That's when it happens.
You get bit by the Nesting bug.
You're determined to make this pad even better than last year with the goal of making your humble-abode look like it jumped out of a pottery barn/urban/anthropologie catalog. Fortunately for me, the nesting fever happened pretty early for me this year (i'm all moved in earlier than everyone else), so it looks like I'll have more than enough time to play with my interior design before the school rush starts in. Fortunately for you, you get a quick summary of everything I've implemented/learned and my tips/tricks and shortcuts.
How to Maximize Your Small space:
1. Pick what is important to you :
For me, it was really important that my room feel airy, roomy and light. I wanted light everywhere and for the air to flow through the room uninterrupted. Luckily, our new apartment has really high ceilings. Keep this in mind as you organize your room, when you become distracted refer back to it.
2. Use what you got!
For example, My room as especially high ceilings - I wanted to draw attention to this fact. To do this, I put pictures, posters and other miscellaneous items at the highest points of my walls. Along the walls, I am going to put wall decor that draw the eye upwards. Like fashion, decorating a room should accentuate the strengths of structure.
**BUT BUT BUT! "My room is so small, it's like a little box prison!! I can't do ANYTHING WITH IT!!!"
Fortunately, no room has to be cardboard box like. Does your room have a window? It it does, make sure that you take advantage of this; don't block the light. It will make your room look larger. Does your room have one side that is more lengthy than the other? Although a narrow room may be a pain to decorate around, if you draw attention to the length of the room, you can often make the room seem deeper than it is. If all else fails always utilize your wall space. Instead of having a bookshelf that takes up valuable floor space, try having wall shelves!
3. Bigger furniture
Having less pieces of bigger furniture rather than dozens of little pieces of furniture makes the room seem less cluttered. Bigger furniture creates the illusion of having a bigger room. In fact, any room with furniture looks much bigger than a room without furniture.
4. No monkeys in the Middle
Try not to have any of your furniture awkwardly placed in the middle of your room. By pushing things against walls, you can maximize the walking space of your room. This is a really helpful hint especially for smaller rooms! Think back to your Jester (or Moore-hill) dorm! These rooms had all of their furniture pushed to the sides of the room for maximum space utility.
5. Maximize your storage space
Try to store as little of your things in plain sight. This is what storage closets, cabinets, drawers and all that space under the sink are for! Although it may be tempting to leave things out conveniently, all those little items will make your room seem much smaller and messier. However, an exception to this would be to hang the things you use most on hooks on the wall. For example, I've hung both my purse and keys from these hooks wall hooks that I got at anthropologie. Now they are always in a place where I can find them and they don't cause clutter in my room. Another plus? They are cute to boot! Another one of my favorite tricks is to raise my bed. When I lived in a dorm, my bed frame was a full 9" off the ground! You can use cinder blocks or buy bed risers at Walmart or Target. Do not underestimate the space under your bed!
In my picture here, you can see that I have a couple storage bins under my bed. One is for my miscellaneous goods, school supplies, wires etc. The other is for my high heels since I don't typically wear high heels (but I still have a bunch!). Then I keep my ironing board under my bed with my iron next to my suitcase. I also have a bunch of textbooks I need to sell inside the red bag! But this can look cluttered as well, so I put an extra long bed-skirt over my box spring to hide it all!
** If you look closely, you can see my updated nightstand from my first post! It has anthropologie fish drawer pulls! (thanks vianh!)
6. If you don't use it, lose it.
This is the most simple and obvious of all the options. However, it is also the hardest option to implement! If you grew up in a 'pack rat' family like me, you may have some issues letting go. My parents are so bad that my house is to the point of where we don't really have walking space and there is stuff in boxes everywhere! My Dad collects everything from old electronics, amps, and broken electronics! I don't even know what is in some of the boxes in my house! UGH.
We all acquire things as the years go by, stuff we honestly don't need. So be honest with yourself, do you need that free cup that you got at the Gregory housing fair? Do you need that extra T-shirt? Do you really need all of your old school work from semesters past? In all likelihood, you probably don't. Don't be afraid to purge yourself old items which create clutter and do not add to the look of your room. So trash it, donate it or sell it. You can make a fair profit from selling your old clothes to Buffalo exchange (they give you about 30% of what they sell it for in cash, 50% if you get store credit). Selling things on Craigslist is also one of my favorite options for furniture. It's better than just kicking your stuff to the curb! P.S. My favorite things to get rid of are free things. Resist the urge to take other people's trashed items unless you need them; sometimes trash is just trash, not treasure.
7. Play with levels
All this means is that you should maximize every inch. Most people have the urge to place and hang things at standing eye-level. Change it up! Hang things above and below this level line. When storing things, utilize every shelf, nook and cranny.
For example, in my closet I used to have hanging shelves which I never really store much on. When I moved to a smaller place with less closet space, I had to consolidate. I threw out the shelves and hung everything I could and placed the rest into drawer units to utilize the space underneath my clothes. On top there are two shelves. I store my purses and bags on the first, and on the second I keep my bedding.
I had initially intended to make this a decorating post as well, but instead I got a little carried away! I guess I'll have to split this up into parts. I'll update you guys with Part II about decorating after I receive some shelf shipments!
Auf Wiedersehen!
