Having lived in New York for the past twelve years has been a continuous learning experience, but most importantly it has taught me how to make my living and work space more organized and efficient. Although, I will admit I cannot get rid of ‘stuff’ too easily as I am convinced everything I have will be useful at any given time (and it often is!) In this blog post, I will share a few quick organization hacks for small city apartments.

1.stackable lucite trays

I often work at the dining table day and night. Naturally, I keep finish samples and project files accessible so that I can refer to them at all times. In lieu of desk drawers, I use stackable lucite trays from the Container Store to keep my files ‘nice and tidy’ while being used, these trays can also be put away easily. When the dining table is being used for it’s intended purpose at night, I move the stack of trays over to my hallway credenza. Nice and easy!

2.faux leather baskets

We love our Brooklyn apartment, but I will admit the lack of kitchen storage space drives me ‘bunkers’ as we only have four feet of under cabinet kitchen storage. Frustration was the biggest driver for finding a purpose for this open space in our kitchen. We now use this space to keep our dinnerware, napkins, barware and the “not so attractive’ goodies that we can’t seem to avoid such vitamins and supplements bottles, pre-workout mixes, and medicine containers. The container store came to the rescue with these amazing faux leather baskets that help keep these unattractive items out of sight!

3.book stacks

We have a collection of books that we have collected over the past decade. Since our apartment is mostly surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, we lack wall space to display a beautiful bookcase. That said, we are now utilizing the architecture in our apartment to display our book collection uniquely. 

4.plastic bins

As an avid lover of materials and fabrics, I need some space to store my samples away. Plastic bins have been my ‘go-to’ as I have more flexibility pulling them out of my closet when sourcing materials for projects. Better yet, I can take these plastic bins with me if we move from this apartment in the future.

5. art gallery wall

My partner and I often acquire new prints during our travels. Since our apartment has few sheetrock walls, we use our entry wall space to display our eclectic print collection above a lucite console table. (p.s. There is us in a print at the very top!)

I hope this blog post inspires my fellow New Yorkers to find new ways to store things away! For more ideas, visit Out of Sight, Out of Mind: 14 Expert Tips for Concealing Eyesores in Your Home via Redfin. Should you need further organization hacks, feel free to contact me here!

Happy organizing!