Savvy Tips for Moving In a Small Apartment
There comes a time when you have to move away from your parents’ house and find a place of your own. With today’s housing market, it’s hard saving up the money or getting a loan to buy a home.
Many people choose to rent or buy small apartments and live with only essential commodities to save up. If you’re in a similar situation, here are some tips to make your new home feel as welcoming and useful as the house you’ve just moved out from.
The psychological challenge
Let’s face it, you’re going to have to throw some stuff away. It’s not easy doing so, as many people get attached to the things they own.
However, take the time to look through what you have. Do you need all of it? Of course you don’t. Throw away anything that’s no longer useful. Maybe you have an old chair that you’ve grown attached to, as an example. Leave it behind. There are other better and relatively cheap models that you can get.
Similarly, you won’t be needing an oversized desk anymore. You’ll have to get one a smaller one that fits inside your new room. Luckily, you won’t have to sacrifice the things you held in its drawers, as many compact desks also come with plenty of storage options.
Measure the storage spaces and the size of each room
Now that you’ve got rid of what you don’t need, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to store the necessary things.
Get a measuring tape and take notes of how big your things are and how large each room is. Based on this, you can then figure out how to set everything up to maximize space.
Now start packing your things in boxes and get ready to move. If you still have stuff that you might need in the future but can’t fit inside your new apartment, feel free to check for outsourced storage units. Some storage units are large enough to fit items that you need access to frequently.
Get new appliances and electronics
You don’t need an oversized oven, nor a big washing machine if you live alone or with one other person.
The same can be said about washing dishes. Don’t bother trying to fit a 24-inch built-in dishwasher if the cabinets are too small. Instead, you could opt for a freestanding dishwasher with 6 washing cycles.
A small TV is enough for a small bedroom. Think about it: the distance between your bed and your TV won’t be as high anymore. And the examples could go and on for hours on end. Apply this principle to everything. Downsize as much as you can.
Leave enough room in the middle
It might seem simple at first, but you need a good eye and some organizational skills to make enough room in your new apartment.
But if you can’t afford an interior designer, here’s what you can do to maximize space and remove some clutter so that you won’t trip onto junk when moving from one room to the next.
Try to place everything flush to the wall. Follow this principle for every type of furniture, be it desks, TVs, and even beds and couches. Having enough space in the middle of the room is of utmost importance. Why? Because the apartment will feel much bigger than it is, and you won’t need to squeeze through to walk around.
Move the things that you don’t use daily in a corner or in a storage closet. Only keep essential things handy and not much else. You have no idea how many advantages you’ll notice once you start adopting this lifestyle.
The savvy final thoughts
Moving into a smaller apartment shouldn’t be viewed as a chore. Instead, consider it an opportunity to organize your life better.
Once you remove clutter and put things into place, you’ll feel much better about yourself, and you’ll inevitably get a confidence boost.