Keeping an apartment organized is the goal of many apartment residents, but sometimes creating more floor space is easier said than done.
Some organization experts recommend going from room to room getting rid of accumulated stuff. Other experts recommend using a minimalist mindset and methods as opposed to getting rid of stuff at random. Simply put, only hold on to items that make you happy (and are necessary). By adopting a minimalistic approach, your apartment should stay organized for good.
It may be hard to know where to start when approaching home organization. In this article, we discuss three things super organized people do to keep their apartment looking fabulous and clutter free.
Make Use of Your Space
If you happen to have a tiny apartment, it’s vital to make the most of your space. You may have heard of people living successfully in tiny yet functional spaces including studio apartments and tiny homes. People who live in minuscule apartments have one thing in common: They make every little square foot count.
Making an open, yet functional space livable requires some creativity. Here are a few creative storage ideas to make a small space work:
Creative Storage Solutions
- Utilize over-the-door organizers to hang items such as sunglasses, belts, cleaning supplies, and shoes on the backs of closet doors.
- Purchase a rolling storage pantry and slip it next to your fridge (make sure there’s enough room to do so).
- Create hidden storage by using a shoe organizer or electronic storage solution as a coffee table.
- Incorporate corner shelves to create extra storage space.
- Use removable adhesive hooks to hang shower caddies.
- Fold shirts into a small rectangle shape and place them vertically in dresser drawers.
- To fashion more storage into your kitchen, bring in a chef’s cart.
In addition to these smart storage ideas, consider these space saving ideas:
- If you don’t have a closet, find a slim clothing rack.
- If you have a queen or king bed, put the bed in your room first followed by other large items such as furniture.
- Balance what you can and can’t see with open storage.
- Put boxes as opposed to baskets (where junk will accumulate) above the cabinets and refrigerator.
- Hang self-adhesive magnetic or metal strips inside cabinet doors to hang magnetic spice containers, knives, and other metal items
Make a Space More Livable by Parting With Items
Have you recently moved into a small apartment that has you baffled about your storage options? Start by deciding what kind of activities you want your space to support. Activities may include eating, sleeping, and relaxing. Set up everything accordingly after you decide how you like to perform each activity. If you find you have too many belongings for your new living space, you might have a problem. Sometimes to make your space livable, it’ll require opening up closet space by getting rid of some things.
Super organized apartment dwellers know what to keep and what to give away. If you find you have too many belongings, it’s time to part with some — or several items.
How do you go about sorting your belongings? It’s all about sorting items by category and not room. (We elaborate on this more below.)
When you straighten up one area at a time, it’s hard to figure out the volume of the project. And, you won’t have a bird’s eye view of where you need to add storage. The result is it’s difficult to organize your apartment effectively. That’s why organizing by category and not room-by-room is a better idea.
So how do you tidy up space by category? Here are the steps you must take:
- Start by collecting and sorting the most natural items that you would be comfortable giving away.
- End the project by sorting through the items that you are going to have the most difficult time deciding whether you should keep or throw them out.
- Begin by sorting more critical items such as clothing.
- Move on to the kitchen and living room items that are necessities.
- Next, go through your books and papers.
- Last, sort through miscellaneous items such as cords, kitchen supplies, craft items, and other random things.
- You also might want to leave the sentimental objects such as photos and letters until the very end.
Do you have a lot of sentimental items? Are you planning a move to a large space within the next year? Set those items aside for temporary removal to a self-storage space. Your extra belongings will be safer in a climate-controlled self-storage unit.
Plan Ahead in a Planner and Don’t Procrastinate
If you’re wondering what putting your agenda on a calendar or planner has to do with keeping your apartment cozy and organized; that’s a fair question. By staying consistent with cleaning and organizing your apartment, you won’t have a giant mess pile up. Take too long to get things done and all of a sudden you’ll have a task that will take a few hours to complete instead of a few minutes. Errands you regularly need to run should get written down in your planner. Other tasks to write down should include an exercising schedule, as well as when you plan to clean and organize the apartment.
Check out these organization tips the pros use in their homes to keep things tidy. In addition to adding organization tasks to your calendar, remember, it’s best not to procrastinate.
Here are a few examples on how you can prevent tasks from piling up:
- After using something, put it away.
- Do the dishes right after dinner instead of letting them sit in the sink.
- Open your mail instead of letting it sit there for days on end.
- Ask the kids to tidy up their rooms every night before they go to bed.
Religiously follow your calendar and stay on top of the clutter. Your apartment (and your significant other) will thank you for your dedication.
Final Thoughts
Your biggest motivation for getting organized should be your family, and if you don’t live with family, your motivation should be self-care. Why is that?
If you have an organized apartment, not only will it be easier to find your kid’s homework, for example, but you’ll have more time for fun activities! Think about it: If you continuously have chores and organization tasks that are piling up you’re going to have to get them done sooner or later.If that happens, you’ll have less time to spend with your family or do things that you love.
Keep things tidy in your apartment by getting organized from the moment you begin unpacking. If you’ve already been living in your apartment for a while, it’s not too late to get super organized.
Follow the tips we outlined above, and soon enough you’ll be living in a space that’s functional and organized. Now it’s time to go outside, breathe in the fresh air, and have some fun!