Life on the road should be so liberating. I say this as someone who loves travel but long-term, admittedly, fantasizes more on the considered a tiny apartment to myself than a totally nomadic life. I’m sure other city dwellers can relate. The connecting factor, nevertheless, is that each small space living situations bring organizational challenges.
Staying organized should not be rocket science, but there isn’t any one rule that suits every space or one and all. And regardless of how much square footage you are working with, staying on top of your things can feel next-level difficult.
In my eyes, the one difference between keeping a big and small space organized is that in an even bigger home, you’ve gotten less pressure to get it perfect. If one sock or lip liner is misplaced, it’s less prone to interrupt your groove, or as my roommate calls her tiny bedroom space, your “eco-system.”
Said roommate has the tiny box room in our home, and I love how well she keeps it in place, to the purpose where stepping inside seems like a breath of fresh air in comparison with other rooms in the home, that are greater by comparison. Practice makes perfect in spite of everything, and to assist nail organization in every kind of awkward spaces, who higher to ask than those that do it well in each a part of their home?
“Living in a tiny house on wheels generally is a freedom like none other, but to make this lifestyle work it takes some creative pondering,” says Caleb Brackney of @roamerbus (opens in recent tab), who swapped out a big apartment for a 220-square-foot school bus he bought on Facebook Marketplace. “This downsize exercise turned out to be a satisfying experience, but only because I used to be determined to search out unique ways to store each of the tools I used every day.”
Similarly, Lindsey White of The Sunny Diaries (opens in recent tab) is having fun with a distinct lifestyle and now living a (very cute) bus life traveling up the west coast along with her family.
Here’s what they recommend for keeping tiny surroundings organized and fulfilling.
1. Be honest about your organizational needs
(Image credit: @the_sunnydiaries)
“I feel one in every of the primary steps is to undergo all of the items you’re trying to prepare and really take into consideration what you wish and don’t need,” shares White. “It’s lots easier to remain organized with less to maintain track of in the primary place.”
2. Organize by area
(Image credit: @the_sunnydiaries)
White shares that tackling each space at a time helped them to recover organized, noting that it’s then easier to see what organizers you wish, like baskets, containers, drawer organizers, etc. “For us, we’d like to prepare and maximize every area in order that they’re all arrange specifically for our wants and wishes,” says White.
3. Think outside the box
(Image credit: @roamerbus)
Brackney admits that some areas are harder to get into shape than others, but that perseverance and creativity repay more often than not. “From silverware to dry goods, limited storage within the kitchen was essentially the most difficult to regulate to, so I discovered myself scouring Pinterest and Instagram to search out ways to make essentially the most out of each square inch.”
Sometimes, a plain organizer won’t cut it which could leave you feeling just a little lost. But, where there is a problem, look hard enough and you’ll discover an answer that works to your space: “My favorite two organization hacks were using magnets to store metal utensils and screwing the lids of mason jars into the underside of shelving to hold glass jars from — turning an empty space into useful real estate,” says Brackney.
4. Be your individual cheerleader
(Image credit: @roamerbus)
Encouragement can go a good distance, and should you’re tackling your tiny space and organizational system solo, remember to offer yourself credit for trying recent things since you never know where even the smallest success will take you next.
Brackney highlights how implementing just a few fresh organizational hacks into the space gave him recent ideas. Particularly, add more lighting into the space without compromising on space that might be used for other items.
“After some discussion with my brother, who was helping me with hanging the mason jars, we thought of dropping outdoor string lights into the jars and running the wire from the highest — drilling a hole through the shelf and screwing the sunshine bulb in from underneath,” says Brackney. “The result was stunning! Immediately, wasted space became the frame of one in every of my favorite features in all the bus, and it will never have happened if we didn’t pause for a moment and think outside the box.” It was that instance of confidence that encouraged him to proceed experimenting.
5. Use each nook and cranny
(Image credit: @the_sunnydiaries)
Making every space work hard is not a surprising theme here, but since Marie Kondo introduced us to consciously giving items “homes,” I’m sure that I’m not the just one who thinks back to this clever concept time and time again. White rates this method also, especially when space is at a premium, noting how absolutely any small nook and cranny ought to be put to make use of for something.
“It seems small, but when you’ve gotten an area for all the things already planned then it’s much easier to remain organized,” says White. “And should you’re constructing out a tiny home, bus, or van and there’s any free space in between partitions or anything utilize that and make it into just a little cubby or shelf. In our bathroom, we built shelves into the wall as an alternative of sealing it off with a solid wall. And on top of our water tank, we had 4 inches of space between that and our bed, so we sealed that off with fabric and made room for a couple of extra items.”
6. Find your individual folding methods
(Image credit: @the_sunnydiaries)
With reference to Marie Kondo, White shares that finding out clothes was initially the largest organizational challenge they faced but that a few closet organizers, including drawer spacers, were useful.
“Fooling around with the way you fold your items may help, we watched a whole lot of Marie Kondo and followed a couple of of her ideas for T-shirt folding and things like that to maximise the children’ clothing storage,” says White. Try different techniques and the one which works best for you may stick in time.
7. Be a label lover
Embrace the Monica in you and be into labels. White claims it’s top-of-the-line organizational methods they took on to assist carry on top of the children’ toys and more.
White shares how label makers change into your best friend if you’re getting organized. This Niimbot Label Maker Machine Tape is a cute pick from Amazon (opens in recent tab). “We only get one or two bags out at a time and when it’s time to wash up we just put them back within the bag and under the couch. Easy clean up and straightforward storage.”
8. Keep editing along the best way
Take into consideration getting organized as a life-style change moderately than something you place effort into doing properly only in January. “We’ve learned that it’s a continuing process,” shares White. “It’s easy for things to get messy over time so staying on top of all the things and re-organizing areas is vital. It’s far more manageable if you deal with smaller areas at a time. If a couple of drawers are getting out of hand, undergo them periodically as an alternative of waiting for all the things to get messy and feeling overwhelmed with all of it.”
So even should you start small with only a label maker and a few baskets, know that you just’re headed in the proper direction.
Brackney adds how he continues to learn and find inspiration to raised his organizational game. “The largest advice I even have for others trying to search out organization hacks or advice for living in a small space is to not stop after finding cool ideas on the web that other people tried, but to place your individual twist on them and make it your individual,” he says. “This not only will make you prouder of your solution, however it gives you the boldness to maintain brainstorming and find other ways to make your space seem more personal, useful, and fulfilling.”
It’s clear that constructing in your surroundings with storage in mind is right. Each White and Brackney’s homes include custom-made storage as they built out their very own spaces almost from scratch, and it clearly makes a difference. It isn’t an option for everybody, but food for thought in the case of maxing out your tiny home’s (organized) horizon.
