How to Organize a Tiny House
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Minimalism is very important when you are trying to live in a tiny house. Discover hacks and tips so you can organize a tiny house and find more storage space than ever.
How to Organize a Tiny House
Are you thinking of downsizing to a tiny house? Do you already live in one? This is a growing trend and it’s easy to see why so many people enjoy it.
But the biggest question is, what do you do with all your things when you live in a tiny house?
It’s true, living in a tiny house will require a lifestyle change. You’ll need to only keep what you can neatly store. With less total square feet, this is going to be a challenge. But it is one that I’m sure you’re up to!
And these hacks and tips will help you successfully keep the memories and items you cherish, without giving up your tiny house dreams.
The perfect companion to this guide is our Take Back Control book. Download this book and go through each room of your home and create a calm and organized area that brings you peace and joy!
Wondering where to begin? Get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
1. Sort Things By category
The very first step in every single organization project is to go through your things. Decide what you are going to keep and what you are going to give or throw away.
But you are going to want to do things a little differently when you are sorting things for a tiny home. You won’t have as much storage space, so you’ll have to organize things by category.
Decide what to keep and how you are going to store them by going through these categories:
- Memories and Sentimental Items
- Daily Use Items
- Seasonal Things
- Home Decor
When you live in a tiny house, you don’t have room to keep things that you might use someday. You need to only keep what you are using currently.
Seasonal things are more difficult. You don’t want to throw away Christmas decorations and buy all new ones every year. The good news is that with a smaller home there is less to decorate. Try to keep your holiday decorations contained to one box or tote that you can store in a closet.
2. Consider long-term storage
If there are things you don’t want to part with – like family heirlooms – consider renting a storage unit. This idea really works best for people who are going to live in the same place for a period of time.
If you are going to be living more nomadic, this idea won’t be as feasible. In this case you can either ask a family member or trusted friend to keep these items for you. Or you can keep these important things in your vehicle’s trunk.
3. Invest in tiny house storage hacks
Keep reading this article as we share some life-changing storage hacks for your tiny house. Every tiny home is different, so it is important to make friends with other tiny dwellers and glean some wisdom from them.
The most important thing to remember is to be creative. If there is some empty space in your home, think about how you could install a shelf or hang up storage.
4. only keep what you have room for
This is such an important step. As you collect more things, you won’t be adding more rooms to your tiny home. There is only so much space.
So make this rule something you follow: when you bring something in, take something out. If you add some more home decor, donate the old ones. Don’t accrue piles of things – this adds unnecessary clutter that will make your home feel incredibly crowded.
5. Create storage in zones
Finally, organize a tiny house by creating storage in every single zone. Put shelves and closets in the bedroom, book shelves in the social area, and cabinets in the kitchen.
Identify what you own and create places to keep it all where you are going to use them.
Tiny house storage hacks
Now that you know how to organize it, let’s look at some storage hacks that will open up even more space than ever before!
1. Hang things up
The first hack involves installing closet rods and using hanging organizers. These things will save you so much space. Our deluxe gift wrap organizer can store multiple rolls of gift wrap and all the small supplies for crafts on one slim hanger. It’s such a space saver.
You can hang up other things too. Consider hanging up accessories like belts and scarves or even your sandals and shoes.
2. Stack things neatly
Next, consider how you are stacking things on your shelves and in your cabinets. Could you be nesting them better?
Correct nesting and stacking will let you store more things. A messy shelf or cabinet will take up a lot more space.
3. Create storage spaces everywhere
Think of spaces that might have hidden space, such as under the mattress, in the ceiling, and inside your benches. Anywhere that can hold something, make it useful.
If there are sides and a bottom, see if it can hold shelves or drawers. Instead of a ladder, use stairs with shelves.
4. Use both sides of your shelf
Another fantastic storage hack is to install mason jars on the bottom of shelves too. This lets you utilize the space underneath your shelves too, doubling your storage space!
This tutorial from Hildablue shows how to hang mason jars underneath shelves. You can store spices, baking supplies, or even bathroom and beauty products in them.
5. Install drawers under the stairs
Instead of using a ladder to get into the upper level, install stairs. These stairs can give you more storage when you use drawers. In fact, you can see it in action on this blog post. It even has step-by-step directions with pictures.
Tiny House Inspiration
Want to see these ideas in action? Here are some of our favorite tiny house photos from Instagram. You can see some serious tiny house goals and begin dreaming of how you will design your home too.
Maybe you will get some ideas for how you want to organize a tiny house someday.
This one uses bright colors to make the space feel more open. Another design hack they used is to make it feel more spacious by not using solid walls to separate the spaces. There are pipes in the loft bedroom area and a see-through wooden divider in front of the stairs.
Beyond simply doing nightstands, this builder installed floor to ceiling cabinets. Very smart since there is no wasted space.
They also raised the bed up and put storage underneath it. You also want to leave plenty of space open for windows. The natural sunlight will flood the room and make it feel more spacious.
Everything about this tiny home is drool-worthy! The ceilings are stunning. The eating area has a table that can slide out to give you more eating room.
Pocket doors and modern furniture give the impression of more space than ever too. Pocket doors are another design hack. With a pocket door, you don’t need to leave room for the swing of the door. You can fit more inside the room this way.
Raising the social area, or living room area, in a tiny house gives you so much more storage space. Look at the bookshelves. Plus, there is a trap door in the middle of the floor, where you can store more things like seasonal decor.
Organize a Tiny House Your Way
There you have it! Everything you need to know to organize and decorate your tiny home. The most important thing is to remember that this is your home. Do it your way. Just keep only what you need and embrace minimalism. It’s a popular trend because it is so enjoyable and freeing!
Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
More Space-Saving Hacks and Ideas
As you embrace living in a smaller space, read through these other storage hacks and ideas here on Clutter Keeper.
- Storage Hacks for Small Bedrooms
- Tiny Kitchen Ideas
- Small House Storage Ideas
- RV and Camper Organization: Your Complete Guide
