I am excited to announce that I have partnered with Apartment Guide to serve as an Official Apartment Guide Decor Blogger! As an official blogger, I will be sharing articles and ideas for exploring your space, city and style.
Today’s topic is all about making the best use of your space. Whether you have an overabundance of it, or you are limited and making the best of tight quarters, a well thought out use of your square footage sets the tone for a well functioning and comfortable home.
Organize and Streamline:
Regardless of the amount of space you are working with, organization is key. Don’t let an overabundance of space become that oversized purse that you simply filled to the brim because you could. Keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed in a small space by donating excess items to a good cause – you’re sanity (and a local donation site of your choice, of course).
Consider how you live now, and how you would like to live ideally, and keep only those items that are absolutely necessary. I can tell you from personal experience it’s very liberating to get rid of things you don’t need. You don’t need redundant items for ‘what if’ scenarios that might occur in the future…I promise, and you certainly won’t miss having to store those extras in the meantime!
Everything in it’s place and a place for everything! If you have trouble finding a home for something, it might be time to consider whether it should actually have one. Can you live without it? Will your life be more difficult in the absence of this item? If not, rid yourself of the burden and send it on to a better place – a place outside your own place!
For more tips on organizing, visit Apartment Guide:
Dual Function or Reinvented Furniture:
For a small space, a clever use of your furniture may be precisely what your home needs. Rather than purchasing new pieces, reinvent those you already have by placing them in non-traditional locations and give them non-traditional uses.
An oversized coffee table, might be the perfect Media Center for your tv and dvd player. Perhaps an end table might work well as a more compact coffee table. An open console table, behind your sofa with room for a chair, might function fabulously as a desk, extra workspace or even a dining area and will free up the space that would otherwise need to be dedicated to your computer or a kitchen table. If not for use as an extra work surface, a console table is perfect for those table lamps you might typically place on an end table, and might provide extra storage space for books or blankets.
Get creative and think outside the box, a ‘table-like’ surface can be used in literally dozens of ways.
When in Doubt, Go Vertical:
If square footage is not on your side, think ‘upward and onward’ as you make your furniture choices. Where children and teens are concerned, consider giving them a sleeping space above a potential work or play space and maximize your overall living space in their bedrooms (and potentially in your main living areas as well). Floor to ceiling bookshelves with a smaller overall footprint, make sense if floor space is lacking in your particular space. Consider a fold down shelf inside a tall armoire that might be used as a retractable work surface, or a ‘sometimes’ home office. If freeing up floor space is your goal, using that extra wall space for hanging or floating shelves is a fabulous way to have that storage you need without impacting the visual or actual flow of your home.
For more Tips & Tricks visit Apartment Guide:
- Whether you’re living, looking or moving, Apartment Guide offers how-to tips for making the most of a space on http://www.movingtoday.com and http://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/.
- “Like” Apartment Guide on Facebook at Facebook.com/apartmentguide, follow them on Twitter @AptGuide and “circle” them on Google+ for real-time tips and updates on making the most of your space and living on a budget.
- If you’re ready for a whole new space or are looking to move, Apartment Guide has the photos, floor plans, features and tips to help you find the perfectapartment community.
Disclosure Language:
Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. have partnered with bloggers like me as Official Apartment Guide Bloggers. As part of this program, I have received compensation. They have not told me what to purchase or what to say about the products used, and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
