Lisa WoodruffCEO and founder, Organize 365

How to Maximize Storage Space in your Home

15 Jun 2018 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:19

In this YouTube video, Lisa Woodruff addresses the reality that becoming a parent inevitably adds more belongings and mental load, making it unrealistic to expect the same amount of living space after a child arrives. She acknowledges that many families live in condos or apartments by choice or necessity, and that moving isn’t always an option. Recognizing the fixed size of one’s home, she explains that frustration comes from wishing for more space that simply isn’t available. To help viewers thrive in small spaces, she outlines four practical strategies for maximizing storage without constant decluttering. The first strategy focuses on creating additional storage by repurposing shoe organizers on the backs of doors—closet doors for socks, belts, and accessories; bathroom doors for extra shampoo and toiletries; and a baby’s room door for small baby items like hair accessories, socks, and diaper rash cream. This simple hack frees up shelf space inside closets and provides hidden storage, setting the stage for the remaining three suggestions that follow later in the video.

Chapters

Becoming a mother and adding a little one into your family increases the amount of stuff you have, the amount of things you need to manage in your head at any one time, and it's just an expansion. So to expect that you're going to be able to add a child or more children into your family and not expand the amount of space that you take up is an unrealistic expectation. Now I understand living in a condo and an apartment and a small living space sometimes is a choice, sometimes is a necessity. We can't just get up and move based on the amount of stuff we have. I totally 100% realize that. But whether by choice or necessity, we also just have to recognize the amount of space we have to deal with is a fact. And unless we can change that fact, everything else is relevant. So wishing and wanting to change the size of our space, if that is not a reality, is really just frustrating for us. It is challenging to stay organized in a small space because you have to constantly declutter. And just like Amy mentioned, you can't always keep decluttering. Like, there is just some stuff that you need. So what are the things that we can do if we're in a small space and we can't move that small space How can we maximize that space other than decluttering? And I have 4 suggestions for you. Number one is to create more space, and here are some ways that you can create more space. So on these shoe organizers, you could literally put them on the back of every single door that you have. On the back of closet doors, you can put socks and belts and accessories. On the back of bathroom doors, you can put extra shampoo and things that maybe would go in a medicine cabinet. On the back of the baby's door, you could put all the little baby things, like, I don't know if it's a girl or boy, but little hair things and socks and diaper rash cream and all of those little things. So all the little things can be stored that way. That's going to free up a couple of shelves inside of these closets that you don't even have and give you more storage space.