Living in an apartment can be an amazingly affordable way to live in a place and not have to pay for every busted pipe or broken appliance. Yes, the landlord is there to take some of the weight off of your shoulders, but the tradeoff is renting a smaller space.

Apartments have their pros and cons, but perhaps the most difficult hinderance is the little amount of storage you have to work with. Some apartments only offer one storage closet and no resemblance of a garage, pantry, or basic storage areas that we tend to think of as a standard.

The goal will be the maximize space and minimalize what is sitting out so that you can clearly see all of your belongings without clutter.

The tips to make this possible include:

• Utilize the space you already have in ways you haven’t thought of yet.  Purchase Zipper Chests or fabric organizers to hide fabrics under your bed. You can use these for blankets, Winter clothes, and jackets when you don’t need them in Summer, or for anything that may go in a dresser or cabinet.
• Maximize your vertical space since there is less horizontal room to work with. This will mean more cabinets, shelves, and ways to put things against the walls instead of across the floors.
• Find a spot for everything. You shouldn’t look around and see papers everywhere, knickknacks or those tiny objects that just clutter an area. Find a drawer for them or a cabinet where you always know where everything is. Reclaim your kitchen counter space back from these knickknacks and enjoy cooking again with the space you deserve!
• Add Vertical Closet Storage to maximize your storage space.
• Utilize unexpected spots like the side of the fridge to hang your spatula and spices on.
• Get Magnetic Spice Jars and similar organizers for toiletries to get things off your countertops.
• Don’t purchase ginormous furniture. Look for thin/tall. Measure your rooms and be intentional about purchasing smaller furniture that will leave you with more room to do cartwheels!
• A major goal – find ways to get items off the floor at all costs. This gives you more room to walk around and move about your home.
• Use a room divider or curtains to divide your room into ‘zones.’ Such as ‘children’s play area’ and ‘adult relaxing area.’
• Purchase an ottoman bed to hide things or use the ottoman for storage in the living room.
• Have the stuff you use often in easy access, the stuff you don’t use often can be put away higher up like on a tall bookshelf or in high cabinets.
• Purge often and don’t hoard. Seasonally consider what you can recycle, donate, or throw away. Sometimes we hold onto things that are no longer serving us. Thank those objects for their memories and only hold onto things that are ‘sparking joy’ in the present moment for you. This is the methodology of Marie Kondo, who’s books and practices we recommend for all organization-fanatics.

We’ll leave you with the parting wisdom of this Netflix star, organization guru, and all-around home-angel, Marie Kondo of the KonMari Method:

“The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past… Imagine yourself living in a space that only contains things that spark joy… The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don’t.”

From all of us at Energy To Go – Happy organizing and trust your instincts on what should stay or go.