I had to move out of my apartment due to it being on the second floor. I have a knee injury so I couldn't climb those stairs anymore. My sis-in-law was so kind as to let us in her home.
One problem. The room is really small. We left most of our things in storage, but the things we do have, oh my, it is just that the room looks cluttered. I make cakes as a hobby and I also sew. So I have my craft stuff in our room. Food that doesn't go bad, like bread, cereal, etc. we keep in the room now. We use to leave it out in the kitchen, but our food would be gone before week's end and me without a job made it hard to buy food at a moments notice.
We also have a 6 drawer dresser and two ottomans, we have junk inside there as well. Our closet is a mess and one of the ottomans is blocking the other side of the closet. I tried organizing the room on my own, but it backfired. I just feel like there is more of a mess. There is no way I am able to stick nails into the walls, so we can hang stuff on the walls. We keep doors closed at all times for privacy. I am at my wits end. I don't know how else to keep this room organized and free of clutter. Help! I went from a full apt to a small tiny bedroom for two people :-(
By Nataly from Whittier, CA
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Only advise I can give you is get rid of "stuff". In reality we don't need a whole lot to get buy. Two pair of jeans is all I need. I don't work and don't have the type of social life that requires anything other than casual wear. The more stuff we accumulate the more complicated and time consuming our lives become.
Also, I learned a good lesson when my Mother became unable to take care of her house. She had so much stuff. Every time I came from cleaning and dusting all those nick knacks I started getting rid of things I didn't need nor did I really enjoy. They were only making work. Keep only the things you love and give away the rest.
Get at least two covered rubbermaid-type boxes. Put as much cake decorating stuff as you can in one and sewing stuff in the other. These boxes can be stacked on top of each other. Buy some under-bed type storage boxes and use them - perhaps the bed could be put on risers to give additional space under the bed.
Talk to your sister-in-law and/or show her your room. Ask her if she has any advice for organizing or if she might be able to help organize. She might be able to offer you a little more of a storage space, like in an unused cabinet or in the basement, where your husband could retrieve things as you need them.
I lived small for years...expert! put a small shelf about a 14 inches from the ceiling all the way around the room. store less used items high. you can cover with garden trellis if you want to velco it up so you can pull of sections. make sure you get folding stools, laundry hampers and laundry baskets. also get a bed that lifts up so you can store under it. or if you don't mind climbing a little higher you can put several dressers under and store a ton of clothing....worked great for college.
Food in your room is bad! Please stop doing that. You are inviting mice and bugs. If you must have it there to keep others from eating it, put it in an airtight container such as a mini-fridge that isn't plugged in. (And stop buying high calorie, no-nutrition foods like donuts and cookies.)
You are going to have to downsize. I know you're crafty, but get rid of everything except what you'll need to do the next two SPECIFIC projects. Don't have stuff hanging around because it would be "useful" in a project. You don't have room in there to craft, anyway.
Go through all your hair stuff, makeup, lotions, etc and get it down to the few things you actually use. Like one lotion you like, the shampoo and conditioner you like best, three combs that do different things, your favorite hairbrush, like that. Makeup that you actually use daily. Throw away old broken or half-used makeups.
Store cleaning supplies where your SIL stores hers. Bring your laundry to the laundry room and wash as soon as one hamper is full.
Don't have any clothes in the closet that you don't wear or are out of season. Get rid of all knick knacks. You only need books you will read within one or two months. After that you can trade them in and get more.
You need two sets of bedsheets and one comforter. Don't keep any lamps, radios, irons or other things you can't use right now or that your SIL already has that you can use. Put them in storage.
If all your "extra" (not everyday) stuff doesn't fit in one storage unit, you'll need to go through the unit and declutter that as well. Get rid of anything that isn't extremely expensive or can be replaced at a retail store. For instance, you do not need a dish set at the moment. You can buy an inexpensive dish set at Walmart. Therefore, you don't need to store a dish set.
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