Designers, Make It Work!

I am going to put this very plainly: Walker and I are very quickly outgrowing our apartment. A less-than-450-square-foot apartment can be a bit of a tight squeeze for two people, especially people who both have a love for media and cooking. Books, records, DVDs, CDs, utensils, small appliances, ingredients — these things all take up storage space… that we don’t really have.

That being said, we also happen to LOVE our apartment and don’t have the money, time, or desire to move right now. We also don’t have the budget to go all out and buy lots of new storage furniture. So that brings us to our current conundrum challenge: how do we make this apartment function more effectively for our needs without spending a fortune? Since we really have no other choice than to answer this question, I am going to defer to the advice of the one-and-only Tim Gunn: “Designers, make it work!”

And that is precisely what I plan to do: make it work! This brings us to a new blog mini-series that’s one part “Work with What You’ve Got” from Attempts At Domestication (home design on a budget), one part “30 Bags in 30 Days” from Country Mouse Tales (weeding through and cleaning out your stuff, one space at a time), and one part classic Erika ingenuity and delight (sarcasm). I call this beast, “Our Cozy Cubbyhole: Make It Work!”

Over the next few weeks (fingers crossed I don’t get too busy or distracted!), we will be tackling one room/space at a time, asking ourselves what needs to be done in order for that space to function better. Do we need to de-clutter (duh, yes.)? Reorganize? Add storage? Rearrange?

When all is said and done, I hope this exercise will make our apartment breathable again. Our space is truly unique and special… I want to fall in love with it all over again! :)

Before I embark on this mission, any tips, tricks, or advice? Let me know in the comments below!