How to Fit All Your Stuff in a Small Apartment

There are a lot of very tiny apartments in New York City. I moved from a 7 bedroom house into a 1 bedroom tiny apartment in Manhattan. I had to become adept at making use of the space I had in order to keep my prized possessions. Here is what I learned.

In order to fit all your stuff into a small apartment you must make good use of all space available. There are several ways to do this without looking like you have shoved a size 9 foot into a size 6 shoe!

There are four basics that you want to master to live like a king in a small space...they are:

• Use Wall Space...go up up up

• Make each piece of furniture count.

• Store things in nooks and crannies

• Use Optical Illusions

First, One must think vertically when dealing with a small space, the walls are your friends. I fit an entire den into a wall unit that went from floor to ceiling and was about 8 inches deep. I was able to put my computer, printer, file cabinet stuff, all my books and office supplies into this wall unit. I had more space than I needed. Moreover, you don't have to have an ugly contraption to do this, you can use baskets for small articles and color coordinate the whole thing. It was very neat and attractive and everything was in that unit.

Also, you don't want to neglect the wall space in your kitchen and bathroom as well. Get a medicine cabinet with shelves and store the appliances you don't use very often on top of your cupboards in the kitchen (make sure to cover them as they will get dusty). If you can get some hooks and put your pots and pans either up on a wall or in the middle of the kitchen on a hanger. Not only does it look nice but you can hang a lot of pots and pans on them.

Secondly, every piece of furniture should have a dual function. Do you have a coffee table? It should have storage underneath. How about a sofa? It should be a sleeper sofa. Don't buy a chair with an ottoman, buy a chair that has a kick out ottoman inside it. All tables should have storage underneath or be able to fold up, like a drop leaf table. Even your bed should have storage underneath it. You can either put drawers underneath the bed or if you already have a bed add an extender and store things in vacuum bags. Dressers should be vertical not horizontal and the same goes for shelves and cabinets.

If you are still lacking space you can store things in the nooks and crannies of your home. Places like behind doors, underneath the sofa, behind the sofa, on hooks in closets and in shelves behind clothes in closets. Look around, be creative, visit the container store and get containers that will help you to utilize every inch of space in your closet. What good is a closet if you cant find anything? Make sure to use your walls and ceilings for lighting rather than taking up precious space by using floor or table lamps.

Finally, after you've done all of that, use mirrors to give the illusion of more space. They will trick your mind into thinking you have a bigger area than your really do. Furthermore, keep your interior design simple. Small spaces can look cluttered under normal circumstances, you don't want to further exacerbate the problem by adding busy patterns and distracting designs. Simplicity is your friend.

A small space can be very attractive and cozy, they are usually easier to clean providing more free time and are most definitely cheaper. Moreover, if you do some of the things I mentioned you should be able to fit all your stuff without tripping over yourself in the process and enjoy the cozy atmosphere that only a small space can provide.