Tiny spaces.

Moving to a smaller space means getting veeeerrrryyyy crafty with what little storage you have and finding ways to maximize each space.  I am really not much of a decorator.  I love to wander Home Goods and World Market and dream of highly stylized living rooms and such.  Honestly though, my budget and patience can afford all the trinkets.  So I just make do with what I have, what I can find at the Dollar Tree or thrift stores, and paint.

We needed a place to put EVERY SINGLE school supply.  Pens, paper, workbook, ya know.  We already had a white bookcase and the new house had a 3 shelf peninsula in the living room. So to divide the kitchen from the living room a bit, we stacked the white bookcase on top and anchored it to the wall.  While, it isn't a seamless architectural detail, it is very functional and organized.  I  covered the back of the bookcase with some dollar store contact paper.  It was a very ugly brown in the back and now you see the pretty graphic floral when you walk in the front door.

The kitchen has a sparse amount of cabinets and they are all small.  It only has 3 drawers.  So storing dishes AND food was out of the question.  I bought this amoire a few years ago for about $10.  It is a 1920s art deco style.  I loved it but the veneer design was missing several pieces.  I painted it a soft green color and decoupaged coordinating scrapbook paper into the panels.  It served as a pantry in another small house and then as a true clothes amoire for my daughter.  Now it is back to being a food pantry.  The green color and scrapbook paper doesn't really go with my color scheme now so I redid the inner panels with the same dollar store contact paper I used on the school bookcase.  I plan to pain the armoire white and faux bois it with a dark gray or black.  It will be very graphic and I can't wait to buy the paint!

The armoire has to back up to the kitchen bar in order to fit and be useful.  I was going to cover the back of the armoire or paint it but I have not decided yet.  In the meantime, I hung my badly beaten Tupperware rolling mat there.  It wouldn't fit into a drawer so decoration it becomes!  The tins all hold dry goods.  Cracker tin holds flour, cookie tin holds sugar, so on.  All of the items are used on a regular basis so it just made sense to incorporate them into the decor.  The little matryoshka dolls are my measuring cups!  

 Did I mention this house is tiny?  Our "master" bathroom is en suite but is about 5 feet by 5 feet, not including the shower enclosure.  The vanity has a wee bit of storage but I used it to house first aid supplies and stuff we don't use often.  We were able to put a free standing over the toilet shelf in.  It's pretty and white and let's me hide away my hairbrush and the like.  It is much too small for extra toilet paper or even towels so my mom brought over a magazine holder.  She had it painted in a fabulous red color and if it was for the living room, I would have left it as is.  But I want everything in my bathroom to be white and light so I painted it an antique white color.








I have to thank Pinterest for my next genius idea.  I had intended to get a vinyl shoe organizer and hang this stuff INSIDE the shower.  Honestly, after going to 5 stores, I gave up.  I bought this cheaply made cloth one and hung it outside the shower curtain.  I have to reach out for things but it holds all my shampoo, conditioner, razors, etc.  It is definitely maximum storage without taking up any space!

Last but not least is this little shelf.  It is in my tiny bathroom above the sink.  Made just for my Young Living diffuser, if you ask me.  I can put a favorite wake up combo like Peppermint and Lemon in it and it will fill the whole house in no time.  Oh, yes, that's right.  I forgot to say OUR BATHROOM HAS NO DOOR ON IT!  Thankfully our bedroom does but yeah...no door on the facilities.  I have a heavy curtain hung there for some privacy but let's just say having the diffuser in the bathroom keeps...well...unpleasantness down.  Ha!