Whether you live in a chic loft in New York, NY, or an ornate Victorian-style home, having more space seems to rank at the top of most wishlists. With drawers, closets, and cabinets bursting at the seams with stuff, keeping these tiny spaces organized and decluttered – and having them stay that way – might seem like an uphill battle. Luckily, with a few organizing essentials and clever storage strategies, you’ll get these small areas back under control in no time. We caught up with experts to get their best-kept organizing hacks for small spaces to better utilize these areas. Keep reading to see what they had to say.
Getting started
1) Set an intention for the space before decluttering or organizing
When organizing small spaces, you must consider three things: declutter and only keep the necessary, using stackable storage, and maximizing your vertical space by thinking completely out of the box. With decluttering being the most important step to organizing your small space, you must be willing to let go of items that aren’t useful. Once this has been established, organizing your small space will be easier than you think. –Genuinely Organized
2) Start small by categorizing items to tackle
Clutter is overwhelming. It increases the stress hormone, cortisol, so take comfort in knowing that there is a biological basis for how you feel. Start with an easy category, such as clothes. For example, if there’s a room, basement, or guest room that has been taken over by clutter, you can approach it category by category. Remember to take breaks and have a reward planned for after you’re done – schedule a relaxing salt session or massage. –Joy & Space
Organizing hacks for small spaces in the living room
3) Double up with multifunctional furniture
One of my go-to hacks to maximize any space is utilizing multipurpose storage solutions to store, conceal, and even add decor to a space. One of my favorite organizing products to maximize small spaces such as a living room is by using decorative baskets to hide kids or pet toys and store blankets and throws, especially during cold weather. Decorative baskets are beautiful, and they come in different sizes and colors to match any home aesthetic. Plus, they’re usually inexpensive, and you can find them online or at your local store. –Huza Home Concepts
Organizing hacks for small spaces in the kitchen
4) Add space by maximizing shelf height
Maximizing cabinet storage in a small kitchen space can be as easy as customizing shelf heights. A lot of space is lost if a large area only boasts two shelves. Utilizing all the space by adding more shelving solves many cramped space issues. But if you’re not able to add new shelves, you can easily and affordably incorporate shelf risers to organize every dish in its own space. –Pretty/Neat Northwest
5) Keep an eye out for duplicates
One of the easiest ways to declutter a small kitchen is to check for duplicate items. Sort and categorize everything to see if you have multiples of each item. Do you really need three crockpots? Four pairs of kitchen scissors or five water pitchers? If not, consider donating a few of the extras to someone who may need one. –The Model Home
6) Make use of modular storage solutions
To help keep small pantries or kitchen cabinets organized, store as much food as possible in modular containers that stack. This helps utilize all your vertical space because it’s impossible to stack various-sized food boxes and containers. And consistent containers also reduce visual clutter, which helps reduce stress. –The Organizing Boss
7) Edit what you have
Instead of focusing on how to fit as much in your small kitchen as possible, focus on curating your kitchen. Move infrequently used gadgets, appliances, large pots, and large serve-ware elsewhere in your home (i.e., a basement shelf). This frees up space to efficiently and attractively store everyday items like dishes, toaster, frying pan, etc. Resist the urge to purchase fad gadgets altogether. Most cooking tasks can be accomplished with what you already have in your kitchen. –Shared Planet Home Organizing
8) Tidy up your spices
The best way to organize a large supply of spices is to store them upright in a drawer. Measure the depth of your drawer (typically 3″ tall), decant your spices into identical jars, and add pre-printed labels. Next time you need a spice, shop in the bulk section and bring an empty glass jar. That way you can skip the decanting step in the future. –The Tidy Magpie
Organizing hacks for the entryway
9) Don’t forget about wall space
Walls do more than anchor art and decor in your small living room – they’re also functional spaces. Floating shelves are great for expanding storage and creating focal points. Use wall sconce lighting over table lamps to preserve surface space or stylish wall hooks for blankets. –Situate Your Space
10) Streamline your entryway by designating zones
The trick to having a mudroom or entryway that serves you and your family is to have it clutter-free, which requires having a home for everything. To do so, think about what you and your family take with you when you leave the house every day. Also, think about the things that you bring home every day. Each of these items should have a designated home to be stored while in your home. I suggest using labeled bins, baskets, or a designated shelf or cabinet. –Clean House
Organizing hacks for the bathroom
11) Keep track of items you add to your bathroom
Bathrooms clutter easily because of the close confined space, large deep cavities, and long drawers. Most clutter comes from duplicate, irrelevant, expired, and mostly empty products. Weaning out unwanted products can be time-consuming, so keep a colored sharpie in the drawer to keep track of new products as they come in by putting the letter of the month on the bottom. Then from January until the end of summer, look through and wean the products that are a quarter or less full and have markings from the previous cycle. It’s a quick and easy way to keep clutter from accumulating. –Estate Concierge & Downsizing Services
12) Be ruthless
I encourage a ruthless purge of toiletries before organizing the bathroom. Our bathrooms are often filled with half-used makeup, hair products, and skincare products we don’t love anymore but feel guilty about getting rid of. Be honest with yourself- if you’re not going to use it, lose it. Then be mindful of what you bring into your bathroom. Try not to buy new products until the old ones are finished. This will help with organization and your budget. –Beautiful Chaos Organization
13) Categorize drawers by frequency and type
Small spaces like bathrooms can get cluttered easily. In the bathroom, categorizing each drawer by frequency of use is a good place to start. You can organize your day-to-day things in the daily drawer, such as hair ties, bobby pins, headbands, dental items, cleansers, and makeup. In the weekly drawer, store face masks, hair masks, tweezers, nail tools, and in the monthly drawer store feminine products, larger hair tools, and anything else that gets used less often. A simple rule of thumb for organizing these is to separate them by function (e.g., all your headbands in one spot). Use drawer dividers to contain and categorize groups of items. Don’t forget to create a spot to store any backstock items, somewhere you can quickly grab them when you need them, but it doesn’t have to be in the same bathroom if space is tight. –Space In The City
Organizing hacks for the bedroom, closets, and drawers
14) Downsize and purge clothing items that you no longer need
Only keep clothes in your closet and drawers that fit you right now and feel good. Those jeans you think will “motivate” you to lose weight, that expensive dress you’ve never worn – they just make you feel guilty every time you see them. Remove everything from your closet that isn’t a viable option to wear, and you’ll start your day in a new frame of mind. Getting dressed should be a pleasure. –The Minimalish Mama
15) Utilize under bed and vertical storage solutions
Even though your bedroom area might be small you still should be able to make it your sanctuary. One easy solution for bedroom organizing is to add under bed storage. It can be as easy as getting clear plastic bins or even pullouts. Don’t have a closet? Find a slim clothing rack. Utilizing vertical space is key for small space organizing. –D’s Declutrr
