One of the most common cries for help from small-space renters is the need for more room. While you can’t always move into a larger place, the next best thing is to maximize the space you have now. The first step is to get rid of clutter and useless junk, which not only make your place look cramped and unorganized but also doesn’t look very good. Second step is to begin adapting an organization system that works for you. Once you develop a habit of organizing and keeping things systematically, a lot of the clutter problems will disappear. And you will have a little pride in how good your place will look. Of course, if you are prone to moving a lot, you will want to keep everything as slim-lined and clutter-less as possible for a simpler/lighter move.
To make things easy, go through this list of steps and check off the ones you accomplished.
De-clutter the Den:
- Get two boxes for all your incoming mail. Label one of the boxes for your bills and important stuff. Put your mail in the boxes rather than on the counter or desk. This way you will always know where your mail/bills are and not have to clutter up valuable counter space.
- Get a basket or box for magazines. You can put these in the restroom or under end tables. When you get tired of them, toss them out. Old, out-of-date catalogs should be tossed. Old coupons and coupon booklets should be tossed.
- Invest in a box of adhesive white labels. You will want these to label boxes, drawers, etc. Might as well get a permanent marker while you’re at it.
- Invest in a plastic desktop drawer system. You can find these at most home retailers, especially Target, Walmart and Kmart. It is a plastic box with three or more drawers. Label each drawer with a sticky white label. For example, you could have drawers with the following labels: “Coupons”, “Recipes”, “Receipts”, “Old Bills”.
- Toss old pens.
- Use little canisters (camera film canisters work great) to hold paper clips, rubber bands, staples, etc in desk drawers.
- Use a coffee mug or pencil holder to keep pens and pencils organized. You could even make one from an empty Pringles tube and decorate it. An empty glass jar also works great and feel free to paint designs on the surface.
- Keep a notepad and pen next to the phone.
- Keep a small calendar next to the phone.
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