Ways to organize a small living space

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Small Space Organizing

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Clever ways to organize a small living space

(NC) Organizing a small living space can be a challenge. Apartments and lofts typically have limited closet space, if any closets at all. Town homes can also be a challenge to organize with their pint-size kitchens and bedrooms. Such is true for many singletons and families just starting out, or couples looking to downsize their living arrangements. Whatever your habitat, here are some tips for organizing a small space so you can enjoy it to its full capacity.

Furniture with storage

The furniture you choose for your home can make or break it. Oversized furniture is out, but furniture with storage is in. Look for pieces that will maximize storage capacity without taking up too much room. Armoires are great for storing clothes if you don't have a closet, and these days they come in all sizes. Antique trunks add instant style to any room and they can double as a coffee or bedside table with a hideaway for keeping extra blankets, seasonal items or books. Media cabinets are a worthwhile investment for anyone with a television and other multi-media. Sanus offers media cabinets with open shelves or enclosed doors and ample room for holding DVD players, video games, cable boxes, music and other gear. If you like the mounted TV look, but don't have the wall space for it, consider a flat-panel mount kit that attaches to furniture. It will give you the same aesthetic appeal as a TV mount, but doesn't require drilling in the wall.

Define the space

Just because a room is small doesn't mean it can't look pulled together. It's important, especially in homes with open floor plans, to define living areas for how you intend to use them. It sounds counter intuitive, but wide-open rooms with poorly placed furniture can actually seem smaller than they are. Defining the space will allow you to create distinct areas for entertaining, eating and relaxing. Accordion-style room dividers do the trick. So do area rugs. A dining room or sitting area can easily be established with a pretty rug and chairs placed around it. A couch positioned in the middle of a room is a good way to separate living and dining areas.

Odds and ends

No matter how organized you are, you most definitely have at least one overflowing junk drawer. So what do you do with all these extra odds and ends? Get creative. Look around. You'd be surprised at how many things you already own that, when repurposed, make the perfect organizers. Toolboxes are ideal for storing crafting and office supplies like ribbons, buttons, paper clips, push pins, stamps and envelopes. Rather than tucking away flower vases in a cupboard, use them for neatly displaying kitchen utensils or makeup brushes. Matching baskets and photo boxes will hold just about anything from scarves to painting supplies. Looking for a fun way to display photographs? String a piece of twine across an archway and use clothespins to hang the photos from the twine.

With a little effort and creativity, any living area can be transformed into a well-organized space you enjoy spending time in.

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