I have recently partnered with ApartmentGuide.com to bring you tips & tricks on how to maximize your small spaces! Whether you’re living, looking, or moving, Apartment Guide offers great tips on how to decorate your apartment and make the most of your space on the Apartment Guide Blog. Apartment Guide has a great article on essentials for apartment living & I came up with 12 design essentials for maximizing small spaces for 3 very important rooms in your home…

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Bathrooms can get really crowded in small spaces. My number one tip: Utilize every inch you have! That includes the walls, door space, drawers, every single last inch of space.

Above the door storage: By simply putting a shelf above your bathroom door you have created an entire new space for lots of storage of bathroom necesseties such as toilet paper, cleaners, makeup, linens, & much much more!

Magnetic Makeup Board: This is simple to make & makes organizing and accessing your cosmetics a breeze! You can read the full post {here} but in short you can cover metal sheets from Lowes with fabric or paint, put it in a frame, and voila you have a makeup organizer to hang on your wall that looks good too!

Spice Rack Nail Polish Organizer: By simply hanging a spice rack in the bathroom to organze nail polishes {or other bathroom necessities} you just freed up counter space or drawer space for other items.

Cabinet Door Storage: Utilize cabinet doors by adding shelves, racks, or hooks to store your bathroom essentials. Talk about using every last inch of space!

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The living room could be considered the center of ones home, It’s where you hang out & in an apartment it could be a small space that needs to be functional & livable….

Baskets: Baskets are your best friend in a small space! Baskets on the walls, baskets on shelves, baskets under couches, baskets on dressers. Baskets are great for stylish storage in any room. Store your blankets, dvds, shoes, toys, and any other odds and ends that you don’t want laying around the room.

TV console with storage: Select a TV console that has lots of storage to utilize the space that it takes up. You can store many things in your tv console not just DVD’s and electronics.

Ottomans: Ottomans serve a dual purpose. They are great for stylish storage & can be used as a coffee table/foot stool. Just like the TV console, you should choose furniture that can be dual purpose to maximize your small space living.

Bookshelves: Bookshelves are great way to utilize your wall space height. We often think we can only use our floor space for storage. We need to build up and use our ceiling height in our storage. Bookshelves can store more than books and utilize the height of the room.

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If you don’t think that the living room is the center of the home, than it’s the kitchen. It’s important in a small space to keep the kitchen organized so that it is efficient….

Open Shelving: In a small space cupboards may be limited. So, where there are not cupboards add shelving to store your cups, bowls, and anything that is used on a daily basis. Open shelving can also add to your decor as well. Pretty storage!

Pantry Storage: If you have a pantry in your apartment, maximize the space with baskets, again don’t rely on just the shelving, use the wall space!

Kitchen Island: If your space came with an island, that’s wonderful! use that as a station for all of your cooking & storage needs. If it didn’t come with an island, you can add one if there is room. Add a small cart, butcher block, or turn a spall piece of furniture like a pretty petite dresser into an island with usable storage.

Pegboard: You can use pegboard as seen in this picture to hang cups, pots and pans, utensils, and much more! Paint the pegboard to make your storage a pretty piece of art.

Stay tuned for the second part of this post for a giveaway & more tips on apartment and small space living! Do you or have you lived in an apartment or small space? How do you utilize your space to the fullest? I would love to hear your tips and tricks!! Share with us your experiences & questions you many have in the comments below…

Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. partner with bloggers such as me to participate in blogger programs.  As part of that program, I received compensation.  They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any products and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.