Life in a small space is quite difficult, and when a small child is added to your family, you get a nuclear mixture.. In addition to your main interior and things, you will have to fit into the apartment a lot of baby clothes, toys, books, strollers, rockers and much more, including the necessary changing tables, beds and bassinets. What to do and how to properly furnish the interior, choose children’s things, toys and various accessories so that you all feel comfortable in a small apartment? Here are 15 tips for you.
1. Organize good and compact storage space. Move away clothes and toys that your child is not yet ready for. What the child has already grown from, send to garages or pass on to other mothers for further use. The closest closets should contain only things that you use on a daily basis. Everything else should be put aside in the most inaccessible places..
2. Choose small-sized baby accessories and toys. We understand that you want to buy a large railroad for your child, but if this collapsible structure occupies your entire interior, then it’s better not. Choose smaller bassinets and changing tables.
3. Hide some of the open, cheap floor-to-ceiling shelving from Ikea behind a curtain. Quite simply, you can buy temporary storage racks for diapers, towels, and so on. All this may not have an entirely interior look, so we suggest you hang a curtain under the ceiling and cover all storage areas with it. This is one of the easiest ways to organize temporary storage, without expensive purchases and damage to the appearance of the room. By the way, floor-to-ceiling shelving is one of the most appropriate storage solutions in small apartments..
4. For storing children’s books, you can choose thin shelves (also sold in Ikea — on the side they are shaped like an inverted letter «U»). On such shelves, you can store children’s books with the front side in the direction of the room, than complement the interior. Regular shelves will force you to put books in a standard horizontal stack, which will take up some space from the wall, and placing books on narrow shelves along the wall, on the contrary, will save space..
5. If you have suitcases or pretty boxes, you can also use them as shelves and storage items. Place them on top of each other, creating a variation of the chest of drawers, and inside, place things that you do not need very often (so as not to disassemble the structure often)
6. Use baskets to store toys. In the same IKEA store, you can buy large baskets or hanging items for storing children’s toys. In them, you can fold (and literally just throw off) everything that your child throws on the floor. It will be easier for you to buy one large storage basket, and simply collect everything from the floor into it in 2 minutes, rather than neatly lay out children’s toys on shelves or different drawers. And leave this basket to stand at least in the center of the room, at least in the corner. If you buy a beautiful basket, it will not spoil your interior..
7. If your family has bicycles or skis or some other sports equipment, come up with an original way to store it. For example, it is very popular to hang bicycles along the wall. Of course, you can leave them on the staircase, if the opportunity allows, but if not, then use them as decoration — instead of paintings.
8. Some small toys can be stored on the wall. How? Purchase a special bar with hooks to hang bowls or shelves from. And carefully put crayons, pencils, Lego pieces and so on there..
9. To prevent your little child from drawing on the wallpaper, you can give him one wall in advance by painting it with chalk paint. Roughly speaking, there is a special paint that turns any surface into a chalkboard. Make one wall like this and let your kid play as much as he wants.
10. Choose folding furniture for multifunctional furniture. For example, a rack with a folding changing table.
11. Turn the wall into an active zone. To reduce the number of toys on the floor, some of the educational toys can be moved to the walls. For example, buy a magnetic alphabet board or wall abacus, and other variations of games that can be placed on the wall..
12. Reframe your needs. If your entire closet is full of old things, reorganize and give to the poor what you have not worn for a long time. The same goes for old books that take up too much space. Of course, important rare editions should not be given away, but part of the literature can be given away..
If you have any other tips for organizing a small apartment for a family with a child, we look forward to your opinions in the comments..