having your bed placed upon storage space such as a mattress placed on a bookcase, small dresser or some other furniture designed for storage. Or you can build your own furniture in the form of a platform on which you can put your mattress. Beneath the platform, you can place bed rollers or some other form of storage to make all your things easily accessible but neatly put away. This way, you might get rid of a lot of clutter that would otherwise be sprawled out all over your home.
Accessibility
When living in a small space, not being able to access everything might be one of the key issues as there might not be much ‘wiggle room’ within the space to begin with. That makes storage space that much more important.
Tip: Declutter your space by storing only the necessities
If you store the things in your apartment correctly and only store the things you actually need and want, accessing everything will become that much easier. For example the previously mentioned bed rollers can make accessing your stuff easier. Categorising and organising your stuff can also help you as knowing where your stuff is can help you find your things faster.
Multi-purpose furniture and objects
Why not use the back of your front door as a shoe rack or rack for overcoats and jackets? Or have an extensible dining table that can be made smaller or larger by adding or removing pieces? That way, every aspect of your apartment will be utilised in the best possible way: The more multi-purpose furniture and objects the better.
An old classic multipurpose furniture is a sofa bed: A sofa and a bed all in one neatly designed piece of furniture. Sometimes, these sofa beds are neither good as a sofa nor a bed which is why investing money in one of great quality would definitely be something to consider if you live in a small apartment where you cannot have both a sofa and a bed. This can save you a lot of space.
Tip: Save space through multi-purpose furniture
Having a small table that can be extended by use of table extenders can also be great for when you’re just you or when you’re having people over. That way, the furniture can be adjusted for your particular needs.
Love or lose
To explain it simply in the words of the world-renowned Japanese organisation and decluttering expert, Marie Kondo: “The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t”. Thus, by going through your stuff and tossing things, you’ll quickly learn what you need and what you don’t need in your house. This also ensures that you have no excessive amount of clutter or things you don’t actually need or want to keep around anymore.
"The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t"
Marie Kondo
In the hotel and rental industry, capsule hotels and micro apartments have already been introduced. These micro hotel rooms and apartments have especially gained popularity in Japan. Maybe capsule apartments will be the future if more and more people either want to live as small and minimalistic as possible or simply don’t have any other choice. Only time will tell how or if the rental industry will embrace this trend.
These are all ideas of how tenants can embrace small spaces and make the most of it. But what about landlords or property developers? Well for starters, if the apartments are rather small, think of how to utilise the space in the best way possible and maybe already incorporate furniture such as tables or beds that can be stowed away. This can include extensible tables or wall beds or Murphy beds where the bed is hinged to the wall in one end and can be lifted so the bed is vertically against the wall, essentially folding out of a wall or cabinet to provide you with more space whenever the bed is not needed.
Now that we've provided tips for organising and decluttering a space, get moving!
