How to Organize Your Small Condo With No Storage

This holiday season was likely filled with spending time with loved ones and feasting on delicious foods; however, it could have been a stressful time of year as well. With the start of the New Year you might be reflecting and creating your New Year’s resolutions whether you want to establish more of a routine for yourself or organize and declutter your home. Organizing your home can be extremely challenging task for those that live in a small downtown Toronto condo unit or apartment as it is already overwhelming enough trying to make it functional with the minimal amount of space there currently is. We at XYZ Storage want to help you organize your small space and share ways you can maximize it to be able to store your holiday decorations and more.

Limited Time: Where to Start?

Dedicate Time

First you want to decide when you can allocate time to focus on organizing your home. It can be as little as an hour or a whole day. Doing this will allow you to focus on the tasks without any distractions. Planning ahead can be beneficial so you can ensure you get everything done in the time you have allotted to focus on organizing and cleaning your space. 

Decluttering

Once you figure out a dedicated time to spend cleaning and organizing your home, you want to start decluttering. Decluttering is sorting through all of your belongings and deciding what continues to add value to your life, and if it does not, then it is time to part ways. Decluttering can be beneficial if you are planning on selling your home and downsizing, decluttering mentally, or simply creating more space.

You can declutter anything in your home including furniture, kitchen utensils, bedding, clothes, paintings, books, or electronics. Some questions you can ask yourself when decluttering your belongings are:

1. Does this bring joy to my life?
2. How often do I use this item?
3. Is this item expired, or does it not work anymore?
4. Can this item be replaced by something I already own?

Why Declutter?

Asking yourself these questions can help you determine whether you should get rid of something or keep it. The best part about decluttering is if you do not decide to keep the item you can either sell it and make money or donate it to friends or family members or perhaps someone in need. It is a great way to give back especially during the holidays. You never know when your junk can be someone else’s treasure. If something is not reusable or can be passed on to someone else then you would trash it, but try and donate it to your local Salvation Army or Value Village if possible. If you want to keep one or several of your belongings, but lack the space to store it then storage is your best option. These are usually for the items you have attached sentimental value to such as photo albums, old baby clothes, or family heirlooms. You should not have to part ways with these items just because you lack the space to keep them in your home hence investing in a self-storage unit may be worthwhile.

One way you can tackle decluttering your home is by decluttering one room at a time, so it allows you to focus on completing one room before moving on to the next. This might help make decluttering a less daunting task and can help you be more time efficient. If you declutter often enough the less time-consuming it is each time you do it. This is because you have less belongings to go through and tend to only have the items you actually need as opposed to those simply taking up valuable space.

With decluttering you will likely be in a better position when moving to a smaller apartment by not having to worry about bringing along too much of your belongings with you that you no longer need. When moving into your new place you will have way less to organize and clean on a daily basis. However, it will be beneficial to establish a cleaning routine to ensure that your space is organized. Decluttering can also give you the opportunity to live a more minimalist lifestyle. It can help you focus on other areas of your life, can improve your mental health by surrounding yourself with less clutter, add more meaning to your life, appreciate what you do have, and give you financial flexibility when you purchase less material items.

Interested in learning more about living a minimalist lifestyle? Check out our blog post on The Journey to Living a Minimalist Lifestyle. 

Organizing and Storing Your Belongings

What to Use to Store Your Belongings

The best way to store your belongings in your home in a way that helps keep it all organized and helps give off the minimalist aesthetic is by using transparent containers. Transparent containers are great for visually seeing what is in each container without having to open and check what is inside. For example, having different transparent containers could be used to store clothes, cooking ingredients, or cleaning supplies. It makes it much easier to sort through at home, but in a cramped storage space as well. If you plan on storing your belongings in a storage unit by having your belongings placed in transparent containers it will be a whole lot easier to sort through everything without taking anything out.

Maximizing Your Space

When it comes to having a limited space, you want to try and maximize the space you have to the best of your ability. A few ways you could do so include:

1. Utilizing the vertical space in your home, whether that is hooks to hang your jackets or shelves to hold your books. 
2. Choose furniture that has multiple purposes. There are multiple examples of this including a couch that can serve both as a place for lounging and depending on the couch there could be space for storage underneath the couch for blankets or other items. Another example is a bed that comes with drawers or even the space underneath the bed can be used for storage. You could also find benches for your foyer area that can be used as extra closet or storage space.
3. Organizers for your closet. These can help you organize the clothes, shoes, and everything else you store in your closet.
4. Divide the space in your home effectively and use each space for its specific purpose. This way you keep yourself and your home as organized as possible. 
5. Get creative with your space! 

Following these tips can help you create more space in your tiny apartment or house and are great ways to help you add storage space.

Ways to Be Eco-Friendly When Organizing Your Home

Using containers is also great for the environment if you continue to reuse them over time. Repurposing items you own can help you be more eco-friendly, as opposed to; buying new storage containers. If you have old boxes from delivery packages you received, instead of throwing them out use them to store your holiday decorations as an example. When wiping down your kitchen counter, bathroom sink, or shower, using an old t-shirt as opposed to using multiple paper towels can play a role in helping the environment. All of these ways could help make a positive difference for the environment just by the way you live your life on a day to day basis. 

Value of Storage Space

The value of having storage space in your home is incredibly important not only for yourself and those living in your household, but also for when or if you plan on selling your home. In today’s housing market space can be seen as valuable especially when the prices of houses, condos, and apartments have skyrocketed over the years. This means if you would like to live in the heart of the city of Toronto a 600 square feet apartment would be more valuable if it has functional living space and with that comes the question “how much storage is there?” Having more storage space can be attractive to potential home buyers. If you can showcase to potential buyers creative ways a small space can be used in multiple ways it can help them envision the space for themselves. For example, doing renovations to add more storage space on the walls for books can be beneficial.

Need more helpful tips on keeping your condo or apartment organized? Check out our past blog post Tips to Help Keep Your Apartment or Condo Organized to learn more.

Storage Unit Can Help

A storage unit can be beneficial for those that do not have access to a storage locker in their apartment or condo. When decluttering your space renting a storage unit can help you buy time in deciding what you want to do with some of your belongings. If you have a couch, table, or whatever it is you’d like to move out of your condo because it is taking up too much unnecessary room, keeping it in a storage unit can allow you to take your time to think about what to do with it. A storage unit can also be beneficial for storing holiday decorations such as your Christmas tree, lights, or even to help make room for some of the new presents you received. There are several customizable storage units that you can look into renting based on your needs and you can rent it for however long you need whether that is for short term or long term storage. Feel free to visit any of our self-storage facilities, as our storage experts would be more than happy to assist you in storing your belongings.

We Thank You

Thank you to our wonderful customers, employees, partners, and self-storage community members for the endless support over the last 25 years. We are grateful for those who helped us celebrate our 25th Anniversary ultimately making 2022 a memorable year. At XYZ Storage we look forward to continuing to make a positive impact in 2023 and continuing to grow to serve our community each day. Wishing you a very Happy New Year from all of us at XYZ Storage!