If you think your new one-bedroom micro apartment is small, consider the innovative strategies required to live in an even smaller space as some brave, yet efficient, people around the world have done. Necessity inspires all types of creative solutions for downsizing from a larger home to a smaller one. Whether you're going through a major downsize or just need to "have less," plan ahead with these strategies that help you fit comfortably and happily into your new home.
Eliminate Clutter
Clutter— meaningless, useless and purposeless things that accumulate and take up a lot of space. Elder Move Managers calls this the 80/20 rule: You use 20 percent of what you have and the other 80 percent just sits there. Simplify you surroundings and sort through your belongings to get rid of the 80 percent, or at least cut it down. Toss anything you haven't used in the past year. While pondering sentimental items, consider taking photos of them, instead of hanging onto them, to keep the memory. A photo often carries the sentiment for you and can digitally be stored on your computer or a social networking site such as Instagram. You can also pass keepsakes along to other family members or friends to keep the nostalgia alive.
Get Rid of Furniture That Won't Fit
Measure the rooms in your new place and plan ahead by arranging furniture that will go in each room. Draw a miniature floor plan of each room on graphing paper and place miniature cutouts of all of your current furniture in the same scale. You can move pieces around the room to get an idea of how your current furniture will look in your new place in a wide range of configurations. Anything that won't fit needs to go. It's more convenient to know that before you haul furniture into your new place.
If furniture pieces won't fit, use this as an opportunity for an upgrade. For example, maybe you've had a king-size bed for decades but your glorious bed leaves no extra space in the bedroom. Even if you have to replace your bed with a smaller one, you don't have to compromise on luxurious rest and comfort. Shop for a new bed, order by mattress size and accent your bed with a stylish new quilt in a comfortable, breathable fabric to help you enjoy your new bed despite its smaller size.
Maximize Storage Space
A lack of storage space can feel limiting. Going from a huge walk-in bedroom closet to a nonexistent closet requires some creativity. Moving into a space without a large hall closet, attic, basement or garage demands some strategy. Think vertically and utilize every inch of storage space that you do have. Install shelves near the ceiling in your closets for lesser-used items like spare bedding and seasonal clothing. Put beds on raisers so you can fit plastic storage bins underneath. Choose furniture with built-in storage, like a coffee table with drawers in the base. Each of these provides you with more space to fit — the worthy — belongings you bring along.
Photo credit: Flickr user BeckyF