Many of us who live in small confined rooms know the struggles of finding space to put our stuff. For the people looking to tidy up their house, the students in dorms, the studio apartment owners, and persons who are forced to keep everything in one room, Dave’s Projects is here to help. In no particular order, here are 10 ways to maximize your living space (with amazon links).
1. Wall Mount Shelves
Wall mountable shelves are a great cost-effective way to maximize your living space. Particularly because it frees up floor space for other things. One re-occurring theme you will notice in this post is increasing floor real estate by mounting. Wall mountable shelves come in a wide variety of designs and can be as cheap or expensive as you want. But for the added real estate you’re getting in return it is more than worth it.
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2. Surface Mounting Cables
Cable clutter from all your electronics is not only unsighly but wastes precious floor space. Overtime this mess is generated by running various internet cables, chargers, phone lines, etc. along the floor. A great way this can be remedied is by surface mounting these cables along the wall. See my first blog post to learn how to do this yourself.
3. Door Hanging Hooks
The design simplicity and effectiveness of the door hanging hooks are second only to a bicycle. All it requires is a door to support it and it can significantly increase your wardrobe space without a actually getting a wardrobe.
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4. Storage Crates
If you’re the type of person with a whole ton of junk but you can’t throw them out because they hold some sentimental value or otherwise, storage crates may be the solution for you. They typically have a fair amount of storage space and best of all they are stackable, meaning more floor real estate again.
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5. Sofa bed
Here’s a timeless classic in the efficient furniture world. The name speaks for itself. A couch for guests in the day and a bed by night. The definition of killing two birds with one stone.
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6. Bed/Dresser
Continuing the bed designs, here we have another hybrid type bed that does as the name suggests. This one you probably won’t see at your nearest furniture store however, if you know a skilled carpenter you might have a shot at building one.
7. Inflatable Mattress
Imagine you have a two bed room apartment. One room dedicated for your bedroom, but then the next room you want as a storage room but you also need a room when family or friends decide to stay the night. Why not do both then! The inflatable mattress is the perfect solution for obvious reasons. When not in use it can be stored in a corner somewhere, then when your guest is over just air that sucker up and boom you’re good to go!
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8. Hanging Shoes Bag
This is similar to the aforementioned door hanging hooks (#3); except instead of hanging up clothes this is for hanging up shoes. The same theory applies to this.
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9. Vacuum Storage Bags
This is the traveller’s best friend. With this you can pack your suitcase as efficiently as a Jamaican parent coming back from ‘farin’ bringing back goodies. Just know the increase space afforded means more weight when when you finish packing.
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10. Under Staircase Storage
Think back to where Harry Potter used to reside before going to Hogwarts. His awful foster parents locked him up in a little room below their staircase. As in-humane as this was to lock up a human in such a confined space, its an excellent space saving design for a house.
-Dave 2018
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