Living in a small space requires some serious organizing skills to maximize every square inch, but it’s well worth the effort. Learn the best tips for organizing small spaces so you can enjoy your cozy home!
I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Nicole Blackmon from @Sweet_Domicile last year for my Beautiful Home, Beautiful Life Summit. Since Nicole lives in Manhattan, she is an absolute expert at organizing small spaces and maximizing every square inch of living space.
Her number one tip–change your mindset to think of living with less space as A GIFT! When you live in a small space, you are more intentional about what you have in your home, which is actually a GREAT thing. If you don’t stay organized your space will feel cluttered and visual chaos leads to mental chaos. Keep reading to learn Nicole’s tips for small space organization. You can also listen to her interview below!
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BELOW!
Organizing Small Spaces
No matter the size home you are living in, organization is key to keeping your home and your life manageable. We are all going in a million different directions every day, and if your home is in chaos it is virtually impossible to be efficient. For people who live in small spaces, organization is even more crucial. Having a spot for everything and systems in place will help you get the most out of your space.
Nicole’s Organization Process:
- Ask yourself what location makes the most sense for storing a particular item.
- Ask whether you need daily access to it. If not, store it in a less accessible location so that you don’t take away valuable real estate for things you use daily.
- Group similar items together in baskets or storage bins.
- Don’t delay – put it away when you’re not using it.
These four easy steps will keep you sane. Be honest with yourself when you are organizing and really purge the items you don’t need and store the ones you don’t use on an everyday basis. Even if it goes against your nature, don’t let things pile up. Your small space will fill up quickly leaving you feeling crowded and overwhelmed.
Nicole’s Creative Storage Solutions:
- Under-the-bed storage is HUGELY valuable. Use bed risers if needed and store suitcases full of bedding, towels, and off-season clothes under your bed. You can even store off-season clothing and shoes in your suitcases!
- Use hanging shoe organizers on the backs of doors to organize everything from shoes to toiletries.
- Hide things like vacuum cleaners behind curtains.
- Store flat items under beds or even udder and/or behind your sofa.
- Make sure as much of your furniture as possible offers storage! For example, use dressers as nightstands for extra storage. Choose a coffee table with drawers.
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Furniture that serves double-duty as storage and something else (seating, for example) is one of my favorite things! This storage bench we used as seating at our girls’ art table also held all of our family board games in family room in our old house.
Also, I try to utilize the back of every closet door possible. I love the shoe storage idea! You can also use this door storage system like we did on the linen closet and in Attley’s room.
Living in a small space really is a gift–less to clean, less maintenance, and less space to fill up with junk! But keeping your home organized is the number one way to make the most out of your small space. Even if you don’t live in a small home, these creative solutions and Nicole’s easy process will make your life more organized!
Want more awesome organizing tips? Listen to these episodes of Colorful Conversations: What to Do When Your House Feels Overstuffed, The Biggest Missed Opportunity in Every House. I also have great ideas on how I stay organized in these posts: Coat Closet Organization for Under $100, 4 Practical Kid’s Room Organization Tips, 8 Practical Refrigerator Organization Tips.
Is this getting you psyched about organizing? We are excited to bring you the Beautiful Home Beautiful Life Summit again this year! We have three days packed with organizing and design sessions with over 25 experts that will be filled with amazing information. Registration opens February 1, and the summit will be happening February 16-18.
Make sure to click below to become a VIP! This will add you to my email list–we will be sending out all the information soon about how to register, freebies, the all-access pass, and more! Becoming a VIP will also get you access to our free design library, organization printables, free art, and more!
