Living in New York City has its perks. Twenty four hour delivery on almost everything you can imagine. Delish food on every corner. More diversity and culture than you can imagine squeezed into one city block. But with all of the amazing things it has to offer, living here comes with a huge downside.
Lack. Of. Space.
Especially with a kid and a dog, making everything we own fit and not feel completely cluttered takes a lot of effort and a little ingenuity! Every purchase we make has to be 100% worth it. There isn’t room for things you use once a year! You definitely develop the “use it or lose it” attitude pretty quick, and I know most apartment dwellers feel exactly the same.
Somehow, we have managed to keep everything in our home pretty well maintained. But there have been a few things that have been total lifesavers, or should I say space savers!
Under Bed Storage
When we were looking at bedroom furniture, we checked out a ton of different options. But ultimately, we ended up back at IKEA for their amazing storage beds.
For my oldest, we went with the Skaalt. Not only does it come with two drawers, but you can also add in a trundle bed. Come on over, guests. We are ready for you! We use the storage drawers for extra bedding and board games.
We have the Malm bed, which has a ton of functional storage. With four deep drawers, we manage to keep extra items apartment dwellers wouldn’t normally be able to hang onto. Seasonal decor, my husband’s over the top Blu-Ray collection and some serious shoes.
Fido Nook Dog Bed and Crate
This is probably my favorite multifunctional piece of “furniture” in our home. We crate trained Sheldon when he was a puppy, and his crate has been his safe place ever since. After years of trying to hide a dog crate in a back corner of a bedroom, I discovered the Fido Nook Dog Bed and Crate.
With it’s super chic design, we can use it right in our entryway, almost as decor AND Sheldon’s landing spot. It’s got an awesome little cupboard built in, making it easy to keep leashes, toys, sweaters, and extra treats organized. The included bed is super easy to clean and extra plush!
The crate is locked in place by some clever latches, but detaches and folds flat for when you need to travel. Brilliant! My oldest climbs up to put his shoes on, which probably isn’t recommended… Boys!
You can get tons of fun accessories for the dog studio. While we have the smaller Fido Nook Dog Bed and Crate., it also comes in multiple size for larger dogs. If you are super short on space, you could even use the large size studio as a tv stand or side table in your living room!
Utilize Vertical Space
Don’t limit yourself to the shelves built into your closets or standard height bookshelves. Take advantage, especially if you have tall ceilings, if under used vertical space. Our closets are incredibly high, and just a row of shoes on top wouldn’t be super useful. Instead, we took advantage, storing all of our luggage and travel bags up top! So nice to not have to move them around to get to other areas of the home.
In my oldest’s room, we added in shelves on top of these fun wardrobes we custom designed at IKEA (they are always saving the day in our home!) They make great storage for things we don’t necessarily want to have low down on the ground, like paint and giant buckets of lego.
Whether you have a large home, or small apartment, more storage is always a blessing! How have you maximized storage in your home?
