1. Periodically go through your apartment and declutter/organize. It’s amazing how much stuff can get into your apartment even when you don’t buy a lot of things. Things pile up! A few months before Carter was born Tim and I went through the kitchen cupboards and found quite a few things that could go in storage. Some pretty dishes given to us when we were married, but I had never used. I want to use them some day, but I just don’t have space to keep them in my kitchen now. So they are packed away. A few weeks before Carter was born, my sisters helped me clean out underneath our bed. Things had been pushed under there that belonged somewhere else…there was trash…and after it was organized and put back I have so much extra space down there now!
2. Use all available space to store things. I don’t particularly enjoy having things under our bed. Given a choice I would keep that space stuff free. But there isn’t much storage space in our apartment! 
So a lot of the baby supplies are under there (i.e. diapers and wipes) as well as things we don’t use all that often (i.e. the air mattress). If you have bedside tables you can store things under them. My sewing machine is under one of our tables and 2 boxes of baby clothes and my craft supplies are under the other one. Use all the space on your bookshelves…if you can fit two layers of books/CDs on one shelf do it!
3. Get rid of unnecessary furniture. I have a really pretty coffee table that we bought before we were married. I love it! However, before Carter was born I realized that putting it in storage would be better so that we have more space in our living room.
4. Move beds around. For the first year of his life, Drew slept in our bedroom. But around his first birthday I decided that I wanted to be able to sleep well and get caught up on rest before Carter’s birth. Drew slept through the night…but he made noises (i.e. turning over) that just made it hard for me to rest. So each night we put Drew to bed in the bedroom and when we are ready for bed, Tim moves Drew’s bed out into the living room where he sleeps the rest of the night. It really helped me to get a good night’s rest!
5. Find a place where you can store things outside of your apartment. Both of our parents have offered us extra space at their houses to store some of our things and weddings gifts. If we needed to there are also two or three storage rental spaces near us. We have a washing machine and dryer, but we can’t have them here at the apartment so they are in storage. A lot of our wedding gifts are in storage. Baby supplies (i.e. bouncer, swing) are in storage.
6. Be content with what you have and be willing to live with the “inconvenience” for a short time. Even though living in a small apartment is rather crowded these days, (:-)) this is where God has us for the time being. So I’m working to love this apartment and make it into a home that blesses my family. And to be completely honest, whenever we end up moving I’m goingn to be said to leave this little apartment behind. It’s our first home together and I love it!
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