The average U.S. household has 300,000 things in it.
From the tiniest thumbtack to each book on your shelf and every piece of clothing hanging in your closet, there's a lot of stuff to keep organized. It's even more daunting if you're bringing it all into a smaller apartment.
Many people tend to look at a smaller home and see what's missing — space. Yet, fewer closets and less built-in storage doesn't mean you're missing out on somewhere to put your stuff.
If you're smart with your furniture choices, color picks and organizational tactics, every corner of a small space can become a “beloved spot."
When working with a smaller living space, your goal, according to Michelle Crouch writing for Reader's Digest, should be to remove clutter not create more storage space. Clutter can manifest as items you want to keep, but not display, as well as things that you no longer need.
Certain keepsakes you want to hold onto can spend some time in a storage unit until you have a larger home. Paper records, greeting cards, mementos from special events (that aren't that special anymore) and old letters from past relationships are all things that no longer need to follow you from place to place.
In fact, having a smaller apartment can help you triage what you really want to keep with you. What's left can either go into storage or head to the round file (a.k.a. the trash.)
After narrowing down your necessities, take a look at your apartment for hidden storage opportunities. Each room can yield more space than you may think upon the first inspection. Taking a close and thoughtful look can help you find the right place for all your belongings, even in a small apartment.
There are two areas in your bedroom that can be great for storage — your closet and under your bed. Maximizing space in your closet is possible with a variety of storage ideas. From special hangers to repurposing household items, your closet can hold twice as much stuff as you think.
Tips for organizing small spaces are handiest in the bathroom. It's most likely the tightest space in a small apartment, but there's room to spare in there, too. Overlooked areas ideal for extra storage include above the toilet and inside cabinets.
The best way to increase storage space in your kitchen is to add more counter space.
Most likely the largest room in your apartment, the living room can serve as a catch-all for the stuff you need to store that won't naturally go somewhere else.
While not technically a room, don't dismiss the potential for storage in seemingly useless spaces. Your hallways are the perfect location for things like coats, shoes or umbrellas.
Small storage shelves can go in almost any space in your home. They're a universal space-saving device because they turn wall space into storage space. Especially in corners, which can feel like unusable areas of your apartment, shelves can save the day.
Trade in the cute, framed pictures you've put up on one wall and install shelves for instant storage. Deeper shelves can hold small bins, masking the appearance of anything that's not so cute, and special corner shelving units nestle in nicely. There are so many shelving ideas out there, it'll be easy to incorporate a few in your apartment.
Now that you've found a spot in your apartment for all your stuff, it's time to decorate. Just because you have a small space doesn't mean every nook and cranny has to go to holding stuff.
Leave a little room to make things pretty and transform your small space into the perfect home.