On Using Limited Space Efficiently (Part 3: Get creative with storage and room layout)

When you’ve downsized as much as possible, and all the stuff you have is stuff you use or will use in short order, the final method to fit it all into a limited space is to get creative with the layout of your storage and rooms.  Thankfully, Joel and I set up our living room efficiently the first time, but we’ve had to rearrange the kitchen and closets to make better use of the spaces.

            Ideally, people would get furniture that makes the best use of the space, and put them in the most spacious and useful arrangement.  Similarly, we’d tuck belongings into easily-accessible yet out-of-the way compartments.

In reality, furniture isn’t cheap, and we may be stuck with hand-me-downs that don’t fit our space.  Furnishings and homes are also not always designed with efficiency in mind; stoves or fridges may impede access to certain cabinets, and beds may not be designed to allow storage underneath.  Also, attractive and useful storage containers cost money, and experimenting with the wrong ones can get expensive, especially if the store doesn’t accept returns.

Solution—to get creative with your space, consider adding nets hanging from the ceiling, building shelves on the walls, and double stacking books on a bookshelf.  Be open to unusual placements, and take note of every surface that you could possibly use—don’t forget the tops of bookshelves and fridges and ledges above doors to display knick-knacks that you’re not ready to part with, or to store pots or baskets.  Choose storage devices that can do double duty with items inside and on top (e.g. avoid bins or boxes with rounded tops), and when choosing kitchenware, go for stackable items.  Measure spaces (and write them down) before buying containers to fill them, and remember to bring a tape measure to the store or to read size descriptions on boxes.  Get permanent or semi-permanent hooks for your walls to hang everything from hats and coats to stuffed animals, pots, oven mitts, and alarm clocks.

As further examples, in a choice between two types of glass measuring cups, go for the ones with handles that don’t connect at the bottom; they will stack more easily inside each other or inside a bowl with the handle able to rest on the outside.  Set small items inside larger items when possible, such as extra dish towels or small appliances inside rarely-used, oversized soup pots or crock pots.  Buy stackable storage drawers; you can always use more or fewer to fit a different space.  Bed-risers work on some beds to increase storage underneath, but you might also consider investing in a new frame or in more slender storage drawers to fit underneath the current one.

A place for everything and everything in its place.