Tips for living in a small space

No matter how many times you measure, you always seem to think the stuff you have is going to fit differently than it actually does when you move in.  I'm currently living in a 9 foot by 9 foot 6 inch bedroom, complete with a full-size bed, desk, nightstand and bookshelf, but nothing is in the place I oringally planned it to be in. Here's what I would recommend if you're moving in to a place that might be smaller than you'd hoped for:

1. Go vertical: Two of my favorite pieces of furniture are my desk, which is less than four feet across and less than 18 inches deep, but has about four feet of extra shelf space on top, and my Container Store bookshelf, which I can buy additional racks for and takes up only about a 18 inch by 24 inch square of floor. As someone who tends to have a lot of media, from books and magazines to CDs and DVDs, these are the perfect items for keeping my stuff off the little floor I have.

2. Use closet space wisely: My dresser is in my closet right now, and the closet behind my room, which is intended as a common area closet, holds my off-season clothes. Pretty much anything that I can't see a reason for me to see it on a regular basis goes behind a door now. It actually makes getting ready in the morning an easier process anyway. Lots of apartments and condos also provide storage lockers, so if you have seasonal items, store them there to give yourself more in-unit closet space.

3. Get rid of stuff, even furniture, if you don't need it: My boyfriend pointed out that I hadn't used my stereo since I moved into my apartment. With all my CDs collected on my iPod, which I mainly play on my computer or iPod tower speaker, there's really no need for the extra cubic feet that the additional sound equipment takes up. Same goes with things like all my printed pre-internet newspaper clips, half-marathon medals and various souvenirs from trips or novelty gift items. Those all tend to gather on one shelf, which I could probably get rid of if I didn't have them. And why not? If I haven't looked at something in over a year, I have to imagine I won't miss it if it's gone (or maybe in storage). There's plenty of charities that would appreciate those things, maybe more than you would.

4. Figure out what size bed or couch you really need. I'm just as happy in a full as a queen, and the exta inches make my room possible. Some people are even okay with a twin. Most city apartments aren't cut out for a king-sized bed, so if you can't really tell the difference, why not make your space more flexible by getting a full? Same goes for couches: If you live by yourself, maybe a love seat is okay. Are the big poufy arms going to encumber your space? How many guests do you have over? If it's not a lot, would you be okay with a narrower sofa or a couple nice armchairs? Still, thing about what the next place you might move to would look like. You can't really go wrong with moderately small furniture- if you end up moving to a bigger place, it won't look silly.

5. Keep it clean I can tell you from experience, a small room overflowing with dirty running clothes seems even smaller. Keeping trash, laundry and paper off of major surfaces may seem obvioius, but it's amazing how quickly it gets to you when you think you haven't been that messy. The small room seems to multiply junk. My room feels much larger when you can see the whole floor.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any tips of your own.