Blog: Organizing Small Spaces
Storage -- the first step in designing your small space

Paint, flooring, lighting are all key elements to good design, but right along with these is 'storage'.  In small space design, especially, it is a key element to get right --without it, even the best design will soon be buried beneath a sea of clutter.

Every area of our homes/lives needs good storage.  Whether you are redecorating a single room or designing an entire new home, here are 3 steps to planning for adequate storage in your design.

1. Make a list of all the activities that will take place in each room and who will be doing these activities.
2. List the items you will need to store for each activity?  In addition to naming the individual items, make note of their shape, size, volume, rate of acquisition and growth.
3. Now look at your floor plan and determine where in the room would you ideally like to have these items stored. Generally, the closer an item is to it's point of use, the better.

Once you've completed the above steps you'll be ready to select the best storage solution for each item or group of items.

Some rooms come with built-in storage such as cupboards in a kitchen, a coat closet in the front entry, or a medicine cabinet in the bathroom.  But often times these are not adequate for the number of items you have to store and additional storage will be required.

No-brainer storage solutions include shelving, boxes or bins,  furniture with drawers or cupboards, hooks and cd/dvd racks, desks and file cabinets.  By choosing storage elements that fit in with your decor, your storage will blend into your overall design rather than being obvious.

For additional small space storage inspiration you can look at Cruise ship cabins and boutique hotel rooms. Browse blogs or magazines that specialize in small space living and storage solutions.  And if you really get stuck, hire the services of a professional organizer. When it comes to great design, we always think of storage first.

posted on: 9/2/2008 8:00:00 AM by Joan Kosmachuk
category: Clutter

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Organizing Small Spaces

by Joan Kosmachuk

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About Joan:

Joan Kosmachuk is a professional organizer and personal life coach. Born in Toronto, Canada, Joan moved to Boston in 2005 and lives in a less than 800 square foot apartment in an old brownstone with her husband, Jerry, and their papillon dog, Duke. In addition to organizing, Joan loves to read, write, garden, travel and spend quality time with her family and friends. Check out her website for additional articles and tips on making room in your home, head and heart for the things you value most.

Joan's Website:

www.simpleeffects.com

TV Shows I enjoy

• Small Space, Big Style on HGTV
  This show makes me dream of living in an even smaller apartment just to see how creative I could be.
• Mission Organization, HGTV
  We all know it doesn't happen in a half-hour, but this show does do a great job of showing just what can happen when a professional organizer works with a willing client. Magic!!
• NEAT, HGTV
  Sadly you can only catch repeats of this one, but Helen was my first on-camera organizing coach and as I told her when I met her at the POC in Toronto last year, she was an inspiration!!

Books and Authors I recommend

• Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
  timeless inspiration
• Freedom of Simplicity by Richard J. Foster
  one of the best books I've read on finding harmony in our complex world
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
  Finally a time/task management system for those of us without "regularly scheduled" lives
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
  a beautiful novel on every level
• Leaven of Malice by Robertson Davies
  because it makes me laugh everytime I read it (and he was a fellow Canadian)
• 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
  if you love books and you love reading other people's correspondence, you'll love this book
• Lewis, Tolkien and MacDonald
  three fantasy writers who make life magical for me
• John Piper, Oswald Chambers, Richard Foster
  for spiritual exhortation

BLOGS I LIKE

• Home Goods OpenHouse
  Such personable interior designers with affordable ideas!
• Small Space Style
  wonderful ideas for decorating small spaces
• organizing LA
  nothing like seeing the world of organization through the eyes of Hollywood -- John does a great job of keeping us East-coasters up-to-date on the West Coasters.

Poets who speak to me

• Jane Kenyon
• Anne Lindbergh
• Jeanne Murray Walker

The Decorating Assistant