Whether you are living in a small apartment or a tiny efficiency apartment, there are ways to make your home cozy, practical, and attractive. No longer are you bound by the confines of designated space - you can make up your home's character and allot space as you see fit. To make your one-room or small home a place you love to come home to - make sure you arrange and decorate your belongings to suit your activities and interests.

Space planning begins with thinking through how you plan to live on a d ay-by-day basis. Start with waking up, grabbing breakfast, going to work, coming home, relaxing and spending your evening hours. Think about how each of these activities would be made easier and more comfortable with the right amount of space. For most apartment dwellers, lack of space is a perpetual problem. If you don't have the space, think about what can be compromised.

Following a space budget is really no different than watching your money. The more space you have, the more you can allow for things and the more you can separate your activities with space allocated for entertaining, living, home-officing exercising, and sleeping. The less you have, the more creative you need to be.

The main thing to consider is devoting the most space to the activity that is the most important, and then arranging the space to make the execution of that activity easier.

Think fold-up, pull-out, and multipurpose. A dining table should be able to function as a desk. An armoire can open up to reveal a computer workstation as well as storage. The couch-futon can be used for sleep and when the bedding is put away, it becomes a place to entertain guests comfortably. A sofa can hide-a-bed (but be sure to look into the quality of the mattress and springs. Let the salesperson know that this will not be used occasionally, but daily.)

Wall-anchored lift-away beds (that can be moved easily to the next apartment) are an increasingly popular solution. New technologies and designs are making it possible to combine these sturdy beds with home office systems that fold neatly away behind handsome cabinets. Helene Meyer, owner of Roommaker Wall Systems says that one of the most common misconceptions about wall-beds is that they must be built-in.

On the contrary, says Meyer, it is the very portability of these systems that make them perfect for apartment renters because they can be easily moved from one home to the next. "We help the customer determine their needs and to pick the appropriate unit. I have had customers move their units from apartment to apartment and then into houses where they are put into guest rooms, children's rooms and home offices." The beds have a life of about 25 years if used daily. They take a 10" thick Sealy Posturepedic mattress and are available in queen, double or twin size frames.

If space continues to be short, turn your attention to getting storage onto the walls and organizing your belongings to maximize space. Write down the situations for which you need practical solutions and visit some retailers who may be able to help. Stores with an on-line presence such as The Container Store, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel can be particularly good sources of ideas and solutions.

Don't make the mistake of giving space to those special occasions or activities that come rarely or never happen, especially when you don't have room to spare. You don't need to be giving precious storage space to things you don't use on a daily basis. Daily use items must get top priority.

Divide your possessions into A, B, and C categories of importance. Those in the C category, you can either throw out, donate, recycle or store in a storage unit.

Related Articles: Apartment News

Published: March 4, 1999

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.