Small Space? Here’s How to Organize It with Tasha

What constitutes a small space? The answer is going to be different for everyone, right? It might depend on what part of the country you grew up. One may have grown up where two story homes with basements were the norm, while someone else thought those types of homes only belonged to the very wealthy.

It may also depend on your life circumstances. If you have a 3,000 square foot home, but you are running a business out of it, your space may feel small to you.

Sometimes it may be the way your home is laid out. If you have a larger home, and you are a family with several children, having only 3 bedrooms may be constraining to you if you also need to have an office space because you work from home.

All of that to say, what defines a small space is going to be different for everyone, but the principles here will apply in all of those circumstances.

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Most of us can easily get rid of the clutter that brings an obvious answer of yes or no to keeping it, but many times there are “maybe” items that aren’t so obvious.

Having space constraints can help you in making those decision. You just need to ask yourself the right questions.

When deciding whether or not keep an item, ask yourself if it is something you would rather keep and deal with getting in the cabinet just right in order for it to close, or would you rather get rid of the item and have the extra space available. There’s no right answer. It’s whatever your preference is in that situation.

GETTING RID OF THE SMALL THINGS

We often think of larger items to declutter when we are short on space, but don’t underestimate the space that can be freed up by getting rid of the small things.

For example, if your family has collected several travel sized tubes of toothpaste from the dentist, or various pens, cables, and chargers. Take the time to go through them and get rid of what you don’t need. Travel sized toiletries can go to a shelter. You might just be able to free up one small bin under the bathroom sink!

USE HARDER TO GET TO STORAGE AREAS

Sometimes, even when you’ve done a great job of decluttering, you still have a lot of things that your space needs to hold. So, make use of those hard to get to storage spaces and put things there that you don’t need to access very often.

An example would be the high shelves in your closet that you need a step ladder to get to. This is a great place to keep sentimental items that you want to keep, but don’t need to get to often.

CLOSED STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Another recommendation is to used closed storage solutions- things that have a lid or has a drawer and you can’t see inside. This is a better option to open storage where everything is out on display and doubles as decor. With closed storage you can just pile things in and tuck it away, leaving the space less cluttered looking.

PLASTIC STACKABLE DRAWERS

These are a great option for spaces like kitchen cabinets because it uses vertical space. Some of these units can be taken apart allowing you to customize them to the space you have.

TOTES WITH LIDS

Totes with lids work great for under the bed storage. They are so easy to slide in and out allowing you to easily access anything you need without army crawling under the bed.

REMOVING CLOSET DOORS

Something you may not have considered is to remove your closet doors, especially if you have the sliding doors on tracks.

If you do need the closet for storage, you probably do not want to remove them since they provide closed storage, but if you struggle with not having enough living space, it can help to remove the doors.

The closet can then be used to provide a small workspace if you work from home, need a place for kids to do homework or a place to put a small craft table.

The closet doors can be stored somewhere like a garage in case you later change your mind.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

If it still feels a little tight inside the house, try getting outdoors. This isn’t going to fix the problem of having a small space, but it is a good way to escape the feeling of being cramped or like you’re stepping on each other.

BORROWING ITEMS

Here’s a tip on how to declutter something but still be able to use it in the future, and that is to consider borrowing things that you only use on rare occasions.

Maybe you have an appliance that you only use during one season of the year. Do you have a friend who has one that would let you borrow it for the weekend? It may not be quite as convenient, but it will free up space in your home.

UNUSUAL STORAGE SOLUTIONS

Try looking around your home, or even outside your home, for some out of the box storage solutions. Maybe you have some shelf space in your garage that you can keep extra pantry items. If you have an outdoor shed, you can store seasonal decor there since you only need to access it once a year. Look for other spaces around your home that wouldn’t be the “normal” place to store things.

PRIORITIZE OTHER PEOPLE’S THINGS

It can be easy to look at the things that belong to the other people living in your home and feel like they need to declutter them. We need to have the mindset of being patient with what is important to the other people who share our space.

DUAL PURPOSE FURNITURE

We aren’t recommending you go out and start buying all new dual purpose furniture, but when it is time to replace the items you have, consider replacing them with dual purpose pieces which can free up space.

LEAN TOWARD SMALLER PIECES

When purchasing furniture and appliances always keep the constraints of your space in mind. Things often look much smaller in the store than they actually are. Smaller pieces will give you a little more breathing room and open up the space.

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