Maximizing Your Space in a Studio Apartment

The modern studio apartment is usually south of 550sqft. As anyone who’s lived in one can tell you, that’s a pretty modest amount of space, especially when the square footage starts dipping below 400sqft.

Assuming you aren’t living a minimalist lifestyle, studio apartments beg the question of how you can make all of your belongings fit without jumbling everything into unsightly piles. The key is organization and going in with a plan.

Saf Keep wants to walk you through some apartment organization hacks, and general apartment organization ideas on a budget for those whose wallets are a little tight. If you’re already living in a studio apartment, this may require you to make slight adjustments at a time, but with patience, you can engineer your apartment into a conservative, efficient space that’s appealing to live in.

Apartment Organization Ideas on a Budget

Nothing is worse than trying to figure out new ways to free up your space, and the internet recommends several pricey organizational items that will do damage to your bank account. Fortunately, apartment organization ideas exist for those who need to take a budget a long way.

How to Keep My Small Apartment Clean and Organized

Having been in this place ourselves, we know how daunting it is when you have to ask yourself “how do I keep my small apartment clean and organized?” Fortunately, there are a couple of easy tricks.

Our first suggestion is to make use of vertical space. When you rely too much on floor space, it can make your apartment feel more claustrophobic than necessary, and too likely that you might stub your toe or knock something over. With a couple of standing or wall-mounted shelves, you can relieve your floor of the burden of holding everything. In that same vein, if you have a lot of paper-based products like magazines or documents, a filing cabinet works wonders for keeping your items organized and out of the way.

If you’re renting the space, or just prefer not to nail things into the wall, be mindful of how much floor space isn’t currently occupied and figure out tactical ways to utilize it. For example, you can buy bed risers to lift your bed higher off the ground. They keep your sleeping situation stable while creating an opportunity to fit more belongings underneath, possibly saving you a lot of space around the apartment. A similar tactic can work with certain kinds of couches/loveseats/etc.

Apartment Kitchen Organization

When organizing your apartment kitchen, leave no shelves unused. If it looks like you can probably rearrange each shelf to fulfill multiple purposes, do it. When you only have so much space to work with, smart compromises when possible are important.

If you have space above an appliance—whether the refrigerator, or even a countertop microwave—try to fit something there. A bowl of fruit, a bag of flour, whatever works. And if you can nail a shelf or rack above the sink, that’s a great way to squeeze out every last inch of space from your kitchen area.

Maximize vertical space with wall-mounted spice racks or knife shelves, for example.

Lastly, if your cabinets don’t run all the way up to the ceiling, the space on top is a superb place to keep some extra belongings that you can’t find a suitable place for anywhere else.

General Apartment Organization Hacks

Cord management is one of those things that you might not deem important until it’s too late. Tangles of cords are frustrating at best and wasteful at worst. With some consideration and a few zip-ties, you can free up a lot of space behind your work desk or entertainment areas. At the very least, you’ll make it look more appealing and less likely for something to get caught on a cord, so it may be worth doing for that alone.

Saf Keep, Here For You

Saf Keep knows how it feels to be under the stress of not having enough space. This is why we’ve designed our storage units to be space-efficient and affordable, so those who need extra space can find exactly the unit they need.

With locations all across the West Coast, including self storage in Los Angeles and San Jose, we offer units to anyone who is looking to make the most of their studio apartment. Following in the spirit of our organization hacks for small apartments, if you have an extra couch or appliance, let us hold on to it for a while. We don’t push anyone into obligated, long-term contracts, so you can make the most of your time with us with no requirement to stay longer than necessary.

From Hawai’i to California, Saf Keep has you covered!