Sunday, January 30, 2011

Survival Storage: Prepping the Small Spaces in Our Lives.

Prepping in small spaces kind of sucks because you do not have much room. Well recently I have been meeting some folks online that live either in small homes or apartments that do not have much storage space and needed some ideas. So to kind of remedy this, I thought I would post my original post from Today's Survival Show on Apartment Prepping here on my blog.

Original Post:

I too live in an apartment, AND I am a prepper. I feel that when it comes to living in an apartment, prepping is essential because of the fact that you are limited. It is pretty tough to live in an apartment, but in reality, it is just learning to live in a small space. Small spaces are not just limited to apartments, some are living in houses smaller than an apartment.

One of the biggest limits is space and storage, but here is a chance to be creative! When looking for storage, think Under, In and Up.

Under as in spaces under your bed, tables like what Frazer mentioned or high legged chairs that you do not have to move.

For 'In' what comes to mind is of course rubbermaid tubs, but again get creative. Think 'hidden in plain sight'. Enclosed end tables with doors, entertainment centers, a wooden trunk serves as storage as well as a decorative coffee table (YAY for multi-function!) Benches that you can lift up the seat for storage. I have even seen an ENTIRE KITCHEN in an armoire!

Next is Up. All apartments have some sort of closet and cabinet system, unfortunately for preppers as well as everyone else, efficiency apartment cabinets are not very large or efficient so that means it would help to have more shelves. If your landlord does allow you to put things like that up on a wall, then great! Many do not how ever, but there is no reason that you cant have shelves. Bookcases, free standing shelves and utility cabinets work well. If you cant afford to buy or make any of those, then get milk crates. They work really well as low makeshift shelving when stacked on each other, I know, I use them as small bookshelves! Also, stack your rubber tubs. Another idea is a rolling cart that not only adds counter space, but also a couple of shelves underneath. There some out there that are not very expensive and have a nice butcher block top.

If ya need ideas, just google 'Small Space Living'. There are a ton of sites out there for it. This is one that I mentioned earlier: http://smallspaceliving.blogspot.com Sure it has not been updated in a while, but it still has some good articles.


If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have a friend who had an old sleeper sofa. She took out the bed part and boxed in the interior. Once she created a lid and replaced the cushions, you couldn't tell she had a ton of storage hidden in the interior of her sofa. She also found a table that fits nicely behind her sofa. She sewed a fitted cover for it and underneath she has stored canned goods.Living in small spaces really forces you to get creative.