Small Space Questions: Cluttered Small Room

Hi,

I have some ideas ready for you. I think your main problem to start with is you likely have no strategy–no type of system that works seamlessly with what you do from day to day. Everything just appears to be there, but you haven’t coordinated your lifestyle.

And the best advice I can offer anyone who faces clutter is think of organization along the same terms as one would view an orchestra…

Everything should be working together toward a common goal. In an orchestra all instruments come together to create a one beautiful piece of music but each instrument has it’s time and place to contribute to the final product.

For you, of course it would be your daily routine. So what you want to do is orchestrate (i.e. delegate/assign) all items in your room (a specific spot/time and place) so daily tasks are seamless for you.

So before I get into making decorating recommendations, my first suggestion is that you…

Create an Organized System That Works for You

The big problem I see with how you’re handling things is that your miscellaneous items are taking over your room. To clarify, by that I mean, shampoos, lotions, books, DVDs and all of those other things you have sitting out on your shelves and on the shelves in your closet.

You’ll want to of course come up with a system of order and find a new way to arrange them (which we’ll talk about later in the decorating part of my advice to you) but before you do come up with a new system you should…

Assess Your Daily Routine

I would recommend you sit down, make a list (or mental list) of what you do from day to day. Or in short, an easier way to say it is sit down and look around your room and write down everything you use the most on a daily basis.

Surely, there are a lot of things you use everyday–but chances are good there are a lot of things you don’t use from day to day that are sitting out and taking up unnecessary/invaluable space.

Consider putting every item in the following category…

• items used daily
• items used frequently
• items used infrequently

 Let’s talk about it a little bit more in detail…

You said in your post that your friends come over a lot. Obviously, this is a good example of your daily routine and why you would want to keep your seating. Along the same lines the other items in your room can be assessed.

For instance, if you have DVDs lying out in the open. Say, you watch one or two every other day, whereas the others are watched less frequently. This will then quickly lead you to the conclusion that not all DVDs (items) are created equal when it comes to your living experience.

Some DVDs you may have on hand may need to be within easy reach whereas other DVDs may need to be stowed away in a place in which you can get to them, but not necessarily out in the open.

This is how you should assess everything in your room.

• Things that are used daily = items easily on hand.
• Things used frequently = items stowed away but within easy reach.
• Things used infrequently = items that should be stored but not quite as easy to get to as the above.

Now that that’s said and done, I will finish my recommendations to you. But I felt first it was best to help you assess your life so you can get things in order and under control.

Before we move into storage, decorating and so forth I’ve got a few more things to say…

Once you’ve coordinated everything according to your daily routine, I often also recommend doing a check-up every couple of months. You could make it 3, 6 or 12 but the gist would generally be to notate items you have around your home that you haven’t used for either 3, 6 or a 12 month period of time and putting them on “probation.”

This is how it works. It is taken from my article Organizing Small Spaces…

I guarantee if you make a good habit out of doing this then you’ll find yourself holding on to the right things as well as getting rid of things you no longer need.

Ask yourself…

• If you’re living in what-is land or what-if land.  Are you living in reality or are you currently taking a vacation on fantasy island?

• How you will manage if it turns out you need it and you don’t have it. If it’s going to be some major trouble to get it and it’s gone, then you’ve got your answer. Chances are good you should keep it. But if it’s easy to replace with a few bucks and a few minutes of your time, then chances are good you can get rid of it (donate it or sell it) without any trouble.

• How long you’ve currently had it and not used it. Do you use it at all? Or is it just pretty to look at? Are you keeping it because it just “feels good” to know you have it? Have days, months, or years gone by since you’ve last used it? If it’s only been a few months, and you suspect it might be very necessary to keep it, then stow it away and return in several months and go through the same question asking process.

Give It a Mental Grace Period

Take a mental inventory of an item you’re not sure you need and put it on a 3 month probation. Once 3 months goes by, you can say “yae” or “nae” about whether to keep it or not (by going over the questions above and considering things carefully).

If once you’ve gone over everything and you’re still not sure, give it another 3 months probation. Once that time has gone by, ask yourself the same questions if you’re still not sure. However, usually it’s safe to get rid of something, if you haven’t used it or needed it, once half a year has passed by.

As for storage/decorating… this may or may not help. If not, it may at least put you on the right path, but in your cirumstance, I would recommend creating a shelving center if once you’ve cleaned up you are still left with a load of miscellaneous items.

Find Your Idiosyncrasies

I can’t tell you exactly how to coordinate your lifestyle, which sometimes has a lot to do with how you can reduce clutter. You’re the only one who is aware of all of your idiosyncrasies.

I’ll use myself an example in order to clarify…

For instance, I know how I like to store things. I know how I operate on a mechanical level or methodical level. I know items I hate to use. I know how I like to reach for things, what process of reaching and grabbing for things turns me off.

This in turn leads me to understanding what items I need to buy in order to create the organizational system I need to apply to my life. This also allows me to understand what items to stay away from buying.

For example, I know that I don’t like storage containers. My mother loves using things like storage containers to store items in the bathroom, kitchen and so forth but over the years I’ve learned I hate storage containers of almost any kind. I find that they aggitate me and get in the way more than they help.

I don’t like extra stuff to help me take care of extra stuff. To me, I feel if I need a heap of containers to take care of my stuff then I usually have too much of what I’m trying to take care of. This off course isn’t always the case, I do use storage containers but on a general level, it gives you an idea of my approach.

In the same way, you have a thought process you’ll want to become aware of. A way you like to reach and grab for things, approaches that turn you off from grabbing things and so forth.

For example, you may hate storing specific items in particular places because they require you to work too hard to get to them–like pulling out a step stool and reaching for them–which ultimately will contribute to the chaos/clutter in a long-term basis. If you have to do it too much, you may end up not doing it at all.

In short, if part of the organization process you’re currently using or end up using has you doing things you absolutely hate or processes you don’t agree with–you need to find out what those things are and get rid of them or change them.

Creating a Shelving Center

I apologize if this isn’t the best advice but in your case–only from what I can tell, I would say a shelving center would do wonders for you. You almost have one, but the furniture you use to store your items doesn’t appear to be very efficient.

I’m going to show you several pictures which speak volumes. Keep in mind, that you’ll be storing different items if you use a shelving system (lotions, etc.) and also take note that this is a wall-mounted shelving system and only an example.

And although this may not be something you can use, it will give you an idea of what I’m suggesting as I continue on…

[Note: The top two photos above are Elfa's shelving system and the other is from Wallperfect]

This is the type of system that I think would work for you. Basically it’s like built-in wall shelving you see in some homes except without the built-in factor.

If you take a quick look, you’ll notice there’s a large amount of shelving being used. And there are miscellaneous items stored on the shelves. Since you have a lot of miscellenous products, it would likely work well with your daily routine.

In the case of the photos it’s wall-mounted shelving, but in your case you could…

• Use (2-3) cheap tall bookcases (stacked side-by-side) to create your own shelving center
• Use the current shelving in your room and build on it
• Use wall-mounted shelving as your shelving center
• Combine all three methods above–use a bookcase, wall mounted shelving and various shelving you own.

Depending on where you live and how you live, if you can’t create the shelving center along one full wall, split them up along several walls. Just be sure to group your supplies according to how you operate.

Example…

• Items used daily on middle shelves–easily reached shelves
• Items used less frequently on bottom shelves
• Items used infrequently on top shelves.

Wall-Mounted Shelving Center

If you decide to use wall-mounted shelving, you can create your own. It will cost you a bit of money. You’ll need…

• Hang Track
• Wall Standards
• Mounting Kit (screws and anchors)
• particle board shelving or wood

All of this is available at Lowes and most hardware stores but will cost you probably no less than $100. It will likely cost more than that but if you really want something like that… split the costs each month.

Start by getting the standards, mounting kit and hang track first, then get a shelf and the right amount of brackets to go with it every month. You can get Elfa kits and so forth (like above) but they cost much more and you could cut costs by getting the standards and other supplies yourself.

Cheap Bookcase Shelving Center

If you want to use cheap bookcase… try checking out thrift stores for them first or places like craigslist and freecycle in order to get them even cheaper. If you can’t find them there, most only run about $30 each. Get one a month if you can’t afford them all at once.

Using What You Currently Have

The shelving you have your TV on could be used if you could build on it. I think you have similar shelving in your closet, so I would recommend using both of those together, if you can. Stack it tall if you can’t stack it wide. Tall stacking will help you conserve width-space which is often more effective when you’re short on space.

Various Suggestions…

I would recommend you keep the storage bin between your bed and loveseat. If you use wall-mounted shelving, you would place the bin beneath the shelving system like in one of the photos above, but if not consider putting the bin in your closet (if you have one at your new location) and using it to store your undergarments, if need be.

You have miscellaneous items spread throughout your room–stored on miscellaneous stands. If possible, combine those things together as part of the shelving center. If not, get rid of them (unless you find some other purpose for them)–but a lot of the little stands in your room are taking up unnecessary space when you could use one central shelving system to store almost all of those miscellaneous items.

Since the shelving system would be along your wall it would free up a lot of walking space once you rid yourself of the miscellaneous stands spread throughout your room.

Lastly, I have a compilation of miscellaneous suggestions at the risk of repeating myself–but some may be of use to you…

Other Suggestions…

Here are some other suggestions that came to mind. Note that some suggestions may conflict with the other suggestions. So use what ideas you think will suit you best when you move. I tried to be as accurate as possible but since I’m human I’m prone to mistakes …

• Put your fan in the closet–stow it away in the winter and pull it out in the summer when needed. That is assuming you only use it during the warmer months. (I usually do this one.)
• Stow your bean bag seat away in the closet until it is needed. Pull it out when necessary, put it back in when it’s not in use.
• Pull the closet shelving out and use it as part of your shelving center.
• Put the storage bin that’s between your loveseat and bed (in photo 3) in your closet and store your undergarments in it. Pull out media items such as CDs, etc and store them on your shelving center.
• Use the storage bin (in photo 3) as the lower part of your shelving center if you go with the idea of using wall-mounted shelving.
• Get rid of the stand beside your loveseat or use it as the lower part of your shelving center if you go with the idea of using wall-mounted shelving.
• Put posters on your wall last. Make sure you’ve arranged all of the shelving and so forth in your room and then put up the posters you like best.
• Get rid of the long drape in your room. If you like it dark, consider replacing the drape with a dark mini blind or dark shade and then using a simple  valance to add a decorative touch.
• Get rid of that little stand (with the tissues on it) in between your bean bag and floor chair (in photo 4).

I hope some of that helped. I know all of it might not but it might lead you on the right path nonetheless!

Feel free to write if you need anymore help!

Tags: organizing, small space questions

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