Living in an apartment is something most people experience in their journey as a renter. And one of the things that come with apartment life is the notoriously small bedrooms and closets. Maintaining an organized bedroom and closet is a day-to-day battle unless you’re a minimalist or a pro at keeping your space clutter-free.
How do you organize a one-bedroom apartment with minimal closet space? Well, we’ve got tips and tricks to help you out. Professional organizers and stylists from across the country have helped us to give you the best advice for keeping your small apartment bedroom and closet organized. Here’s what they had to say.
Organizing your bedroom – here’s where to start
It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start when organizing your bedroom. But there are a few main areas that you can focus on. For example, Shaniece Jones, founder of One Woman Army Closet Design & Organization suggests, “The easiest way to organize your apartment bedroom is to focus on the two most important spaces in your bedroom, your closet, and your nightstand.”
Jones continues, “Outside of your bed, these two spaces are the focal points that you visit the moment you wake up to start your day. Where you start and end your day is so important to obtain and maintain peace of mind. They’re the first signals that trigger your brain to release certain chemicals so if these spaces are cluttered or unorganized you’re saying to your brain ’chaos’ and releasing cortisol, a stress hormone that we often like to keep at bay. Simply organize your closet by switching out the hangers to all match and color code your items, add additional hanging rods or shelves to use all vertical space, and edit out that which is no longer serving you. Lastly, add a zen station on your nightstand with a candle, neutral tone décor, and a sound machine that can double as a clock.”
Similarly, Kirby Lorenzen from Zen Home Organizing suggests that you, “Prioritize utilizing the bedroom for its primary intentions: sleeping and hosting your wardrobe. Large décor pieces, bulky furniture, and items lacking specific functions might need to take a back seat in these spaces. If you’re able to incorporate a bench or ottoman into the room, ensure pieces have built-in storage space to host linens or off-season clothes. When setting up your dresser system, don’t worry about folding everything perfectly or using drawer-organizing gadgets if you think it is unlikely you’ll keep up with them. Focus on maintaining the designation of drawers for specific clothing categories, like socks, pajamas, and more.”
Your zen bedroom should be easy to maintain
Chances are, your sleep space in your one-bedroom apartment is quite tight, and you may have a small closet in the space. But to keep the clutter from overflowing, there are several easy ways to organize your rental.
For example, Anna Palacek of ORGANIZign shares, “One of my top tips for creating a clutter-free sleep space is to get the clothes into the closet and out of the bedroom, including putting the dresser in the closet if possible, so you can get usable hanging and drawer space. If a dresser is too big or not an option, plastic storage drawers work great to keep smaller items like socks, underwear, and t-shirts from getting messy and cluttered. Next, utilize under-the-bed storage containers to get out-of-season clothes out of the way, and out of view, swapping out when the seasons change.”
One of the best tips for utilizing space in a tiny room is by going vertical. Michaele Tocco, owner and founder of Michaele’s Precise Planning expands on this, “In small bedrooms, it’s especially important to take advantage of vertical space. Use over-the-door hooks or pegboards to store items. Add floating shelves to store books or room décor instead of freestanding bookshelves, which take up a lot of room.”
You can easily transform your bedroom space and curb clutter by using multi-use furniture. Professional organizer and owner of Labeled Living, LLC, Minda Hofer suggests, “When organizing a small space create style and function throughout. The goal is to create a dual purpose for furniture, decorations, and even wall space. For example, a trunk at the end of the bed would be used for out-of-season garments while also adding seating and your own aesthetic. How about hanging your guitar as art above your dresser instead of sitting it on a stand in the corner? Buy a bed frame with ample under-bed storage for your extra linens. Learning to use your space in multifunctional ways will create organized apartment living.”
And it’s a great idea to begin thinking about storing all your clothing properly, even if you don’t have a big closet. For example, Elaine St. Pierre of Simply Organized Spaces says, “A perfectly organized bedroom closet can double your space. By donating clothes you don’t like, don’t wear, or don’t fit well, you’ll have more room in your closet for the clothes you like and wear. By adding storage bins and baskets for seasonal items and accessories, you’ll utilize wasted space and expand the space you have. By organizing other areas of your bedroom with some baskets or bins, you’ll be able to eliminate clutter and disorganization and enjoy a peaceful and relaxing night’s sleep.”
Daryl Traver, owner of Oasis Organizing says, “When organizing an apartment bedroom and closet, most likely you’re working with a limited amount of space. It’s important to take advantage of the overlooked areas in that space. In the bedroom, a favorite of mine is a storage ottoman at the foot of the bed. These serve a dual purpose, like storing extra bedding, shoes, and a place to sit and get dressed. Implementing under-the-bed storage is important too. Use furniture sliders under bins and crates for easily pulling in and out. In a small space, don’t assume everything has to be hidden to maintain an organized room. Give everything a home, make it functional and keep the clutter down.”
Start with streamlining your closet
One of the trickiest places to keep organized is your closet, especially if you have limited closet space in your one-bedroom apartment. But there are plenty of ways to streamline your closet and make the space easy to navigate.
Jennifer Sattler of Closet Choreography recommends beginning with decluttering your closet, “The best small closets are well-edited and staged so you can maintain them and easily shop for outfit combinations every day. Do yourself a favor and detox your wardrobe first. Keep the 20% you statistically wear and donate the duplicates, tired items, and things that aren’t flattering. Once you know what you have, sort and stage it by item type, then color. Put pieces that are in season in your prime real estate, or front and center. Consider storing the rest in bins with cedar chips. Enjoy the feeling of starting each day with a sense of organization and inspiration you curate in your closet.’’
Sort & Style Co.’s Julia Nauer, comments, “Ensure that the clothing and accessories you wear frequently are visible and easy to access, which also means they’re easy to put away. If you can’t see it, you won’t wear it. That means storing off-season clothing or infrequently used items under the bed or on a high shelf – you can use bins to make vertical space more accessible and organized.” The Baltimore, MD-based personal stylist continues, “Don’t forget a back-of-the-door organizer to store shoes, hats, and other accessories. You have to make the most of every inch.”
Amanda Liford, professional organizer and owner of Easy Life Organizing, suggests the following when sorting through your closet, “I recommend people ask themselves this one question. Would you do laundry to wear something else? If you would, you don’t like it as much as you think. If you want to fit more in your dresser, file fold your clothes in the drawers and use dividers to keep a designated space for each category. Finally, keep all of the same kind of category together and don’t split them up.”
Organize Create Decorate’s Casey McCorkle comments, “When organizing your closet you want to make sure you have decluttered all the clothes, shoes and bags, so you only keep items you actually use and wear. Use slim hangers to maximize your hanging space, and utilize all the vertical space above your clothes as well as the back of the door for bags and shoes. Lastly, set up a system for your clothes to keep them nice and tidy, this can be arranged by color, sleeve length, or type. Pick whatever works best for you, this will help the space stay organized.”
And make your clothing easy to find and store
Once you’ve cut down on the clothing you don’t need or have found a new home for, it’s time to organize your existing closet.
Alison Gary from Wardrobe Oxygen shares the importance of color coordination. “As a fashion lover who has had small closets most of her adult life, the best lesson I learned for keeping a small closet organized is to organize by color. All white together, all blue, all black, and so on. This makes it far easier to pinpoint where that blouse or pair of trousers is in a dark corner or crowded clothing rail. The satisfaction of seeing a color-coordinated closet each morning makes you more likely to keep it organized too.”
Another simple hack to make your closets more organized comes from Turn Key Lifestyle’s Erin Barbee Keller. “Our favorite and easiest closet organizing tip is to use the same type of hanger. Different hangers create unnecessary closet clutter and can even hang clothes at different heights. Having all of your hangers be the same allows your eyes to rest and focus on the items being hung.”
It can be easy to forget some of the quickest organizing tips, like using storage bins and shelves. Tyler Beloin of Tidy Ty Organizing LLC shares that you can, “get the most out of your closet space by using bins or trays to compartmentalize items. Bins made of clear material or with open fronts will help you quickly identify stored objects. If you have tall shelves, you can maximize the vertical space with stacked drawers or free-standing shelf inserts.”
Keeping a seasonal wardrobe can easily cut down on clutter and make it easy to keep your closet clean. Jen Weintraub of Splendid Spaces Organizing recommends, “When closet space is tight, a seasonal clothing rotation can make getting dressed much quicker and easier. I often recommend that in-season clothing be hung by clothing type and then by color within each category. Off-season clothing can be rotated into under-bed storage bins or moved to a guest room closet.”
Organizing tips to help you stay clutter-free
Like your bedroom and closet, keeping the rest of your one-bedroom apartment organized doesn’t have to be a task. With some easy tips and tricks, you can keep your space clear.
A tried-and-true tip comes courtesy of Rebekah Saltzman from Balagan Be Gone®. The personal organizer shares, “The best way to start organizing your apartment is to first declutter. Let go of the things that no longer serve you so you can create homes for the things that do. To start, go room by room and get ’like’ items together. Once categories are together, sort out the pieces you don’t need and then store all the remaining ’like’ items together.”
And one of the best ways to keep your home clutter-free each day is to “Tidy as you go,” says Athena Conte, founder and organizer at Richmond, VA’s Happier Space. She continues, “Never leave a room without peeking around to see if there is something you can pick up and take to the room you’re traveling to. Is there a coffee mug or book that can be put away in the room you’re traveling to? These small steps can add up to a more organized home.”
Aileen Mitchener, CEO of ALIGNED by Aileen, LLC reiterates the importance of creating “zones.” The Washington, DC-based professional organizer comments, “For small apartments, especially those without clearly delineated rooms such as studios and lofts, zoning is imperative. Zoning is the act of clearly assigning spaces a specific function or purpose based on use or the type of item that is stored there.”
Space by Space’s Alison Shores reminds renters, “The key to staying organized in a smaller space is to utilize every square inch, including inconspicuous spaces such as under your bed or over the bathroom door. There are many storage solutions available to help you make use of these spaces to store shoes, off-season clothing, and toiletries. Also, if you find yourself short on space, minimize your belongings by identifying the items you use on a routine basis and donating anything you don’t truly need.”
Takeaways to keep your one-bedroom apartment organized
Learning how to organize a one-bedroom apartment – and keep it clutter-free – doesn’t have to be a challenge. Once you take the first steps to organize your space, the easier it’ll become as you work on maintaining these habits. Before you know it, you’ll have a peaceful and zen sleep space all year-round.
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