Studio Apartment Move-In {Part 2/3}: Unpacking & Organizing a Small Apartment
Need some small apartment storage ideas and tips for moving in together with a significant other? I feel that, because my boyfriend just moved in with me in my 500 sq ft studio apartment!
And in Part 2 of our studio apartment move in vlog, our small apartment organization skills are being put to the test as we unpack and sort through his stuff. Can we get this little apartment back to its organized, stylish, and cozy state? Well, we have a ton of clutter to sort through first, and we’re taking you with us through the process of organizing a small apartment!
If you need small space organization tips, small apartment storage ideas, and advice on moving into a studio apartment, watch this video for our tips and tricks to get your space organized so your small apartment decor can shine!
If you haven’t already, be sure to watch Part 1 of our moving vlog, which documents the experience of moving my boyfriend into my studio, along with my moving day tips! You can watch that right here.
And stay tuned for the 3rd and final part of this series next week, in which we’ll set out to combine my boyfriend’s decor with mine in the studio!
Video Transcript Excerpts↓
Below are the unpacking & organizing tips I shared in the video, along with excerpts from the video transcript!
So if you watched last week's video, you know that my boyfriend Kobee just moved into my studio apartment - or should I say our studio apartment!
And now we’re focusing on organizing the chaos that has descended upon us, AKA Kobee's stuff. We’ll be figuring out what to keep, store away, and eliminate - and basically Marie Kondo the shit out of this place. 🙃
So if you're living in a really small space, and storage and organization are top concerns of yours - whether you're living alone or with a significant other - you're going to want to watch this video.
Because organizing and integrating Kobee’s stuff into the space is going to be a challenge in a 500 square-foot studio, so if we can do this, anyone can!
And if you’re new to my channel, my name is Steffi and I’m the creator of the interior style blog Moda Misfit as well as the online course Small Apartment Styling School.
And you’re watching Living Pretty, the place for apartment styling tips! So if you want to get inspired with me every week, be sure to subscribe!
Also, have you downloaded my free Apartment Styling Handbook yet?
It's a bite-sized roadmap for decorating your apartment so that you can create a space you love - without feeling like you're stumbling alone in the dark. Because sometimes you just want someone to tell you what to do to decorate your apartment, right?
So download the FREE Apartment Styling Handbook for some extra help!
unpacking + organizing Tip #1:
Hug It Out
My first tip is to start this process with a big ol’ hug. Seriously, before you start, give your significant other a hug!
Because moving in together means embarking on a long, strenuous journey and shit’s about to get real. You need all the serotonin you can get, so hug it out.
unpacking + organizing Tip #2:
The Double Double D Method
So, Kobee and I came up with our own little organizing approach we call our Double Double D method (I know that either sounds like a fast food hamburger or a bra size, but whatevs) in which we sort things into 4 different categories:
Donate
Dump
Display
Disguise.
Anything in the donate pile is to be donated to Goodwill, anything in the dump pile will be tossed, anything in the display pile is stuff we’d like to display as decor in here, and anything in the disguise pile will be stored away, disguised by one of our closets.
That’s our proprietary Double Double D Method we came up with in a matter of seconds before starting to go through Kobee’s stuff, so help yourself to using it the next time you’re organizing!
Move over Konmari Method, Double Double D is here. 🙃
unpacking + organizing Tip #3:
Box by Box
As you dive into unpacking, just take things box by box. In other words, take it one thing at a time and don’t let the magnitude of the moving process paralyze you.
Going through Kobee’s stuff box by box, without thinking about everything else we had to tackle in the apartment as a whole, made it so this felt so much more manageable and less overwhelming.
When you start feeling stressed, just take a deep breath and focus on one box at a time!
unpacking + organizing Tip #4:
Progress Can Be Invisible
Sometimes progress is invisible when organizing a ton of clutter. And don't let that discourage you, especially when it comes to a big move-in project like this. You're not really going to see the progress for a bit, but that doesn't mean that you're not actually making progress!
If you looked around the space at the end of the first day we spent organizing, you would have thought that we didn't get anything done in all those hours. In fact, you would think we made even an even bigger mess of things.
But we actually got a lot done, and we felt really good about the progress we made - even though we couldn’t really see it yet!
unpacking + organizing Tip #5:
Embrace Slowness
This is a tip that I never would have envisioned myself actually saying! Sometimes going slow and not frantically rushing through something as big as having a significant other move in is the best thing that you can do.
For one thing, the fact that Kobee and I have taken this process very slowly has made it so that I can actually, like, enjoy his company. What a novel concept, right?
And this is something I never would have expected myself to embrace because I get very uptight about things this. The normal Steffi would have steamrolled through this process frantically, and would have micromanaged everything, and it just wouldn’t have been as pleasant of an experience.
But this whole experience really has been a fascinating exercise for me in just going with the flow, practicing patience, and not rushing things.
unpacking + organizing Tip #6:
Self-Care
Another aspect of the approach that I'm personally taking to this organizing process is something I mentioned in the previous video as well, which is self-care.
Before diving into doing something like this with your significant other, make sure you take care of yourself first!
Make it so that you are in your best possible state of mind, because not only will this lead to a more productive moving and organizing experience, but it'll also make it so that there is less fighting involved. It's very easy to slip into arguments when dealing with something like this, so it's best if both parties involved are well taken care of, well rested, well fed, and in the best possible state of mind overall.
unpacking + organizing Tip #7:
Relinquish Some Control
One of my tendencies is that I can be a little bit of a control freak, and so relinquishing some control to someone else is definitely challenging!
But something I've done in this process that has made a huge difference is just let Kobee take care of a lot of things. Let him decide how to organize the kitchen, let him figure out a new way of arranging things.
And accept the fact that in a lot of ways he's better at that than I am! I don't have to control everything... I'm working on it.
And on that very zen-like note, I’m concluding this second part of our moving vlog series. Next week will be the third and final installment of this epic trilogy, in which Kobee and I are going to set out to incorporate his decor into the apartment, so stay tuned!
And whether you’re living with a significant other or solo, you’re still completely deserving of a stylish apartment that makes you happy every day. But if not sure how to create that dream apartment and you're wondering things like:
“How do I discover my personal style so that I can make these good choices for my decorating?”
“How do I become more confident in my interior styling choices?”
“How do I mix styles?”
“How do I actually arrange things in my apartment?”
Then I got you covered…
If you're wanting to dive deeper into learning about how to style your apartment step by step, that's where my online course Small Apartment Styling School comes in!
Small Apartment Styling School basically holds your hand through your styling process and tells you exactly what to do step-by-step, so by the end of the course you feel like you know your style, you know what to buy, and you know how to place it in your apartment with confidence.
Imagine living in an apartment that actually boosts your mood everyday and makes you feel welcome, and makes you feel a sense of belonging and being at home.
Just because you rent your space doesn't mean you can't own your style, and Small Apartment Styling School helps you do that!
My current students have been a raving about how helpful the course was for decorating their apartments and I am so proud of what they've achieved just after the couple months of being enrolled in the course!
Small Apartment Styling School will help you decorate your apartment step by step, including:
Figuring out your personal style
Choosing a color palette
Mixing different interior styles
Learning about the different interior styles that are out there and which ones might be a good fit for you
Arranging and accessorizing your apartment room by room - living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom.
All of this and more is in Small Apartment Styling School, so if you want to learn more and join the waitlist for the next time it opens for enrollment, click here!
For daily glimpses into my studio apartment life, you can follow me on Instagram @moda.misfit.
And for regular doses of apartment styling tips and small space decor inspiration, subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell to be notified when a new video goes up every week.