Great work. Love the shower curtin. Hallway seemed a little cramp though. Good luck!

Holy crow.
This is smaaaalll.
Nice work!

A flatscreen TV would go 1000 miles in your main room. And it doesn't appear to be too big, so wouldn't be too expensive. Hang that sucker on the wall and you'd gain 30 or 40 sqft. ;)

your space is very similar to mine, high ceilings and basically 2 tiny rooms to live in- thanks for sharing! small space living is fun & a good creative challenge, but clothing will ALWAYS be an issue, you solved it well

I love the divider you have at the end of your bed- Such a fun piece!!

the flatscreen idea is a good one, but it actually appears that she has some sort of HVAC unit there under the tv that probably isnt removable. so, probably wouldnt give her any extra "footprint" (is that the word i want?) but maybe would at least help to make it seem a bit more spacious.

talk about teeny tiny, wowzers!

Sorry, seems way too crowded to me, and a pet peeve of mine is draperies cinched in the middle like that. Looks like pigtails.

I love the screen divider, but it just adds to the visual clutter, at least the way the photos look. (Might work better against a wall so you don't see what's on the other side...)

talk about being green! great idea about the bed/dresser/wardrobe
i guess the only thing i would say it that above the dresser (where the vases are) you can put your books...not sure if they will all fit, but it may be a way to free more floor space. as long as you have a little (and cute) ladder to access it.

Great job!

I agree the hallway is cramped, but hey, it's organized! You've done a great job with the bit of space you have. Thumbs up.

Oh Jessica! Those books! I die!

Jessica,

I love your space! Where can I find the book stand/tree?

I love the Teeny Tinies. It's my fave category by far.

I feel like there's just a little too much *stuff* in this one though...

Jessica, You deserve a medal of some sorts! You have done wonders with the non existing storage you have. I dont think people understand that when you dont have any storage what so ever to be able to get it to look as organized and uncluttered as it actually does is a miracle. I think its amazing what you have done with your tiny space and that you still have managed to get it to look cool/cute. I would love for everyone that has said anything about the clutter to take everything they have in closets, cabinets, and storage spaces out and try and make it look good in their apartments out in the open. And everyone needs a little extra "stuff" to keep themselves sane. :)

how on earth did you find this place? it's difficult to imagine fitting in, but you've managed it. it's a cute panel on your kitchen window. is that a runner in the kitchen or part of the floor?

i agree with sentiments before about that room divider. sort of adds to the frenetics of the room...the design.

I don't get the divider at the foot of the bed (West Elm head board put on its side?), it just seems unnecessary in an apartment this small and makes it feel cluttered...

If I were you, I would get rid of your bookcases and the chest, buy three or four Billy bookcases and put them against the wall opposite of your bed, get some height extension units for them in order to use all of your vertical space ( a ladder!), and some doors so you can use some of the lower shelves for clothes storage. You could even hang up your mirror and have your make-up, jewelry and everything in there, maybe even use it as a TV-stand. Would look so much more streamlined and make much better use of the space IMO.

just to repeat other folks's comments. that hallway is way too cramped

I want to say I love it, but dressers and books in the hallway just make it look cramped and cluttered...sorry

I think that using the hallway as the closet/dressing room/library/storage is brilliant. You wouldn't want that stuff in your kitchen or your bedroom!

Good work with a tiny space. My husband and I live in 800 sq ft, and your whole apartment would fit in our living room.

Planning to downsize, I have given away hundreds of books so that I don't have these problems. Too crowded.

i think you're on the right track with the hallway storage deal. i think a solution that will help to make it not seem so cluttered is to install a pax wardrobe with the sliding doors. it looks like you'd have plenty of room for it in that hallway.

I do not like what I see in the third photo. The 3 different dressers with partly open shelving and the stack of books with all their different colors add more visual clutter than a small space can handle. I'd pick 1 large system to replace all of the hallway stuff, in the same dark brown color as the dresser in the main room.

That said, I'll give a thumbs up because I like the rest of the space, especially the asian theme in the main room. :)

Hi guys,

Yes, storage is my main issue and I decided to use my extra wide 40 inch hallway to put the 14 inch deep storage unit and keep that stuff out of the main room. I shouldn't have made such a focus of the practicality.

I have a 3x3 cubicle shelf in the one corner from Target that is similar to the Ikea Expedit which I don't show that holds clothes. I really need my "vintage Bombay" dresser for the drawer space. Open shelves are what make my place look cluttered.

The room divider (from Target) doesn't come across as well in the pic, without it all you see is the bed and the room is boring then. Plus it helps reach your eye towards the ceiling space in the middle of the room and divides off my dressing area in front of the closet- and I can hang things on it when playing in the clothes.

The carpet in the entry and hall is FLOR tiles to cover awful linoleum squares. The red print window screen is the KVARTAL system from IKEA. I used to have the dark brown woven ones in the main room.

It's a constant work in progress and I would love to put storage to the ceiling on one wall. That was my original hope and I have been here 5 years now! I don't think I ever expected to stay here that long and went on the cheap side buying what would fit in my car.

I know, everyone has the Sapien tower bookcase- I got it on a bit of a sale from DWR- again wanting something that could use the height of the room, but it is a great shelf for a small space.

I used to have a tiny tv and my dad bought a flat screen so I happily took his old Sony. Maybe I should mention even my car is from 1986.

-Jessica

Jessica, thank-you for focusing on the practicality! As someone with an apartment with the same square footage I appreciate seeing how other people deal with "stuff".

After looking at your pictures for awhile, I finally realized what was causing me the most conflict. I think you should get rid of the floor lamp in your sleeping space. You already had the right idea with the chandelier decal, I think you should use that vertical space for a real chandelier (needn't be expensive). I've seen great ones that plug in, and it will help eliminate the visual disruption of your [limited] wall space.

Oh, the hallway lined with furniture gives me hives. I deeply admire anyone who can live in less than 300sf, but there's something about that hallway that just sets me right on the edge of a sort of depressed claustrophobia. Eek!

I would go insane if I ever visited you, not a clean or calm surface anywhere. Purge, baby, purge.

I love the red in the kitchen. That screen is great.

In photo #2, there is a ledge up by the ceiling that is presently holding a few vases. I'd buy some a bunch of cool boxes, baskets, and/or maybe some shelves and use that as storage. It would also be a lovely place to store a library of books. I'll bet you could eliminate some of that furniture in the hallway if you used that ledge for storage rather than vases...

That screen/headboard is what dividing up a small space does:
It takes a small space and makes it cluttered.

Too much stuff, too many colors - and those curtain tiebacks need some hooks in the wall to pull them to the sides.

The funny thing about those book towers is this: instead of giving the effect of a clean, soaring, vertical bookshelf, the effect is sorta sloppy and chaotic -- all those differently aligned horizontals, all those pages seen from two vantage points.

A wall mounted bookshelf stretching up to the ceiling (with vertically shelved books) would be far more streamlined and practical.

I find the touchier lamp somewhat distracting too-- how about some sort of wall-mounted lamp instead? Your floorspace is too precious for this, and the last thing this apartment needs is another vertical element.

Jessica, you can feel free to post some pictures on flickr or the like if they'd help you explain the layout better. :)

I'm impressed by your use of square footage, and I agree that having some stuff is really essential. I'm lucky to have a 4'x6' closet just down the hall that I can shove all of my crap in (out of season things, packing materials, luggage) to keep my living space more uncluttered (I'm like some of the posters here that need a bit of calm space, and I have that currently, whew!). You are doing really well with what you have, and that's something. Way to go!

Thanks for inviting more pics- here are 10 more- I should have taken an overview of the room from up high so I did that and added some other angles and some older pics, including a different layout I tried for a while.

http://beaconhillapt.shutterfly.com/pictures/9#9

Organized for me is not not having stacks of stuff everywhere, so it's surprising to me that people think it is cluttered :P

picture and placement of the grandfather clock is inspired

I've been here: it's a tiny room in a building that used to be a school. Cool re-use of the building and the best neighborhood in Boston!

since when do books have to be all the same color? some of u folks are insane

Amazing job in such a small place. Still not really liking the vertical book shelf, which seems to be everywhere in this contest, but I don't see how you had much choice.

I wonder why they put a full size fridge in such a small place? I hope you make it to the finals, but really you don't need anything else. Great job, I'm in awe.

The hall doesn't bother me, neither does the screen or the TV or any of the other commented upon items. This space is a miracle. Job well done!

Dear Jessica:

I can see that you are a good sport. First of all, the way your apartment is structured (narrow spaces) would be difficult for anyone to work with, so I think you've done a good job. My only suggestion would be (when you can afford it, and/or if it's something you even want to do) is to get some "white" storage pieces for your hallway. Perhaps something from Ikea. They have some good "small" space storage organizers. That would really open up that space:)

Wow this is quite a difficult floor plan to have to contend with. The hallway is just so narrow and just seems like a big waste of space although you filled it with stuff. The hallway does look crammed but what else could you do with that space waster?