How to Organize Your First Apartment

Congratulations on getting your first apartment! Whether you’re moving out of a dorm room or out of your parents’ home for the first time, moving into an apartment of your own is quite a transition. This is true if you are planning on living alone, or if you will have one or more roommates. You might feel overwhelmed at the prospect of getting everything put away and organized in your new space. Here are some top tips on how to organize your first apartment:

If you are lucky, your new apartment will be perfectly clean before you sign the lease. Typically, though, there is at least some cleaning to be done. Open every closet and cabinet and wash down the shelves. If you want to, you can apply contact paper to protect the shelving and give you a new surface on which to place your items. Be sure to dust out the corners of every nook and cranny, scrub the insides of the appliances and make sure the floors and windowsills are squeaky clean. It might seem like a lot of work now, but it’s easiest to remove dirt before you bring in your belongings.

If your apartment is small, you might not have the storage space that you were accustomed to when living in your parents’ home. You’ll need to be creative in order to fit everything! Over-the-door shoe holders are great in every closet, and can hold everything from shoes to toiletries and much more. Putting a small lazy Susan in your kitchen cabinets will allow you to keep spices and other small items at your fingertips. Don’t be afraid to use boxes, baskets and bins to hold items, either! Make them part of your decor: If you love baskets, put in pretty liners and fill them up! You can also find hat boxes and photo boxes at craft stores; these can hide some of your items while they’re within easy reach on a shelf or dresser. Some ottomans or end tables come with space for storage. You could use a chest or trunk as your coffee table to hold games, sweaters or blankets. And don’t forget under-the-bed bins!

In addition to the horizontal spaces that you have in your new apartment, you also will have a lot of wall space. Use this to install shelves to hold items ranging from books to your fish bowl. Shelving in the kitchen can function as a pantry or can even hold mixing bowls or coffee mugs if you lack cabinet space. You can buy and install a fold-down ironing board so that you can iron without having to store a big board in a closet. Hooks on a wall can hold hats or purses... you can even pretend it’s just part of your interior design!

Finally, be realistic: If you spread out all of your belongings in your parents’ 2,500-square-foot house, you’re not going to be able to fit everything in a 600-square-foot apartment. Some of your things will have to stay behind, and you can use it or pick it up at another time. For the most part, however, you might be able to fit more than you thought in your new apartment. Congratulations on this new big step in your life!