Living in a small space be it at home with parents, a dorm room, or a first apartment, we all know that flat surfaces are a premium. Any place that something can go, it generally does until it’s one thing on top of another and you’re looking around, wondering where to start because you’re living in clutter.
This is not a new story. Everyone lives in a place extremely small at one time or another. My best friend and her husband spent their first year in an apartment that is about the size of my living room. It’s learning how to utilize space that some people never get. After all, it’s easier to just toss things on a dresser or a desk and then deal with it later. It’s taken me years to figure out how to make my life easier by not living in a mess of my own making. Particularly in my bathroom.
In the last three days, I’ve made the concerted effort to actually put into practice what I preach because (I admit) I tended to tell others tips for organizing and then came home to an overfilled bathroom and a cluttered bedroom. I said it was because I knew where everything was, but the reality? I am chronically tired which makes me lazy. I’m more likely to lay in bed for an entire day off than to get on my hands and knees and clean out under it.
Once going, I’ve gotten both places set up to look great, make finding things easier, and look fun at the same time. The dollar store is heaven for me and for anyone living on a budget, it makes sense – a bin from there can be any color, any size. I’m particularly fond of anything that looks kitchy like the jumbo-sized popcorn bins I use in my bedroom and the plastic “basket weave” bin in my bathroom. (All can be seen on my flickr account in various pictures.) Many of these were acquired throughout the last year with specific ideas for how they’d be used; amusingly enough, all of them are in different places.
In my marathon cleaning sessions, I was able to organize my totes to specific purposes. One bin under my bed has all books, another all my craft supplies. I can reach under there, and with minimal effort, extract either one for what I need. I wish I’d thought of that in the dorm as it would have made move out so much easier than the last minute “I need boxes!” dash. There’s open top bins on my dresser that have headbands, my straightener, and other products within reach. Fabric collapsibles from Target (5.99$ a bin) live on my storage unit, holding pet supplies and other items.
Note I said storage unit – in my small room, I have two wall shelves. That’s it. By getting a unit from Target for 14.99$ (white with 3 shelves) in college, I was able to keep my closet in some semblance of order. Getting a second one to attach as you can put two together safely, I expanded my usable surface space and with the shelves being adjustable, I can have it in as many combinations as I choose.
If you live at home or an apartment and can’t get a unit or something like that, think about your wall space. 3M makes hooks that attach to the wall strongly and remove cleanly. I used them in the dorm all four years and they held up to filled backpacks, jackets, and bags. Currently I have screw-in mug hooks in every wall and they’ve been great for putting up belts, necklaces, and clothing.
