A small room, such as a bedroom or home office, has less space to devote to storage. Often small rooms have only a reach-in closet, resulting in stacks of wire mesh baskets and cluttered bookcases lined up against the walls.
You can avoid this unappealing look by organizing the books, clothes and furnishings in the room, and by organizing the storage system. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Organize a Small Room
1. Empty the room. Measure the width, height and depth of the closet and make a note of those measurements.
2. Purchase a closet organizing system appropriate to the size of the closet and the type of wardrobe you have. For example, if you wear suits to work, be sure your system includes rods for hanging suit coats and slacks, as well as a tie hanger and a shoe rack. If your wardrobe is primarily made up of jeans, shirts, sweaters and shoes, choose a system with more shelving.
3. Use clear plastic containers for items such as underwear, socks and accessories and place these on shelves in your closet system. Mark the containers with their contents.
4. For a home office, a closet organizing system can be used for office supplies and computer peripherals such as printers. Use the system for craft or sewing supplies, fabrics, board games or books if the room is serving as a craft room, playroom or library.
5. Decide where the major pieces of furniture will be in the room. Make note of where the outlets are in relation to these pieces. You'll want overhead lighting for the bed and a lamp for the desk.
6. If a bookcase is necessary, plan to place it in the corner facing the foot of the bed. Put little used books on the bottom shelf. Place a basket or clear container on top of the bookshelf. Use this for extra blankets or other seldom used items.
7. Install a shelf that runs along one or two walls about two feet from the ceiling. Do this before placing any furnishings. Use the wall or walls that will not be occupied by furnishings to ensure access.
8. Use clear plastic containers or decorated boxes for additional storage on this shelving unit. In a home office, this provides storage for additional office supplies or archived files. For a bedroom, additional shoes and accessories or seasonal clothing could be stored on this shelf. Tag the containers or boxes with the contents. If you are using boxes, make the label part of the design.
9. For a young child's room, use one roll cart and one open topped toy box for storing toys. These allow the child to access the toys and clean up easily as well. The vertical shelving can then be used for other storage.
10. Use the horizontal shelving unit in an older children's room for storage of video games, homework supplies, journals or other personal items.
11. Place your furnishings in the room after installing the shelving units. Include a fold-up step stool that can be stored beneath the bed. This will allow access to the shelving.
12. Take stock of the items in the closet and on the shelving every few months and dispose of anything you haven't used in a year.
Tags: home office, clear plastic, clear plastic containers, closet organizing, closet organizing system