Space Challenged In NYC

I’m space challenged. Here in New York City, Every inch is prime real estate, so I find creative ways to neatly utilize it.

LED touch lighting can be added where you need it.

Storing items in dark crevices leaves me constantly purchasing duplicates. Items are forgotten and often repurchased leaving me with doubles or triples of the same item.

Occasionally, I remove everything from the cabinets to clean and reorganize, placing the most frequently used items in the front for easy accessibility. I installed touch lighting inside cabinets and other hard to reach, dark storage spaces to see what I have. By adding light, I’m now able to take advantage of these dark, but valuable spaces further expanding my useful square footage.

I’m constantly in search of the next project or idea. One day while shopping, I stumbled upon the “scrap wood” bin at a retailer and was flooded with ideas of what I could DIY. I used pieces of the free wood to convert a space in my apartment that was originally designated to house a microwave, into glassware storage shelving.

To install, I measured the space, cut the pieces of wood to the desired length, used my tallest glass as a spacer to have the adequate space between shelves, attached the shelves using sturdy bolts and used leftover stain from a previous project bringing the cost of this DIY to $0! The end result is pretty awesome. The addition of touch lighting added warmth.

I’ve accumulated quite a few necklaces over the years. Keeping them untangled was a constant struggle. While out shopping, I noticed inexpensive robe hooks and thought I could use them to hang my numerous necklaces. I purchased a few, hung them in what would have normally been wasted space in my closet behind shirts. I placed necklaces, (and belts), on them and poof!! No more tangles!!

Inexpensive robe hooks keep necklaces untangled.

Not having ample shoe storage is an issue for many of us. Well…..look up!! Shelving was installed at the top of my closet making use of that space. I then purchased clear storage containers for my shoes so that I can see what I own. Knowing what shoes I have helps when putting together outfits to wear.

Clear storage containers leave shoes visible and neatly stored.

Not having many overnight guests, a rarely used bedroom was informally changed into a dressing room. Again, I looked up for additional space. I purchased a very easy to assemble, floor to ceiling storage unit to utilize ceiling space. Additional storage items such as hanging racks were purchased to hold seasonal items to complete transformation of the makeshift dressing room.

This adjustable storage unit extends to the ceiling.

Do you have creative storage ideas you want to share? I’d enjoy hearing them. In upcoming blogs, I’ll share more creative small space solutions.