For efficient small space living, you have to keep in mind the area available at all times and need compact multi-functional furniture pieces and furnishings that optimize usable space quite effectively. Here are some tips from us:
* An elevated loft bed is a great item to make use of vertical room space while open shelves instead of chest of drawers can be used to accommodate more books and magazines.
Display your handmade quilts and throws that make the bed look warm and elegant at the same time.
* Fashionable bright-colored washable slipcovers can make your mismatched furniture pieces look coordinated and in harmony with each other.
* Keep things you want to hide away from view in containers that can be stored under the bed.
* Make your tiny bedroom look comfortable and inviting by adding soft pillows of all sizes and shapes.
* Maximize the use of vertical wall space by adding bookcases and shelves.
* Nail some hanging wall shoe pockets at the inside of your closet door, where you can keep your shoes, socks, gloves and even your handkerchiefs.
* Use bright colors and make use of fabrics complimenting your bed linens, throws and pillows, to add a romantic touch to your tiny home, apartment or dorm Decor.
* Use filing cabinets and decorated stackable crates as a cheap option for keeping your place organized.
* You can also use your large storage trunk as a table.
* You may like to add a personal touch to your tastefully decorated tiny home by selecting a color scheme for your walls, furniture and furnishings beforehand.
* You may utilize space underneath the loft bed by accommodating your entertainment area or work desk underneath it along with a beautiful floor lamp and ottoman to rest your tired legs. Even this ottoman can have the storage area to hide away magazines and bills to be paid.
* You may want to add a small futon for an additional seating area.
(Taken from “Small Space Living” at http://homedecor.iloveindia.com)
Shoes anywhere. In storage bins under the dresser, in a storage drawer and mostly all over the floor. All the closets are stuffed. Moreover the rooms are small. Any suggestions for how to organize everything?
Before tackling your shoe issue, you should first clean out your closets so that they aren’t stuffed. Walk over to your master bedroom closet and take a fearless peek inside. Ask yourself these questions:
1. Do I have items here that don’t belong in a closet?
In general, let’s say that clothing is the only thing you should find in your master bedroom closet. This isn’t the place to store hundreds of family photos in search of albums. It isn’t the ideal spot for holiday decorations. Gift-wrap and bows shouldn’t take space away from suits and dresses. You catch my drift.
2. Is the closet bursting with clothing I haven’t worn in a long time?
Perhaps you harbor full wardrobes from various sizes. It’s time to clean everything out and keep only what serves you now. A charity or women’s shelter is waiting for your things and wants to give you a tax receipt!
3. Is everything separated into categories and organized by color?
If your closet isn’t at least divided into categories (blouses, sweats, skirts, slacks, etc.), every time you think of an item you’d like to wear, a battle to find it will ensue. It does indeed take a few hours to organize a closet. Over the course of a year, however, you’ll save twice that time.
Now let’s consider those shoes. I once organized a famous actress who had a huge shoe collection. She kept 89 pairs that I organized by color in stacks of clear acrylic boxes. (”If you can’t see them, you generally don’t wear them” is a good rule of thumb to remember.) And even she parted with 40 pairs! If she can give away 40 pairs of Manolo Blahniks to a women’s shelter, I know you can weed through your collection. After you pare down your shoes, divide your collection by type. For example, it’s nice to keep day shoes, sport shoes and evening shoes separate. If you live in a climate with four distinct seasons, you may have a winter and summer selection. Here are some common shoe storage solutions:
1. Hang a canvas shoe rack over your closet door and keep your sport shoes there.
2. Like most women you probably don’t use your evening shoes too often, so they can go into clear acrylic shoeboxes on a high shelf in your closet. (You may want to have an extra shelf put in if you see a huge space between the standard shelf and the ceiling.)
3. With your closet organized, you can introduce a shoe rack. The metal expanding shelf variety works really well. You can also use a cedar shoe rack if you have the space and protect your woolens at the same time!
Use these tricks to make the most of the storage space in your children’s bedroom.
* Organise their space efficiently. Store toys in a variety of containers, combining see-through plastic crates, trunks and toy boxes with tubs, baskets, over-door organisers and mini-drawers.
* Sort the small stuff. Use clear plastic jars with lids (old sweet jars are ideal) for storing small toys suchs as figurines, marbles, badges and Lego for over three-year olds.
* Choose the right storage. Drawers and shelves are more useful than hanging space, so go for wardrobes that give you all three. Fill the bottom of the wardrobe with plastic baskets for storing socks, underwear, nightwear and shoes.
* Under bed storage. Use the space under the bed for storing seasonal clothing, coats, and extra bedding. Plastic drawers on castors are ideal, or go for soft canvas zip up bags that can expand to fit more in.
* Hanging basket storage. Find storage space you never knew you had by hanging wall-hung baskets by the bed, in a line above a desk and on the back of a door. They are ideal for pencils, pens and crafty bits, and hanging them at kid height encourages them to put things away after play.
Home Organization on a Budget: Accessories for less than $10
Think you have to break the bank to bust the clutter? Think again. Home organization for less is easy and achievable! These 10 home organization accessories — each less than $10 — will help you streamline your home and stay on budget.
13-Slot Accordion File Folders
This common office product can be used to file bills, greeting cards, recipes, articles or just about anything else you can think of. It’s all about how you label the sections. For example, make each section a month, and you’ve got a handy place to stash receipts and stubs after paying your bills; at the end of the year, store the entire folder with your tax return. Or label each section with a category (appetizer, entree, dessert) and file recipes. You can also label by category (health and fitness, hairstyles, home renovations) to store articles you want to read or save.
Hooks
This inexpensive hardware can tame the mess of jackets in the hall closet or the dress-up clothes in the playroom. Hooks keep your purse, keys and dog leashes handy at the door. And because they can be hung at varying heights, they’re great for short and tall people alike. The new Command hooks by 3M can even be removed in one piece without leaving a sticky residue. And the largest size holds up to seven and a half pounds!
Baskets
Made in every shape, size, shade and material, baskets no longer qualify as strictly country decor; finding designs to suit your style is easier than ever. These lidless beauties offer easy access but can quickly become catch-alls for clutter, so be sure to label them. Tie on a tag with ribbon if you’re not fond of sticker-type labels.
You can get the entire family organized by having one big basket per person in the mudroom for shoes, backpacks and umbrellas. Create a welcome basket by putting all those free samples in one place for use by your houseguests. Place a smaller basket near the TV for remotes and program guides, and use a larger one for grab-and-go snacks in the kitchen.
Under-Shelf Baskets
These nifty containers, which hang from existing shelves, allow you to make use of previously wasted space between the top of your canned goods, for example, and the shelf above. The baskets come in various depths, so you can use them to store everything from place mats to cookbooks.
Shelf Dividers
These inexpensive partitions help sort items so you don’t get conked in the head when you reach for something stuffed onto the top shelf of your closet. Dividers make room for shoes, purses, sweaters, games, even cookie sheets.
Stacking Shelves
These are ideal when you have the height but not necessarily the width for storage. The shelves come in widths ranging from extra small (six inches) to jumbo (more than a foot) and are made of heavy-gauge wire coated in plastic, rubber or stainless steel. They’re great for dishes, canned goods, spices, games, toys and craft supplies.
Drawer Organizers
These come in mesh or solid styles, with compartments for everything from rubber bands and paper clips to pencils, kitchen utensils and even makeup. A clean egg carton or box lids will also get the job done.
Closet Rod Doublers
This handy gadget does exactly what it says it will. The doubler hooks over your top closet rod to give you a second hanging bar underneath. In a child’s room, you can store rarely worn or out-of-season togs up top and keep everyday clothes within the little one’s reach. To function properly in an adult’s closet, the top bar must be at least 72 inches high. Rod doublers also work well in craft rooms for fabric and other supplies.
Photo Boxes
Pretty to look at, these help hide things in plain sight. Not only can acid-free boxes store and protect treasured photos, but they can also stash a year or two’s worth of bank statements and canceled checks. Large boxes fit souvenirs and children’s oversized art projects.
Mailboxes
Try planting a mailbox next to your garden, where you can tuck away frequently used tools. Stick another mailbox near the children’s play area for sidewalk chalk, jump ropes and other small items that are easily lost in the garage.
So dig out your loose change — these home organization solutions cost less than lunch out and will turn untidy rooms into clutter-free spaces in no time.
The garage is one of the most versatile spaces in a home, able to house anything from cars to gardening supplies to school memories. That’s precisely why it’s also a breeding ground for chaos, which becomes quite apparent once you start looking for a road map, spade or high school yearbook. You can tame the clutter, though, with the help of Jamie Novak, author of two best-selling books, 1,000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets and 1,000 Best Quick and Easy Time-Saving Strategies. Here, Jamie reveals how to make the most of your garage space.
1. Sort Your Stuff The first step is figuring out what you own. Start by sorting everything into categories. Separate the gardening tools from the car maintenance supplies and sporting equipment. The “like with like” principle is a basic, yet powerful, organizing technique.
2. Toss the Trash Keep a few heavy-duty garbage bags handy as you sort so you can easily toss things away. Be ruthless; 86 all the broken equipment, rusted tools, and toys that are missing pieces. Haul the recyclables to the curb or to the recycling center, and check www.eiae.org to learn where you can drop off hazardous waste, such as computer equipment and paint cans. Insider tip: home supply stores sell a powder mix that can be added to paint cans to make them safe to throw away.
3. Share Your Stuff Once you have separated items into groups, and tossed the trash, you may be surprised to see how much good stuff you own. Keep the best and give away the rest.
• Give away your unused items for free at www.freecycle.org
• Donate to a local charity and take the tax deduction
• Give back borrowed items to their rightful owner
• Schedule a garage sale for the items you’ve earmarked
• Return abandoned family items
4. Measure the Space To see exactly how much room you have for storage, park your car in the garage and open the doors and trunk. Use chalk to outline the floor space. Measure the gap from the top of the open trunk to the ceiling; you can then hang things above your car.
5. Plan the Space The items you decide to keep need a home, and the floor is not an option. Plan out the space, designating certain areas for specific items. Look at your categories and pick an area of the garage for each one, keeping accessibility in mind.
6. Store It Where You Use It Keep the items you use most in the easiest to reach locations. For example, store your bulk paper goods near the house so you’re not walking through the garage for a roll of paper towels. Stow infrequently used items—like outdoor holiday decorations—in the hardest to reach places, like the rafters.
7. Add Storage Options Now is the time to add shelving and cabinets, tubs and bins. Old kitchen cabinets and versatile pegboards add valuable storage along the walls. Use all the space from floor to ceiling, making sure you can open all doors without banging or scratching something. Be creative: use the backs of doors including the ones on cabinets.
8. Give Everything a Home Don’t mix categories and store similar items together. Consider a sports rack for balls, gloves, cleats and hula-hoops. Leave room to grow—moderately. Use smaller containers that you can easily move once they’re full. Protect treasured items in waterproof containers, and do not store photographs or other temperature—and moisture—sensitive items in the garage.
9. Label, Label, Label Label each bin, shelf, container and cabinet door. This makes it much easier to maintain order, so even when you’re in a hurry, you’ll be able to quickly put things away. Label the lid and all sides so you can read the contents from any direction.
10. Maintain the New System To keep your garage looking great you’ll need to break the old habits that caused the clutter in the first place. Adopt a household rule that you’ll put away the item when you’re done with it.
You can say goodbye to garage clutter using these 10 steps, but they only work if you do. Dreaming about an only gets you so far. Schedule a time and get started; it is easier than you are anticipating. Work on small sections over a period of time or do a weekend marathon session; the single best way to transform your garage from chaotic to contained is to give yourself a deadline, enlist the help of others, and get started.