Small Apartment Living Tips:
Make your Tiny Space Feel Comfortable, Organized and Expertly Decorated
Apartment living can be rough on someone who's
used to living in the country. The sound of cars
and buses rolling by at all hours, noisy upstairs
neighbors, car alarms and various city sounds can
make it hard to sleep, difficult to relax. Maybe
lifetime apartment-dwellers feel the same stress,
but aren't aware of the difference between
country and city life. For both kinds of people,
making home a haven of serenity is an issue important to
health and harmony. It's not easy to relax in a
crowded room, but in apartment living, space is
often at a premium. Here are some tips for
generating a peaceful feeling in your home
wherever you may dwell.
--Editors Tip ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Organization 101: Storage Containers that Add
to Your Home Décor
 Organizing
your home or office is an ongoing process, and
experts like Steven Covey suggest that you take
time at the end of each day to reorganize your
desk, making it easy to find things and get to
work the next morning. One of the tricks of
organizing is putting things where you can find
them again, without having them cluttering up the
landscape and getting in the way. File cabinets
are perfect for organizing papers by date,
alphabet or subject because they make paperwork
vertical and simple to page through. Transparent
boxes can hold craft items, making it easy to find
what you want without rummaging around. Closets
contain clothes, but bulky things like sweaters
might take up less space stored in boxes. Whatever
storage options you choose, you're in luck,
because modern storage can be pretty and
functional. You don't have to buy cheesy cardboard
boxes: the new bright acrylics are more durable
and much more decorative!
See a selection of storage containers that hide
everyday clutter and add style to any room.
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Clearing and Organizing Clutter Make Small Spaces Seem Larger
One mistake many people make is in thinking that
cleaning doesn't count unless it's thorough and
completely organized. There's a lot to be said for
hiding mess until you have time to deal with it:
there's no reason to punish yourself by living in
clutter until you can clean it all up! It's
surprising how much more open a room can look when
the horizontal surfaces are cleared off, even
temporarily. One solution to cluttered coffee and
dining tables is to place baskets under each
table, and sweep the clutter into the basket once
a day. On the weekend, sort through the basket,
discard magazines and junk, put books back in
shelves. When Monday rolls around, start over!
Go Vertical with Apartment Storage Solutions
Things look better in stacks. If you don't have
time to put things away but still need to make a
room presentable, simply stacking books and
papers, stacking large to small, from bottom to
top, can clear horizontal space fast. Choose
narrower bookshelves that reach high up the wall
rather than wide ones that spread across the floor
to maximize open space. Mount speakers to the wall
rather than setting them on the floor. Hang pots
and pans, towels and clocks on walls.
Hide Unwanted Clutter in a Blanket Box
One of the best investments you can make is in a
blanket box. Larger than the usual cedar chest, a
blanket box comes with a lid, making it possible
to stash 45 square feet of books, papers, tools,
dishes, yes, even blankets in a tidy, contained
space about 5 feet long by three feet wide and
deep. Make it a rule: when the lid can't be easily
closed, it's time to sort and either reorganize or
throw things out.
If you have a choice between open and closed
shelves or cabinets, choose closed ones. That way
you don't have to look at disorganized shelves and
neither does anyone else. Keep closet doors shut
and put things in drawers as you move through your
rooms.
Multi-Task Your Apartment Clutter Clean-up
You can sort through a hatbox of toiletries while
watching TV, hang up laundry during commercials,
fill or empty the dishwasher when you stand up
from the computer to stretch. Accomplishing little
bits of housework can feel less onerous when you
do it in the middle of doing something else.
Keep at Least one Horizontal Surface Totally Clean
It does a lot for your mental state to rest your
eyes on a surface that's completely free and
empty. It's always tempting to put art objects or
knick-knacks on the mantel, but resist the
impulse. Choose one area in each room and keep it
totally cleared off. It's sort of an affirmation,
a way of saying, "I can do this: I can control my
space." An open space rests the mind and
stimulates creativity.
Replace "Stuff" (i.e. Clutter or Too Many Decorations) with Plants
Plants are natural air purifiers. They provide
visual interest, and add a shot of color and
fragrance for a minimal investment of time and
effort. Bulbs are great for growing indoors. Many
are shade-tolerant, and they come in an endless
variety of colors. This year, my friends who have
a blueberry-milkshake colored living-room
announced their plan to include blue and purple
flowers inside the room. Hyacinths and iris come
in wonderful shades of blue, lavender and deep
purple. My personal favorite are the DeCaen
anemones for sale at www.dutchgardens.com. They
come in red and pink, but the blue are silky, deep
and luscious, with a shiny black center.
The other plus side of using bulbs is that you can
grow them any time of year. You can force bulbs to
bloom out of season by refrigerating them for a
couple of months, then bringing them out into the
world where they will experience spring, created
by you!
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Ever spent hours at the drugstore trying to pick the perfect eye shadow, lipstick, foundation or blush color only to bring it home and decide it is completely the wrong color for your skin tone or style. If you are like me you think, "what a waste of money."
