How to Make the Most of a Small Space

I spent the summer that I was 18 years old packing for college. I was going to school 3½ hours away from my home on Long Island, and I was packing as though I was never coming back again.

When I arrived on campus, I was a few days behind everyone else. There had been a big family celebration that I didn’t want to miss, so I left for school only about two days before classes started.

When I got to my quad, there were a flurry of introductions as I met my suitemates. This dorm was made up of small suites, with a common area and bathroom shared by three bedrooms, with two students in each. My roommate was my friend, Kristen, who I had known since confirmation class in 7^th grade. We had requested each other when we realized we were choosing the same college and on the same scholarship.

As I looked around at the haphazard things the other girls had in their rooms, I realized they hadn’t brought as much as I had. Then, I realized why. Our dorm rooms were so small that I would have to sit on my bed if Kristen wanted to walk through. Between the two beds, dressers, mini-fridge, and desk, there wasn’t much space to spare.

My father went out and bought cinder blocks to stack under the legs of my bed to make room for all my boxes. I stacked, squished, and organized myself into that tiny room within two days.

Fast-forward a decade or so and I was doing something similar. This time my family and I were moving from the almost-1800-square-foot house we had just sold, into an 1100-square-foot apartment. No backyard and no garage for the overflow.

But we made it work. Again, it took some creativity and some hard good-byes to things that were too big for our new home, but we were able to not only fit everything (and everyone!), we were also able to keep it from looking cluttered and messy. Oh, it did get messy sometimes, but that was more of a kid-issue than a space-issue.

People tend to think that if they just had more space, then they’d be more organized/less cluttered/less messy. But space isn’t the issue. It’s the stuff and what you do with it. Keeping a small space neat may offer a bit more challenge, but it can be done. And it offers many benefits.

Maybe you’re moving into a smaller home like we did and aren’t sure how you’ll make it all fit. Or perhaps you have a new baby coming and are moving some of your older children into a room together. Or maybe you are considering turning your walk-in-closet into a hobby room.

Regardless of your why, there are plenty of ways that you can make that smaller room or space work for you, without it feeling cluttered and messy. Here’s how:

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  Go vertical. Keeping your floor clear will go a long way to making sure the area is not cluttered. Consider bookcases and shelves built into the wall to keep things organized higher up. High shelves are great for things you don’t need often, but do still need, like Christmas decorations or out-of-season sporting equipment.

• Use cubbies. Toy organizers and cubbies are great for keeping toys neat without have a million boxes or books stacked haphazardly. These can also be put at the ends of beds and in closets where there is space that doesn’t get much use otherwise.
• Go low. Just like we used cinder blocks to boost my bed and create space underneath, consider using any available space left by beds or tables. This also keeps a portion of your stuff out of sight so that you aren’t constantly looking at plastic containers of winter clothes all summer or art supplies you aren’t using right now.
• Skip lamps. Lamps take up space, so when possible, use recessed lighting or ceiling-mounted lights.
• Mount TVs. TVs can be mounted on walls fairly easily, so consider that rather than a large entertainment center that takes up room and wall space that could be used for something else.
• Multi-purpose. My filing cabinet was covered in a sheet, and with a few other things, became my side table in the living room. It worked great and saved us from having to get something to put in that corner to hold a drink or popcorn bowl.
• Double up. We have two sets of bunk beds for our older children. The boys got one and the girls the other, with the lower bunks for the younger kids. This saved us a ton of space by going from four beds down to, basically, two. Plus, they love them, especially the older ones. The top bunks are their own personal space and they like to set them up to their preference.

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  Everything has a place. This is the most important thing to remember. Everything has to have a home or it will lead to a constant messiness. Without a designated place for shoes, they get thrown everywhere and anywhere. Without a shelf for cereal in the pantry, the boxes are left on the counter, day after day.

If something doesn’t fit or has no place, consider whether you really need it. It could be that it just doesn’t fit into your life and home any longer. We forwent a dining room table for a year and a half because we just didn’t have the room. Sometimes it’s easy to get rid of something, and sometimes it’s painful.

Look over the things that you have and remind yourself that they are just things. They can be replaced, if you get rid of them and think you made a mistake. But I doubt this will happen. Even though we went back to the dining room table, I have not replaced anything else. I don’t think you will either.

Living in a smaller space has a lot of advantages. You’re closer to your family, literally, but it leads to the figurative sense as well. You have less to clean, therefore, more time to do other things. It also saves you money when you have smaller rents and mortgages, not to mention utilities. Re-purposing a room or reorganizing to make your space work for you can be very rewarding.

And at the end of the day, when you survey your simpler surroundings accomplished through hard work and creativity, you’ll be feeling pretty proud of your small space, which now has big potential.

 

What are your tricks for making the most of a small space? I’d love to hear about your creative fixes in the comments below!

 

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