City Dwellers Are Finding Eccentric Storage Solutions For Small Spaces
Small apartment living requires storage ingenuity — and New Yorkers know a thing or two about storage ingenuity. A new report by Manhattan Mini Storage reveals the creative ways that Manhattan residents have created more storage space now that many apartments have been transformed into offices, classrooms, gyms, and more amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, nearly 70 percent of residents currently work from home, but only 34 percent have home offices. So, how have the roughly other 60 percent adapted to this lack of space? Beds, ovens, and yes, even bathtubs have been transformed into unexpected storage.
More specifically, 61 percent of the 1,512 of survey respondents have stored items such as clothes, fitness equipment, and hobby materials under the bed, while 42 percent have resorted to suitcases. Other eccentric storage solutions include ovens (18 percent), bathtubs (11 percent), and dishwashers (10 percent). And since home offices can’t be the norm for all due to square footage differences, 25 percent of respondents have turned their beds into makeshift offices, while 16 percent used their coffee table and 15 percent used their dining table. Additionally, 3 percent of New Yorkers transformed closets into miniature offices, too.
While the respondents have found ways to make do, they still crave that extra space. (Over 77 percent of residents have human roommates, while 57 percent have pet roomies, after all.) When asked how they would utilize an extra room, 24 percent cited a home office and an extra bedroom, respectively, while 20 percent cited a home gym.
Storage solutions might be tough to crack at first, but they’re far from impossible. Whether you’re in New York or any other city in the world, check out more of Apartment Therapy’s storage solution coverage below.