Since housing is at a premium in many city and rents are going through the roof, many people have either have had to move into smaller spaces or be content with first apartments that are about the size of walk-in-closets found in McMansions. This means innovative and creative ways to store their stuff. Here are seven space-saving tricks for your new, small apartment:
Wall-mounted shelves save a surprising amount of space because you can store things beneath them. The same is true in the bathroom with wall-mounted toilets and sinks. The only problem with wall-mounted bathroom fixtures is that you’ll have to call in a plumber to rearrange the pipes. If you’re renting, see if your landlord will allow it. Another trick is to mount shelves up near the ceiling that run across the entire wall. These shelves are quite attractive when they’re full of books and knick-knacks.
If the head of the bed is low and right beneath a window, a deep, roomy windowsill can be used as a nightstand. Let it hold everything from a box of tissues to your cell phone to your datebook.
Since these light sources are also attached to the wall, they too take up little space. Some of them are adjustable so that they can serve as task lighting.
If you seldom use your bathtub, consider just taking it out and installing a shower. Showers not only take up much less space, but they get you cleaner even as they use less water than a tub.
Pantry shelves that are deep enough to fill the space between the fridge and the wall or the range and a floor cabinet yet just wide enough to hold a spice jar are excellent space savers. By the way, don’t worry about storing spices between the stove and the cabinet. Stoves are so well insulated now that their heat won’t reach the spices and ruin them.
Other ways to save space in the kitchen are to install floor cabinets roomy enough for pots and pans, wall or ceiling-mounted racks to hold utensils; lazy Susans tucked into corner cabinets or roll-out undersink cabinets.
Use overdoor storage for shoes, jewelry, hats, and bags. Use clothes hangers that are a bit more slender than normal and covered in velvet to be gentle to your clothes. Hang shirts with shirts, skirts with skirts and dresses with dresses to leverage the space and make it easier to get dressed in the morning. Use lots of storage boxes on the upper shelves and the floor. Make sure to label them.
Some people put out-of-season clothes and bed linens in boxes that can be rolled under the bed, but other people buy storage beds whose mattress can be raised up to reveal big storage space beneath.