Does the thought of living in a house that seems to end as soon as you enter, give you the creeps? Does the thought of waking up in such a cramped situation give you the nervous jitters? Worry not for experts at Toronto Condo Team bring to you the best tips to survive in a micro-condo and maintain your sanity:
Carefully Delineate Separate Areas
When you are considering refurbishing your Micro-condo, an open-floor concept may seem more logical. Afterall, the idea of putting up walls in such cramped quarters may be making you feel claustrophobic. However, this can overwhelm you in the long run and make your apartment appear messy all the time due to a lack of definition.
Try to carefully delineate separate areas, each assigned for a different purpose. Shoe racks and coat hangers need to be left by the main door to round off your entranceway. A buffet can be placed between your dining area and kitchen to enhance storage and make it easier to serve as you cook. In addition, you create an invisible boundary between your “bedroom” and “living room” by backing up your sofa to the foot of your bed. If you also have a home office within your bedroom, try to save as much space as possible by leveraging a host of creative home office décor ideas.
If you have any particular hobby or interest, why not use it to let your home reflect who you are, while separating different areas of your house. For instance, you can use plants from an indoor garden to visually separate an area from the rest of the house.
Invest in Dual-Purpose Furniture
Every inch, no, every centimeter counts when you are working with such cramped quarters. Make the most of your small space by only purchasing furniture that will have multiple functions. For instance, rather than buying furniture first and striving to fit it in your tiny condo later, buy furniture pieces that will work for you. Multi-purpose furniture works best, especially for the bedroom. For instance, you can consider buying a trundle bed that you can fold back into a sofa when watching TV. How about a dining table with a built-in leaf for when you have additional guests or a hollow ottoman which doubles as a storage container.
However, when purchasing dual-purpose furniture, keep in mind the dimensions of your micro-condo and buy size-appropriate pieces for your condo. Overstuffed models will make your condo appear more cramped. You won’t have any trouble finding daintily scaled furniture pieces as a lot of companies are creating furniture appropriate for micro-living.
Rethink Unused Spaces
After you have lived in a micro-condo for quite some time, you will be stuck in a rut as to how you can optimize it any further. While you may already be storing clean linens in boxes under your bed, spare candles in hidden kitchen drawers, and extra dishes that are hardly used in the oven, now is the time to look for spaces in your micro-condo that are not being used in the most effective way possible.
Look around your tiny micro-condo and identify all the dead spaces that are not serving any purpose currently. When you are already pressed for space, you can’t afford a single corner sitting idle. Look for blank walls and unused corners. Think up out-of-the-box ways that you can use those spaces best.
For instance, a large empty windowsill can double as a make-shift workstation for those days when you need to work from home, or that empty corner can house a shelving unit for your bar essentials. Put away your less-frequently used plates in a few baskets on top of your refrigerator.
Go Vertical with Storage
Whenever you decide to make use of a space, think both horizontally and vertically. If you want to squeeze the most storage out of any space, narrow, tall storage systems work best. For instance, to incorporate a built-in shelving look, you can put identical bookshelves on both sides of a doorway. Since we just discussed the need to delineate different areas of your house, why not consider putting a large, floor-to-ceiling entertainment center that divides your sleeping and living areas. To amp up your storage even further, why not use all that blank wall space for stashing away all fold-away furniture. Murphy beds may be looked down upon by old schoolers, this transformable technology has come a long way and is a blessing for micro-condos.
Find an Organization System
When we talk about micro living, you can never get enough storage space. You feel like there isn’t enough space to hide all unavoidable clutter from view. But lets practical here. You may employ a gazillion storage hacks to stash away every belonging from view, what about when you need something. What good is a clean, uncluttered apartment if you are unsure of what is stored where. Along with storage, invest in organizers to help you keep everything sorted out.
For instance, back-of-the-door shoe-hangers have handy pockets that can hold anything from extra snacks, house keys, to cleaning products. Or instead of randomly stacking everything on shelves, organize your belongings in small baskets. Not only does it help hide clutter from view, it also creates a uniform look.
Not only should you own a few organizational tools, the key is to utilize them as well. It can be difficult to stay organized after you have organized everything. A study by Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher, states that it takes at least 66 days for a person to form a habit. If you remember to put away everything in its proper place after you have used it, at least for those first few days, you will automatically get into the habit. Trust us, it will be a snap to keep your micro-condo looking organized.
Add Curves with Décor and Furniture
If you don’t like to feel clustered in your tiny box-shaped micro-condo, why not introduce a few curves with your furniture. Curvaceous furniture will keep your micro-condo from looking dull and monotonous. Try to buy a round sofa or dining table with angled sides. Once you have found furniture that reflects your personal style, try to create harmony by complimenting those curves with accessories of the same shapes. For instance, you can go for a round bathroom mirror instead of a run-of-the-mill rectangular one. Or a curved, swaying floor lamp instead of a straight one.
With apartment buildings becoming more innovative by the day, why not leverage some natural shape in your condo to your use. For instead, turn a curved window into your favorite reading spot by fitting a curved chair and a comfy coffee table by that spot.
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