I moved from a 2 bedroom house to a studio apartment. Help!?

Question

I moved from a 2 bedroom house, to a studio apartment about 7 months ago. I have a lot of my stuff in storage but I am still pretty disorganized. I have a weekly chore list but things seem to pile up really fast especially since my place is so small. It's one room, a bathroom and a kitchen but I have tons of closet space, fortunately.

My storage unit is something I can't even think about yet until I get everything sorted out at home. My goal by the end of the year is to have no storage unit, or at least a much smaller one. I think I can weed out enough things to make it happen. It's really inconvinient to have my stuff in two places!

My new place is great, it allows dogs, it's in a great area and it's really cute and sunny. The problem isn't my space being too small, it's just all my JUNK! Does anyone have any tips on sorting, organizing or downsizing your life? What about tips on saving space?Any suggestions will be appriciated, I am really overwhelmed and stressed about this!

Answer 1

I'm going through a similar situation right now, but not so drastic.  Last weekend I moved from a 1 bed room with a small storage shed into a 1 bed room with no storage.

First I washed, folded, and organized every single item of clothing, bedding, and towels I have.  That way I now have an actual grasp on how many "washable items" I actually have.   I was able to pick out stuff I no longer wanted and fill a whole 33 gallons trash bag.  To me my biggest organization challenge is being able to store by washables once they get dirty.  The overflower hamper issue.  A year ago I purchased 3 laundry bags in wich to separate Whites, cold colors, and warm colors.  It works like a charm and makes washing day easier.

My next step is to prioritize what get's put on a hanger and what gets stored away in drawers or on shelves, and what could be packed away in a box as winter season clothing.  From here I'll be able to determine if I need to get another dresser or add more shelves.  I also do a lot of doubling up jackets and jeans on hangers.

Next I'll do the same with my kitchenware. I can already predict I'll need a to puchase some shelves.  I also created a system for dirty dishes so I'll never have dirty dishes in the sink for longer than a day.

To sum it up... wash, sort, toss-away, and then make room for stuff when it gets dirty.

Answer 2

ikea has examples of how you can set up a room in a certain amount of sq footage. the store is REALLY neat but if you don't have one near you, go to ikea.com

good luck!

steph