Making the Most of Small Spaces
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This is a situation familiar to many condo owners - you just don't have
room for everything you need to store or display. Particularly if you're
an "empty nester," you may find yourself going from a relatively large
house to a "cozy" 950 s.f. two-bedroom. Here are some simple tips: |
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Think Tall Most dressers, breakfronts, and desks are built with a horizontal design. In your previous dwelling, you may have a lovely bedroom set with a dresser and mirror that measures six feet across. This may not work in your new space. The idea is to use as little "floor space" as possible, and instead make use of the wall space from floor to ceiling, if possible. |
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Use All Available Storage Space. Parts of your closets, cabinets and walls are probably underutilized right now because you've tried to make due with your existing spaces. But simple wire shelves and organizers available at Target and other stores can maximize your storage space by providing extra levels. |
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Square Wicker Baskets - Everywhere. Really, they can hide anything and make it seem quaint. But they're square so they're not too quaint. Natural wood shades look great in most rooms, but they also come in white to match a particular background. |
| Bed, Bath & Beyond sells them for $19.00: |  |
| Target offers this great set of shelves and wire frame: |  |
| Decorative Shelves/Practical Shelves. Target sells some great decorative shelf units designed for displaying photographs and knick-knacks. The nice part about using shelves instead of just hanging pictures on the wall is that you can rotate the pictures whenever you feel like it and rearrange items whenever you want. | |
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| Target sells great shelving systems like this one (for $19.99): |  |
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For practical and more substantial storage, people often feel they need
to buy a piece of furniture, when sometimes a couple of plan wooden shelves
on a metal track will do just as well, be cheaper, and not use up valuable
floor space. Don't Use It? Get Rid of It! Small condos are not the ideal place for collecting endless amounts of ephemera, knick-knacks and items you're "going to fix someday." Be ruthless. |
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Bottom Line? Think tall, think thin, think high and get off the floor! |
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