We Monica Geller’d Our Apartment

Let me start off by saying no, we don’t have the typical New York sized apartment. This apartment has pretty good storage (still less than ours in Atlanta but good nonetheless)! We do, however, only have one closet and with the way It was built (with just one bar) I wouldn’t say It necessarily set us up for success. We became opportunists when thinking about decorating and how we could make the pieces we purchased as functional as possible. Here are a three huge ways to maximize your space for extra storage!

1. CLEARANCE! Under your dresser and bed. Platform beds are all the rage but if you have a bed tall enough to fit things under, you just gained an extra closet! Same goes for dressers. If you can fit things under your dresser, It just went from having 6 drawers to having 8!
2. Furniture with drawers! All of It. Every piece! Need a media table under your tv? Get a buffet instead with drawers like this one. Have enough space to make up an entryway? Skip out on the cute bench and do a small console table with two drawers.
3. Make every square inch count. Find nooks and corners that make sense for a small cart and some open storage! Instead of filling your walls with art, opt for open shelving. It will look pretty but also be so practical.

KITCHEN

This set of drawer organizers came with five or six different sizes/compartments and make everything so neat! They match our flatware organizer, too. I love the option of having my knives laying flat in a drawer as opposed to being in a block on the counter. Create vignettes using small trays so that the space looks intentional! This one was perfect for curating a coffee station. Pretty containers are so easy to find and really finish off a kitchen counter VIBE! I basically bought this whole collection for our kitchen and I’ve loved It!

BATHROOM

My favorite creative storage solution was with this cart! I’m not sure what the original intent was, but It is the perfect size to create pretty and functional open storage for towels, toilet paper and other bath accessories. Pro tip: In small spaces like this one, be sure to keep things from looking cramped or crowded by choosing a color that’s light, or in this case clear! Seeing through It makes It look seamless and less distracting in the space.

NATHAN’S CLOSET

Yes, the picture below is nearly every piece of clothing I own that isn’t athletic, or sleepwear shoved (neatly) into a coat closet. For me, organizing my closet started with the main goal of keeping everything VISIBLE.

When you’re dealing with a lack of space, it’s easy to just shove stuff in a box and keep it tucked away, which then makes everyday living highly inconvenient. If you read my last post, then you know I try to keep my daily “routines” automatic, so I wanted to find a way to keep everything out in the open while making the most out of every inch of my space.

To do that, we used dish shelves to turn my top shelf that was awkwardly tall into two shelves for my shoes. We also added this shoe rack on the back of the door for my t-shirts, instead of shoes.

Again, visibility and ease of access is key for me. I wear 1-2 t shirts daily, so it’s just impractical for me to fold them and put them in a drawer that will constantly be messed up/reorganized, and I don’t have enough space to hang them up, so we opted for this creative solution.

Lastly, we added this shoe shelf at the bottom of the closet for pants, shoes, and other miscellaneous things. This rack is 12 x 25.625 x 17 inches with three shelves that fit high tops up top, and low tops down low. It also has enough space under the bottom shelf to fit lower profile shoes, the toes of high tops, or other items. I also hang my hats on the part of the rack that extends beyond the top shelf, which was an unexpected space saver.

With all of these storage pieces in place, I’m able to see my tees, pants, shirts, outerwear, and shoes all at once so I can quickly pick out what I need without disrupting things or compromising precious space. I’ve also got a few work items and a basketball jammed in there for good measure. Turns out, having a coat closet as your only closet is 100% possible.

ANNA’S CLOSET

This closet started out with just a bar that spanned the length of the closet and two shelves up top. Thankfully some genius made this piece that hangs on the bar and gives you a second tier of hanging space! Where has this been my whole life! I used that for pants, jeans and short jackets. It hangs pretty low so I could put coats and dusters above it without It feeling too cramped. I found a two tier shoe shelf and filled that up with sneakers and some booties. The plastic bins are perfect to store handbags, shorts or any out of season items. The small size stacks on top and has cold weather accessories, scarves and slips/undergarments.

For my “new arrivals” section for styling, I got this open space storage system with shelves and a rack. It’s like It was made for this little corner. This helps me see what I have, what I need to shoot and is fun for keeping designer shoes on display! I also found this headband organizer that is perfect for storing your hair accessories. It opens to put things inside and It also has a little space at the top perfect for my hair clips.

There are a few other storage hacks we used in this room that made a huge difference. You can buy these hooks to add to the hangers you already have for pants and skirts, so everything stays seamless, less crowded and your hangers can be used for both tops or pants! I grabbed this over the door towel hook for one side of my closet to hang belts, hats and scarves and this shoe organizer is on another door for the rest of my shoes! Under the bed and dresser we filled these fabric storage bins. There are handles on all sides and you can open each half separately. I have swim, workout clothes and out of season clothes in these! One drawer in my nightstand is where the rest of my jewelry is thanks to this drawer organizer!

We’ve ended up with some very non-traditional storage solutions but they work! And at least we aren’t storing things in our ovens like some New Yorkers do. I’ll update here as we find new storage solutions and hacks but this has put two very OCD Page’s in a good place!