Installing a standing cafe bar for eating instead of a small table. And then of course, you’re going to want to keep the flood of stuff from drowning you by keeping to a declutter schedule — make actual dates with yourself to regularly go through your home to pare down your stuff — and make it fun when you do declutter with music or some other treat so you don’t end up dreading it. There are options, and the best way to not feel frustrated is to simply take the leap, accept your home’s small imperfections and enjoy some company anyway! And, you’ll want to make sure you keep things in balance and don’t find yourself sliding into frustration number one by simply checking in regularly to see how you’re using your space and being aware of when something you’ve tucked away is something you’re using more often than you thought you would. Even if your changes don’t follow specific space maximizing «rules.»
4. So do the opposite as the above suggestion, and take down or store creatively stuff you hardly ever use. Even when you’ve managed to master every small-space living tip there is, living in a small space can still be frustrating sometimes. All these ideas are great for maximizing space — but only if they work for how you use the space. Sprinkle snacks around the home and let folks perch anywhere they please. 1. Organizing everything into smaller boxes in one larger basket may have seemed like a great idea at the time, but if getting to something is like going through a set of Matryoshka nesting dolls, try cutting down. First make sure that the stuff you need and use most frequently isn’t the stuff that takes 5 boxes to go through to get to. If you find yourself not using or enjoying a room you’ve tried some of these tricks in, make a change! Frustration: You’re sick of having to do so much work to get to things
There are a lot of clever ways to maximize the space you do have in a small home, but not all of them may work for your lifestyle, especially if the storage solutions take three or more steps to get to what you need. Frustration: It feels like you’re drowning in stuff
Or you could have the complete opposite problem of the frustration above: You might have too much of your stuff too accessible all the time, making it feel like you live in a store rather than a home. Frustration: You don’t enjoy any of the compact furniture pieces you bought
There are lots of tricks you can try when it comes to maximizing space or decreasing the visual heaviness in a small home. Consider a function makeover of your home to see where you might need to make these storage adjustments. (Image credits: Mark’s Shanghai Style via Small Cool Contest 2013; Balingslov; Ailine Liefeld; Better Homes Gardens; Emily and Meeko’s Sunny First Apartment) Don’t be afraid to rearrange where you store things if it makes more sense for how you use your space. Hold a board game night. Like fold-able chairs, or small ottomans with extra storage. Like going for furniture that is compact or small-sized.
