Small Space Living
Ever since we got married, Zach and I have lived in a one-bedroom apartment. Less to clean, less expensive, and more than enough room for both of us. Now that there are three of us, we've had to be creative with our use of space. The first thing we had to do was decide what words we wanted to describe our home. For me, those were welcoming, peaceful, cozy, and serene. Here are some other ways that we've made our small space work for us:
- Constantly get rid of clutter!
Clutter is the bane of my existence. Since storage space is limited, I am constantly going through bookcases and closets to see what we no longer use/like/fit in/etc. It's very freeing to be able to sort through your shirts without having to use brute force! Granted, this philosophy has created a bit of tension between Zach and myself as he is more of a pack-rat and I am more of an exterminator. But sometimes the place just has to be fumigated if you're going to thrive in a small space.
- Everything should have a place
When you know where everything goes, there's little excuse for leaving things out on the floor or the counter. When bathtime is over, the rubber duckies and baby soap get put on their shelf, leaving my bathtub looking much more serene and welcoming.
– Don't be afraid of paint!
Paint can do wonders to open up a small room! And just because it's small doesn't mean you don't have have to love it! In fact, you should!
- Make use of pretty shelves, boxes, and containers
Ikea, Marshalls, Ross, and Target all have inexpensive containers to fit a variety of tastes. I keep all of Baby M's toys in a couple of baskets in the living room that go with my overall theme. Instead of feeling like my home is filled with giant storage containers, I use ones that enhance the feeling of my home and make me feel comfortable.
Here's one of the baskets we keep Baby M's toys in - it's tucked behind our couch and is in line with the rest of the living room decor
- Don't waste any space
This include under the bed/crib space, bookshelves, and more! One shelf can easily become three when you add in cube storage or a stackable shoe rack. We utilize every inch under our bed and the crib as well as the space under the changing table. We don't waste our bookshelf space on knick-knacks. Everything has a purpose and a meaning for us. Even our cute shelf blocks that once held candles now hold books.
In one of our closets we have utilized everything from a hanging shoe rack to wire shelves on the floor and a stack of drawers up on the high shelf
- Color co-ordinate
When you keep things in the same color family, you feel like you have a more cohesive room. For this reason, we have kept Baby M's bedding and décor in the same family as our own bedding. It keeps our room peaceful and serene.
In keeping with our words of serene and peaceful, we have chosen neutrals such as beige, sage, and chocolate - these colors work equally well for an adult bedroom or a nursery
- Keep re-arranging until you get something that feels perfect
I cannot tell you how many times I have rearranged our living room. As we got more and more stuff for M, our old set-up just wasn't cutting it. So we kept rearranging, leaving a setup for a few days to get a feel for it until we found the one that felt right.
- Make sure your home still feels like you
Babies have a lot of stuff! It's easy for your home to become overrun with all their clothes, toys, spitup, blankets, and more! That's why it's so important for me to feel like M is a part of our life, not running it. This means cleaning up the spills, keeping the laundry contained in one place, maintaining my own style of décor, and keeping his basket of toys in a corner so that when he's asleep or out with Zach I still feel like it's my home.
- Spend 5 minutes at the end of the day picking up
I find that when I spend just a few minutes at the end of each day picking up toys, bottles, bibs, pillows, and everything that has managed to find a home on the floor, I go to bed feeling much more at peace. Clutter automatically makes a space feel smaller, and when it can't be helped during the day, I enjoy even a few quiet minutes reading in the living room after everything has been picked up and put away.
- Constantly get rid of clutter!
Clutter is the bane of my existence. Since storage space is limited, I am constantly going through bookcases and closets to see what we no longer use/like/fit in/etc. It's very freeing to be able to sort through your shirts without having to use brute force! Granted, this philosophy has created a bit of tension between Zach and myself as he is more of a pack-rat and I am more of an exterminator. But sometimes the place just has to be fumigated if you're going to thrive in a small space.
- Everything should have a place
When you know where everything goes, there's little excuse for leaving things out on the floor or the counter. When bathtime is over, the rubber duckies and baby soap get put on their shelf, leaving my bathtub looking much more serene and welcoming.
– Don't be afraid of paint!
Paint can do wonders to open up a small room! And just because it's small doesn't mean you don't have have to love it! In fact, you should!
- Make use of pretty shelves, boxes, and containers
Ikea, Marshalls, Ross, and Target all have inexpensive containers to fit a variety of tastes. I keep all of Baby M's toys in a couple of baskets in the living room that go with my overall theme. Instead of feeling like my home is filled with giant storage containers, I use ones that enhance the feeling of my home and make me feel comfortable.
- Don't waste any space
This include under the bed/crib space, bookshelves, and more! One shelf can easily become three when you add in cube storage or a stackable shoe rack. We utilize every inch under our bed and the crib as well as the space under the changing table. We don't waste our bookshelf space on knick-knacks. Everything has a purpose and a meaning for us. Even our cute shelf blocks that once held candles now hold books.
- Color co-ordinate
When you keep things in the same color family, you feel like you have a more cohesive room. For this reason, we have kept Baby M's bedding and décor in the same family as our own bedding. It keeps our room peaceful and serene.
- Keep re-arranging until you get something that feels perfect
I cannot tell you how many times I have rearranged our living room. As we got more and more stuff for M, our old set-up just wasn't cutting it. So we kept rearranging, leaving a setup for a few days to get a feel for it until we found the one that felt right.
- Make sure your home still feels like you
Babies have a lot of stuff! It's easy for your home to become overrun with all their clothes, toys, spitup, blankets, and more! That's why it's so important for me to feel like M is a part of our life, not running it. This means cleaning up the spills, keeping the laundry contained in one place, maintaining my own style of décor, and keeping his basket of toys in a corner so that when he's asleep or out with Zach I still feel like it's my home.
- Spend 5 minutes at the end of the day picking up
I find that when I spend just a few minutes at the end of each day picking up toys, bottles, bibs, pillows, and everything that has managed to find a home on the floor, I go to bed feeling much more at peace. Clutter automatically makes a space feel smaller, and when it can't be helped during the day, I enjoy even a few quiet minutes reading in the living room after everything has been picked up and put away.
Yep, you need to organize us, too :)
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