9 Ways to Maximize Space in Small Spaces
Small spaces can be full of life and love – if you know how to maximize the space correctly to make your home feel comfy and welcoming.
Most importantly, you can make your home work for you by being strategic about what you purchase and where you place it. Read on to discover 10 tips to make your small space feel wide open.
1. Create Space through Decluttering
Clutter makes any space feel crowded and chaotic. So, the first step in maximizing your small space is to declutter. Can you find items in your home you would be happy to sell, donate, or throw away?
Look at the spaces in your home and consider these as good starting points:
- Linen closet: Is your linen closet full of sheets and towels you haven’t touched in ages? Get rid of them because clearly you don’t need them. Create space for more important items.
- Closets: A popular trick in the clothes closet is to have all the hangars face backwards. After you wear something and return it to the closet, turn the hangar around. After a year, you will clearly see which pieces of clothing you didn’t wear. If you haven’t used an item or worn a piece of clothing in years, sell it, give it to someone in need, or donate it to a thrift store.
- Kitchen: Say goodbye to kitchen utensils you no longer use. How many times have you used that quesadilla maker you received for your wedding? If the answer is never, it’s time to donate it. Keep your favorite, most useful kitchen supplies and let others find usefulness in the rest.
- Bathroom: Clear out all the empty shampoo bottles in your shower and the expired medicines in your medicine cabinet. Go through your bathroom cabinets and remove items that no longer serve a purpose.
2. Think Outside the Box for Storage
As you declutter, consider how you can use the new free space for storage. For example, if your linen closet is by your bathroom, use the free shelving space to store health and beauty items you don’t use every day.
Consider out-of-the-box storage options, like under-bed storage units. Take advantage of hanging storage solutions for inside doors.
Decluttering and organizing your stuff will bring a calming peace to your place.
3. Utilize Vertical Spacing
If you live in a small home or apartment, you have to be creative when it comes to storage. This makes your wall space extremely valuable!
You can add floating shelves to rooms to tap into unused space. They can hold a variety of items, like books and decorative items. You can use them in the living room, bedroom, or kitchen.
Plus, you get to decide where you want them, ensuring your space uniquely reflects who you are.
4. Organize Drawers and Cabinets
Drawers and cabinets tend to be clutter catchalls.
You can’t find the socks you want to wear because they are buried somewhere in your sock drawer. You buy a new spice because you didn’t see the half-full spice in the spice cabinet.
Clutter costs you time and money.
With drawer and cabinet organizers, this will never be a problem again. Not only will it be easier to find what you need when you need it, but you will also appreciate how nice these spaces look once organized.
5. Choose Space-Saving Furniture
Think carefully about the furniture you have in your home. If you live in a confined space, you probably shouldn’t invest in a wraparound desk or a dining room table for 10.
That doesn’t mean you should go without a desk or a table. Instead, choose space-saving furniture.
- Choose a space-saving hideaway desk or wall-mounted desk that expands when in use.
- Find a drop-leaf table so you can make it larger when you have guests but save small on a daily basis.
- Use nesting tables instead of traditional side tables.
You should also look at rearranging your furniture to create a more open floor plan.
6. Invest in Multi-Purpose Furniture
We are big fans of multi-purpose things because they reduce the space needed for storage, save you money because you buy one item instead of several, and they are designed to be visually pleasing.
Here are some popular multi-purpose pieces of furniture to simplify your life and free up space:
- You can never go wrong with a futon/sofa bed, whether it is for you or guests.
- A storage bench will work wonders by your front door for collecting shoes and serving as additional seating.
- An ottoman with storage space works great to hold extra throw blankets in the living room, as well as functioning as a coffee table or additional seating when you have guests.
- A daybed rather than a traditional sofa in a spare room gives you a multi-purpose space: It can be your quiet place, your home office, or it can become a guest room when needed.
7. Add Counter Space and Get Creative with Kitchen Storage
If your kitchen lacks space, particularly counter space, preparing your favorite meals becomes a challenge. Instantly expand your countertop with an over-the-sink cutting board. You can have all the ingredients you need on the counter, while you prepare the protein and vegetables on the cutting board.
There are other functional solutions, like a rolling kitchen cart, to hold an appliance like a microwave on top and provide pantry storage on the shelves below. A floating island or a kitchen cart with a butcher block. The wheels let you move them around as needed.
8. Remove the Doors
Closet doors in bedrooms take up a lot of space when opened, which limits how you can use the space.
If you own your home, add a little freedom to the space by removing the doors. An exposed built-in closet will immediately make your room look larger.
This will increase ventilation to keep your clothes smelling fresher. Plus, it will encourage you to keep your closet organized as your belongings will be on display.
9. Follow the Motto: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place.
When you live in a “postage stamp” home or a tiny apartment, you must think strategically about where you place everything.
When you purchase something, make sure you have an idea of where it will go in your home and how it will improve or simplify your life.
For example, have a set of hooks by the door where you hang your purse and keys each day. Have a shelf in your pantry for canned goods. Have a cabinet for regularly used kitchen appliances. Have a shelf in your bathroom for extra toilet paper and face wipes.
When you make the most out of your limited space and have your home organized, your life will improve.
- You will feel less stress because clutter and chaos increase your stress levels.
- Less stress means you will be in a better mood.
- When you are in a better mood, life is good, and you can take on each new day.
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About the author Michelle Salater
Michelle Salater is a freelance finance writer with a passion for personal finance education. When she’s not in front of her computer, she’s reading biographies and exploring remote areas of the world. She also freelances for Wooster Media Group LLC.
