Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

I vowed this New Year that I was going to finally get organized. It's not so easy living with DH and DD in a Railroad apartment. I need to maximize my space. I hired a home organizer and it was kind of a flop. She was really more into shredding old documents than anything else. It has gotten to the point where I can't take it much longer. I am clearing out books like crazy, going to try and use my vertical space better, but what else can I do about the small things?

All feedback welcomed!!!

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

We live in a small 1 bedroom in Queens.

Honestly, the number ONE thing with keeping everything neat & organzied IMO - don't be a pack rat.

I clean out my closets, drawers, dressers, cabinets etc 2 times a year. I get rid of anything & everything that I have not used since the last time I cleaned.

I keep my drawers & closet organzied all year round. I don't put things where they don't belong. My DH makes fun of me because my utensil drawers are completely in order - all the utensils are lined up in each slot on top of one another perfectly...lolol ok that may be OCD ;)

I also don't keep alot of knick knacks laying around either - they make the place feel cluttered.

I try & group everything. For instance - candles & candle holders are all in one place, cleaning products are also all in one place. That way I can see how much I have left of each item & decide when I need to buy. I try not to buy in bulk since theres no room to store anything.

I get rid of all shoe boxes & put my shoes in shoe organizers and/or clear storage containers that go under my bed. I swap out the shoes per season.

We have 10ft ceilings in our apt. DH built shelves going straight to the top of each closet. So I use that space for items we don't need or use frequently - ie xmas items, tools etc...

Our couch sits in front of our windows in the living room. Instead of using end tables that take up space - I use the window sills as a place to put picture frames & some decorative objects as well as a small lamp on the end.

Honestly, I throw out or give away any and all shower/wedding favors. Don't have the place for them & more than likely are not my style.

Just know what you have, figure out what you need & don't buy anything if you don't have a place for it.

Message edited 1/5/2010 2:19:32 PM.

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

I grew up in a 2 bedroom co-op with my younger sister and parents so I know all about tight quarters! We would swap out our spring/summer clothes for fall/winter. We kept stuff in vaccuum sealed bags under the beds (Space vac is a life saver!). Not just clothes and stuff but extra pillows and blankets as well.

We also had furniture in the living room that acted as storage too. The wall unit held our board games and videos. The two end tables had space to put magazines and such. My mom would go through them every few months and toss old ones.

I think my question for you is what room(s) do you have trouble keeping organized? What seems overstuffed? Do you hold onto a lot of momentos that you don't want to get rid of? If so, you might want to consider a small storage unit for those items only - stuff you won't need around all year round.

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

Dh & I live in a fairly large 2 bedroom apt in Queens. However, we have NO storage space inside the apt. we have walkin closet in our bedroom and a smaller closet in the other bedroom. that's it. So storage is an issue.

We really try to very good about getting rid of things we don't need. Once mail is dealt with, it either goes into a filing cabinet that I organized or garbage/shredding. We try to take about 15-20 mnutes each night and just clean/organize a small area. You walk right into our dining room, so things get piled onto the end of the table. We go through it almost everynight and put it away. Letting things pile up is the worst, because it gets overwhelming. you have to start small and stick to smal areas and set realistic goals. I tried to clean out our walkin closet (which has racks, shleves and a dresser in it) in one afternoon. I freaked out and got overwhelmed. I stopped and over the next three nights I was able to get it in order.

Also, I try to use furniture as storage too. Like, I have a wonderful buffet peice in my DR that has lots of storage for wine glasses and platters, table cloths. There was one tha I liked a little better that went with my table better, but it just didn't have the storage I needed. Under the bed storage totes work great for us. Swapping out clothes according to seasons helps too. As I do this, I also try to weed out anything that hasn't been worn in a while.

Message edited 1/5/2010 2:53:27 PM.

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

I have a house, but we don't have great closets, so we have made the most out of the ones we have.

Can you put closet organizers into the closet you have? We put a closet organizer into our one closet in our Master Bedroom and it really helped us. I bought a shoe storage for under the bed and that has really helped me with my shoes. For drawers you can buy drawer organizers. Baskets are always a great way to clear up some clutter on floors. Maybe even pretty storage containers that can be stack in a corner, but still look nice. But most of all declutter the most you can.

Master Bedroom



Family Room Closet



Here are some great pics I found. I hope they help in some way.


Linen closet


Cabinet Storage


These could be for under bed storage or closet storage


Decorative Storage for anyone to see


Bookcase storage


Pantry/Cleaner Storage

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

i just purge once a month...closets, drawers baskets, everything....if I havent used it, in the garbage it goes, that includes small appliances/bedding.

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

we live in a house, but hardly have any storage or closet space. The thing I found helps the most is to reduce your clutter, and don't be a pack rat! Throw things out you don't use including clothing you don't wear. It helps tremendously. Good Luck!!!

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

One thing I do is store off season clothes in my luggage. Only a pain once per year when we actually go on a trip. I store this in a closet.

Other things are like pp have mentioned - THROW IT OUT! I put as much as possible on craigslist, bigger items that are worth it.

Do you have any relatives that will allow you to store things in their garage/attic/basement? You might be surprised that people don't mind as long as you don't overload them.

I also use the trunk of my car for a ton of DH's sports equipment and other things that really belong in a garage (snow shovel, ice skates, etc.)

I have all my serving dishes/platters on top of my kitchen cabinets - since I have crown molding it hides some of it.

Hope these things help

Re: Apartment Dwellers, Those Who Live in Tight Quarters or Anyone Who is NOT Organizationally Challenged: Can You Share Some of Your Best Organization and Storage Ideas??

Oh baskets help too! I used to store all my mail in a basket. Throw out magazines once you read them and if you're a book person, try to donate them or give to a friend after you've read them. Pay your bills and file them. I generally throw mine out anyway (Shred!) because i do it all online and can pull up my statements there if needed.

When I was in an apartment I tried to only have one of something...like vases. Now I'm in a house, I have 5 vases, but in an apartment, just 1. Pitchers? 1. Pots and pans? Can you hang those hooks or a rack and hang them up, it will open up a TON of cabinet space.