Designed by Nicole Skarlatos

Living in a small apartment, it is easy to have clutter pile up and find yourself in a major mess.  With just a few small changes, the organization can be quite easy and help reduce a lot of day-to-day stress.  

One of the easiest ways to make a space seem clean is a simple one; make your bed. Instead of having a pile of blankets, taking two minutes every morning to make your bed starts out each day with a small victory.  It also makes coming back home a treat, to look at a pristinely made bed and know that something is right in the world.

While most find themselves opposed to the Marie Kondo style of organization, her folding method is one of the best.  To simplify it, it mostly revolves on folding your clothes in a three-fold method that allows the piece of clothing to be able to stand up on its side.  Not only does it allow more space to fit in clothes, but it makes it so you can see each piece of clothing without them being stacked on top of each other.  For me I found myself different wearing outfits because I could see each individual shirt or pant instead of stacking shirts I generally found myself wearing.  

Even in a small floor plan, walls are a major asset to reducing the amount of clutter around a room.  Command wall hooks are a lifesaver with how much they can do, from hanging up a frame to set up a towel hook when your roommate keeps using your towel to clean the floors without telling you.  Besides organization, making an effort to put up some kind of wall art or decoration gives your space a life outside of a place you sleep in between studying for classes. I tend to go for a less is more approach, but still make room to hang up my Manny Calavera mask from Grim Fandango that my brother made and wanted nothing to do with.  

Cabinets are a fantastic way to organize books, knick-knacks and more, but a small twist can make them a lot more useful.  I have a couple game consoles, and making room for each can be a bit tricky. However, with a small three tier bookshelf on its side makes it so you can use the three cubbies and the entire side of the cabinet to put items onto.  Instead of having to stuff each into the cubbies, each console has open space as to not worry about overheating.

Whatever you do, it is generally good to take some time to organize and appreciate the space you live in.  Rather than ignoring the problem, just a few minutes each day of organizing can help relieve mountains of stress.  When you take some time to organize your space, it gives new appreciation for what you have and what it means to you.

Bailey MeCey can be reached at bmecey@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @bmecey.