-Written by Steph
So, we moved! Same co-op, but now we’re in a bachelor suite rather than a 1 bedroom. We just got new carpeting put in, and love the place! Here’s what it looks like;
We also have a good size balcony coming off the kitchen, and will be starting up some gardening and composting when we get back from vacation.
A lot of people have trouble living in small spaces comfortably. I’ll freely admit, it helps a lot to be at least partially minimalist – space saving tricks have limits. If you’ve got too much crap, and don’t want to get rid of it, I can’t help you. That said, here are a few ideas:
Murphy beds are great. This is our first one, and we love it. Fold it up into the wall and it’s gone! Your bedroom transforms into a bunch of free space if you want to have people over, do back flips, or vacuum under it. They’re super easy to fold up – five seconds would be a stretch. They also tend to have handy built in bookshelves, drawers, or closets, depending what type you have. Here’s what our looks like in action:
Another thing to consider is be a bit flexible about furniture. Too much or too big furniture just doesn’t work – you’ll trip over it and feel cramped. You might consider, for example, having a rocking chair or some sort of recliner rather than a couch – we got rid of our couch after moving, and it seems to be working out with just the rocking chair.
Tables are another thing that can take up a lot of room. We had to search a bit to find a good solution to this one, but we eventually found a folding thing from Ikea that works great. I’d recommend looking for something like this for any small space – it goes from a shelf, to a table for two, to a table for 4-6. It’s a handy little thing! Here’s the evolution of our table:
Finally, I need to emphasize – if you’re going to live in a small space, GET RID OF CRAP YOU DON’T NEED. Don’t try to find ways to hide crap. Don’t buy a bunch of shiny “storage solutions” to organize your crap. If you have a bunch of crap in a small space, you will feel like crap, period, end of story.
(By the way, you might have noticed the carpet changed colour in the above pictures – gray/green was the old yukky carpet, reddish-brown if the nice new carpet)
Incoming Assets 