Keeping a small appartment clean

[VivienneJ]

A book I hadn’t heard of and that sounds interesting. Will need to check it out. That’s a good analogy; we start in little ways and then the clutter overtakes us. I haven’t actually been in an IKEA store to date, but I looked at their website and you’re right, they aren’t that pricey. I’ll have to go there sometime, just for fun.

IKEA is a wonderful source of amazing storage options. It is the one store I will really miss when I move back home. At present I am looking at my few storage units and deciding which to ship home.

 

[Falco]

I live in 400 sq feet - a studio apartment. It is a never ending journey to keep it tidy, and contain all my handcrafts at the same time.

IKEA is a wonderful store for people who need to keep tidy and lack the space to do it easily.

I use the IKEA Benno CD tower to hold my DVD movies - I rehouse my disks in slimline CD cases, 4 times smaller than the usual DVD case - hundreds of movies in a tower that usually holds 84 movies.

It looks neater to have your storage behind cupboard doors - open up to a stack of plastic boxes of craftwork. Even my office is behind a mirror cupboard door, and various units slide out when needed - desk, scanner, printer, files. Otherwise the whole lot are invisible behind a huge mirror.

If you find that you clutter your horizontal surfaces, limit the amount of open spaces you have available. My dining table is a foldaway gateleg table which is only put up when I have a need of a workspace. Otherwise it is folded down to the size of a small shelf and stands against the wall. If I have nowhere to dump stuff, I cannot clutter. Things have to be put away immediately they are brought into the house, or they stay on the floor and trip me up.

I stopped buying paper books, and invested in a Kobo e-reader - which now holds 158 books in the same space as one small paperback book. Lots more space for the things I cannot consolidate electronically.

And my luxurious bed is a SICO wallbed - I don’t have to bother with duvets, bedspreads and dozens of designer cushions to make it look attractive - just make it neatly and up it goes into yet another cupboard! Acres of lovely floorspace that has to stay relatively clear because I will need the bed again that night.

 

[3DOCTORS]

I live in 400 sq feet - a studio apartment. It is a never ending journey to keep it tidy, and contain all my handcrafts at the same time.

IKEA is a wonderful store for people who need to keep tidy and lack the space to do it easily.

I use the IKEA Benno CD tower to hold my DVD movies - I rehouse my disks in slimline CD cases, 4 times smaller than the usual DVD case - hundreds of movies in a tower that usually holds 84 movies.

It looks neater to have your storage behind cupboard doors - open up to a stack of plastic boxes of craftwork. Even my office is behind a mirror cupboard door, and various units slide out when needed - desk, scanner, printer, files. Otherwise the whole lot are invisible behind a huge mirror.

If you find that you clutter your horizontal surfaces, limit the amount of open spaces you have available. My dining table is a foldaway gateleg table which is only put up when I have a need of a workspace. Otherwise it is folded down to the size of a small shelf and stands against the wall. If I have nowhere to dump stuff, I cannot clutter. Things have to be put away immediately they are brought into the house, or they stay on the floor and trip me up.

I stopped buying paper books, and invested in a Kobo e-reader - which now holds 158 books in the same space as one small paperback book. Lots more space for the things I cannot consolidate electronically.

And my luxurious bed is a SICO wallbed - I don’t have to bother with duvets, bedspreads and dozens of designer cushions to make it look attractive - just make it neatly and up it goes into yet another cupboard! Acres of lovely floorspace that has to stay relatively clear because I will need the bed again that night.

Wow, 400 sq. ft.! :tiphat: I think you win the award! :clapping: :yeah_me: :clapping: I had trouble with 530 sq. ft. It was laid out kind of weird, though, which made this useless narrow hallway, and another nice corner was fairly useless due to a floor heat vent. Still, first world problems, I suppose. The idea of having my stuff I do decide to keep in bins and the bins behind doors is definitely appealing to me more and more. The idea of using a mirror is a great way to create a visual illusion of extra space, too; I’ll have to remember that one.

Brag time - got rid of another grocery bag full of fabric today! :yyeess:

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Wow, 400 sq. ft.! :tiphat: I think you win the award! :clapping: :yeah_me: :clapping: I had trouble with 530 sq. ft. It was laid out kind of weird, though, which made this useless narrow hallway, and another nice corner was fairly useless due to a floor heat vent. Still, first world problems, I suppose. The idea of having my stuff I do decide to keep in bins and the bins behind doors is definitely appealing to me more and more. The idea of using a mirror is a great way to create a visual illusion of extra space, too; I’ll have to remember that one.

Brag time - got rid of another grocery bag full of fabric today! :yyeess:

Not quite. Mine’s just shy of 350, hence my lofted bed.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

Wow, 400 sq. ft.! :tiphat: I think you win the award! :clapping: :yeah_me: :clapping: I had trouble with 530 sq. ft. It was laid out kind of weird, though, which made this useless narrow hallway, and another nice corner was fairly useless due to a floor heat vent. Still, first world problems, I suppose. The idea of having my stuff I do decide to keep in bins and the bins behind doors is definitely appealing to me more and more. The idea of using a mirror is a great way to create a visual illusion of extra space, too; I’ll have to remember that one.

Brag time - got rid of another grocery bag full of fabric today! :yyeess:

Not quite. Mine’s 325, hence my lofted bed.

I actually think you get more useful space out of a studio because all of your square footage is open, rather than having awkward hallways and your small space broken up into teeny tiny almost unusable rooms.

 

[Anglewannabe]

Not quite. Mine’s 325, hence my lofted bed.

I actually think you get more useful space out of a studio because all of your square footage is open, rather than having awkward hallways and your small space broken up into teeny tiny almost unusable rooms.

I agree, the layout of a home as a lot to do with it

 

[3DOCTORS]

Not quite. Mine’s 325, hence my lofted bed.

I actually think you get more useful space out of a studio because all of your square footage is open, rather than having awkward hallways and your small space broken up into teeny tiny almost unusable rooms.

I gave some thought to a lofted bed idea, but it was becoming apparent that I wouldn’t be staying in that place for very long for several reasons. And I think you’re right, when dealing with smaller spaces, there’s a point beyond which you’re better off having the space all together. If you want a division, such as a place to put a bed, you can use a screen or curtain to make one.

 

[Falco]

My 400 sq ft studio apartment had a wall with an archway in it across the width. Stupid idea as it cut light and air from 2/3rds of the room. I had it removed. Much better room.

 

[Peggy_in_Burien]

Sadly, I’m in that dilemma now. Spring cleaning is going to be “Take No Prisoners” and even though I may have to maintain a storage unit since I’m staying with a friend, I hope to downsize to a smaller one.

Yeah, after all these years of moving and purging, I find I’m down to the very last, most precious things. It gets very hard at this point to purge further. I brought home from storage a carload of boxes that have things I can scan now that the technology has caught up, and then out they go, with many tears.

Thanks for all the good hints and support here on this thread.

 

[3DOCTORS]

Yeah, after all these years of moving and purging, I find I’m down to the very last, most precious things. It gets very hard at this point to purge further. I brought home from storage a carload of boxes that have things I can scan now that the technology has caught up, and then out they go, with many tears.

Thanks for all the good hints and support here on this thread.

I know how difficult that must be. :console: That’s going to be the last part for me as well - although I will have just enough room keep what is really family memory stuff such as pictures, I hope.

It’s hard for me because I don’t have children; I’d gladly scan then pass the originals along to my kids. Cousins’ kids might be an option; I need to write to some of them and see if they’d be interested either now or for me to will certain items to them.

If there are family mementoes, can you pass them along to someone of the younger generation or donate to your local historical society? That might make it easier.