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Organizing a Basement Apartment

From , former About.com Guide

This basement will get organized!

© [2009] [Dena Pasis] licensed to About.com, Inc.
Apr 15 2009
When I moved into a basement apartment, I was thrilled to have my own space and be in a more cost-effective living situation.

Working with a small space (less than 400 square feet) can be a struggle, but I was prepared to create a space that would accommodate a bedroom, home office, living room and dining area. In addition to my own personal belongings, I inherited quite a bit of furniture and memorabilia:

  • Bed
  • Dresser
  • Nightstand
  • Desk
  • Bookshelf/Hutch
  • Nesting Tables
  • Dining Room Table
  • Dining Room Chairs
  • 4 Living Room Chairs
  • TV
  • 2 Chests
  • Piano
  • Organ
  • Assorted Lamps, Artwork, Accessories, Area Rugs and Books

At first, I felt slightly overwhelmed as I wondered how I could accommodate all these items in a small space while avoiding clutter and having my space resemble a furniture store.

The first and most important step that I took was to sort through everything and determine which items I wanted to keep, donate , toss or sell. I narrowed it down to the list mentioned above, which still left me with a lot of items.

The next step was to determine the layout of the room and how I wanted to create my space. I had a general idea of where I wanted to place pieces, but I knew that I would have to play around with arrangements until I was satisfied. A helpful tool to get design ideas is through magazines, websites, television or inspiration from others.

Organizing my space was the next step. Although I desperately wanted to get everything organized at once, I knew better. Tackling everything at once will inevitably cause you to feel overwhelmed. Therefore, I had to choose one area at a time, starting with the area that was causing me the most distress by being disorganized.

Next week learn how I have been successfully organizing my basement apartment.

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