Today's post is a bit revealing but I believe it might be really helpful for some of you. Especially those that are going to uni and staying in halls. Or just have a really teeny tiny apartment. Some of you may know that I work in halls (while I'm still studying), so I have got a room there where I'm staying the whole year. Since I don't have my family in the UK, my whole life had to basically fit into this little room in halls and has staid there for about, how long now.. 4 years? I swapped the rooms over the time, but they were all pretty damn small. Squeezing in things everywhere possible and impossible has become an expertise of mine over these years. Here are some tips on storage in such small spaces!
When you move into halls, you are most likely to be given a few pieces of furniture to work with. These can be more or less flexible. This shelf is mounted on the wall and there's no chance I'd be able to take it off. It's slightly slanted and bent, but oh wells. To use up the space fully, I got loads of boxes and baskets from Ikea/TKMax. I know that bloggers are all crazy over transparent acrylic storage, but the general rule goes: the more you see, the more cluttered (read messy) it looks, and it will just make it look like there's even less space in the room. So pack up all you can and cover it. I put my books in boxes, and emy make-up, nail polishes, hair accessories, literally everything I could.
When your things are in boxes, it might be a good idea to label them. Not that you wouldn't remember where what is, but trust me, sometimes early uni mornings can get a tad confusing and whatsmore, the labels make it look less storage-room-like.
Make sure you really are using all the space available. Window sill is a space too!
Walls can seem to have no particular use at first, but really they are the perfect canvas for personalizing your little room. You obviously won't win if you bring in a massive rocking chair (which you may love above everything), as you won't be able to fit in another thing. But a few pictures you like, photos of your friends or family, or just a poster of Ryan Gosling *wink wink*, anything that makes you feel that little bit more at home!
If you have got more boxes to work with (either storage or actually boxed things like board games), pile them up. Be sure that the shelf is strong enough to hold everything, but as long as it's sturdy enough, put things in nice neat piles. Ideally keep the ones you use the least at the bottom!
Clothes is obviously a massive issue of mine, you can imagine. I hate when my clothes is lying on the floor though, it drives me mental! Apart from a little 'walk-in' wardrobe which basically just has got a big telly in it where my boyfriend plays xbox, and a few drawers, I use this large chest of drawers from Ikea. It was about £40-50 and it holds quite a lot of clothes and looks pretty neat I think. I prefer rolling clothes up because it is easier to see what you have rather than putting pieces on pile, as I tend to forget about things at the bottom.
You may have noticed I have a serious thing for storage boxes! All the plain boxes are from Ikea, where you can get a set of two for about a fiver. The only issue with them is that they are really.. well, not the best quality ever. Because of the material, they tend to soak in anything that's on your hands and get stained. When I put a hand cream on and realize I want something else from the box, I'm pretty much screwed. I need to either wait or almost acrobatically remove the lid with my head/foot/kitten just so I don't stain the boxes. If I was a little wealthier (oh wishes), I would invest in storage boxes with plastic coating which you can easily wipe with a damp cloth or a wet wipe. I personally love these from Viking Direct, which are not much more expensive than the Ikea ones, considering they will stay looking all nice and fresh for much longer!
Hope this post helped someone at least a little bit!
How do you fight small living spaces?