Most families have to live in small apartments at least once in a lifetime. However, small-space living comes with a bunch of challenges. Many families have trouble adapting to these spaces without some sort of plan for doing so. If you and your family live in a small space, here are four ways to help you better cope with the situation.
1. Double-duty furniture
According to Apartment Therapy, choosing furniture that serves more than one purpose will help you adjust to small-space living. When you’re decorating your new apartment look for items like storage benches that double as seats for the kitchen table. Look also for items like futons that are both couches and beds or lidded hampers that can double as end tables. Get creative when it comes to choosing items that have more than one purpose.
2. Use your walls
When your apartment is small, it’s best to use as much wall space as you can. Rather than having furniture with a wide base, look for items that “climb” the walls. Entertainment centers with drawers and shelves become storage areas for books, CDs, family photo albums, and the like. Hanging shelves with hooks give you a place to put keys, gloves, and mail. The more you use the walls the more you’ll open up the floor space for other items.
3. Alternative spaces
If your living situation is only temporary—say you’re waiting for the home you’re buying to be free of its tenants—think about using a storage unit, like those from Stadium Storage. Just make sure that you get one that is easy to access. This is something that you’ll really want to do if you’re in your apartment temporarily, and you know that you need to get into your stuff quite a bit. Getting a storage unit allows you to keep the stuff that’s important to you without making you use up space to store it.
4. Throw it away
Families who plan on staying in their small apartment for a while need to get comfortable throwing things away. One of the reasons why it’s so difficult to keep a small space clean is because it’s human nature to hold onto things that are no longer useful. If you haven’t used an item in six months or so, toss it or give it away. Doing this on the regular allows you to keep the most crucial items.
Learning to navigate bathroom and sleeping time count as only some of the challenges families face when they live in small apartments. Storage, shelving issues, and other problems are common issues in small-space living. If you and your family live in a small space implement these ideas to make better use of the space you have.
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