 Thank you so much to Simply Safe for sponsoring today's video. I hope you guys are having an amazing, amazing day today. I am very excited for today's video. We are going to be touching on a topic which I actually did a full entire video on a while back on my channel. I did a video that was titled 10 hacks for small apartments, how to basically decorate and organize your space. So when I saw that the video had so many views, I was like, why don't I just start concepting and thinking of ideas as I work throughout the next couple of months, jotting them down as I go. And that is exactly what I did. So I actually ended up with 10 really great hacks that are kind of in addition to that video for you guys that I'm going to share with you on how to just make sure that your space is decorated to its fullest potential, organized to its fullest potential. So that is what we're focusing on today. 10 small apartment decorating and organization hacks, which I think could be great for anyone who has a smaller space. So let me go ahead and jump on into our first hack. I want to keep these super simple to the point, give you guys visuals, just so it's very understandable. And yeah, just leave you with some great inspo for your space. My first tip is going to be utilizing vertical storage. This is so key, so important, probably one of the biggest things you could take away from this video. There are a lot more tips, I do not worry you guys. It is one that I think that is super, super crucial, especially when you have a place that has a little bit of floor space. There isn't much to walk around. You can't put furniture there. Like for example, in my grandpa's bedroom, all I was able to put in there was two nightstands and a queen size bed. There was absolutely no space for any more furniture. Drawers could not pull out. They would be hitting the bed. So utilizing vertical storage is something that I think is super, super important, whether that be adding wall shelves on the wall, adding a bookcase on the wall that's kind of like wall-mounted. I've even seen fold-up wall desks, which I think are great for places like dorms or small spaces, your first apartment maybe, where you're able to mount a desk on the wall that kind of just folds up and looks like a cabinet, but then folds down and you can access it and use it as a desk. So it's functional, but it's also stored away and tucked away in a way that doesn't allow floor space to be taken up, because most times in small spaces, we definitely need that extra floor space just to feel like it's a little bit bigger than it actually is. This tip also kind of goes hand-in-hand with heightening the walls in your room. If you have absolutely nothing on your walls, all your eye focuses on is just anything towards the bottom of the space, but once you add that height and you kind of use that vertical wall space, it actually makes your eye kind of draw up the wall and gives the illusion that the space is a little bit taller than it actually is, and all around just makes it feel larger and just a little bit more open. Now my next tip is one that I kind of just came to one day and I was like, this is just a great tip for anyone that has a small space, and that is to find furniture pieces that are multifunctional. And what I mean by this is just pieces that can really serve a dual purpose in a space, because not all of us have space for a coffee table, an ottoman, a storage basket per se, so why not combine all of them together and get this really, really cute storage bench? Now I'm just gonna share with you guys a couple of examples of multi-purpose furniture pieces, so this exact bench here is a storage bench, so it's perfect to go against the wall, but also consider using this as a coffee table for your space. It's great just put in the center of a rug or right around your couches in your seating area, and you're actually able to put a tray on top, which gives you that kind of hard surface to put glasses or drinks, whatever you wanna put on your traditional coffee table. You also have that bench element, which allows someone to sit there if you need additional seating, and last but not least, it's a storage as well, allowing you to take the top off, you could store whatever you want inside, maybe your coffee table essentials or blankets, so all around you get additional seating when needed. You get your coffee table and you also get storage, so it's a dual purpose furniture piece, which is perfect for a small space. I also think something like this ladder desk would be perfect for a small space, you could lean it up against the wall, you get areas to set decor on top of, books on top of, a little bit of storage, but you also get that functionality with the desk purpose of that, so all around that's a multi-purpose furniture piece as well. Tip number three is one that I think everyone should take into account in any small space throughout their home, and that is to utilize a mirror in that space. Now, I wish I went ahead and did this in my grandpa's bedroom, but I knew he had a mirror that he was gonna bring with him anyways, which they're going to be putting on the wall now with that little painting on it, so the mirror's gonna be going there, but a mirror is really, really great for a small space because first of all, it just makes it appear larger when you're able to see the reflection of the room, it just makes the room look a little bit bigger, and the second great thing about a mirror is it reflects light, so any light that comes in, a lot of small spaces don't really have that many light sources, you know, traditionally there's one or two windows in that space, so having a mirror bounces the light back, making the space a little bit more airy and a little bit more bright, which in the end results in a larger-looking space. And last but not least, it is functional. We all look at ourselves in mirrors every single day, so why not have one in a small space to bounce that light off? You can look at yourself, plus it just looks pretty in this space, so all around a mirror is needed for any small space. Now, I know I just mentioned that I never ended up putting a mirror in my grandpa's bedroom, which is in my aunt's house, but something I did end up putting in there when I was there was actually a Simply Safe system. Now, as many of you guys know, I have talked about Simply Safe multiple times on my channel in the past, and when my aunt ended up moving, she was like, hey, Drew, do you think you're able to get me a Simply Safe system? And I reached out and they were like 100%. We would love to make sure that your aunt is nice and protected in her home, so they sent over a system. And if you guys have never, ever heard of Simply Safe before, they are truly top-notch when it comes to home security. I think it is the most innovative and just effortless home security system. I just love how everything is so seamless. You download the app, and it just kind of walks you through the entire process, and it's truly a no-brainer when it comes to home security systems. And they have a ton of great sensors to cover every single window, room and door, plus a ton of great extras like water sensors, temperature sensors, and HD cameras so we can see what's happening throughout the home. And of course, the monitoring center is gonna call the police if it is alerted to do anything. So if anyone comes into your home or anything random like that, the police will be on the way. That is the point of a home security system and Simply Safe has you covered. You guys, luckily I've not had to have that happen yet. Thankfully, however, I feel protected and my aunt feels protected too. She's actually just now able to move into her home. She didn't want to until she had that home security system. Now that it is there, she's able to finally start living there. And I think she actually moved out yesterday. I filmed these clips when I was doing my grandpa's bedroom makeover last weekend. And I think she actually officially moved into her house yesterday, which is amazing. So if you guys would like to learn more or check out any more information on Simply Safe, I will link them below for you guys. Just head over to simplysafe.com slash loanfox to do so. Again, link to the top of my description box below. I think it's a great, great company. I would highly recommend it to absolutely everybody who does need a home security system. Let's go ahead and jump on into our fourth, fourth hack here. This next tip is all about linear prints. Now this is not going to be the most crucial or beneficial tip from this video. I'm just gonna point that out right now, you guys. But it's something to keep in the back of your mind when you're out shopping for a space. I always keep this in mind. If I want to heighten a wall, make it appear a little bit taller, find a curtain that has a vertical print in it. For example, my bed here, which is not relating to the curtains at all, my bed has a horizontal line running through the entire duvet, which I love so much because it actually makes my bed look wider. The great thing about stripes is that they really give you the illusion of something as taller or wider depending on the orientation. So that's why a lot of people traditionally don't like wearing horizontal stripes because they feel like it makes their body appear wider. And traditionally a lot of people like wearing more vertical stripes because it makes them appear a little bit taller and a little bit skinnier. Linear prints aren't anything that's going to add any bulk to your space, but it's definitely great to keep that in mind if you are shopping for a duvet or if you are shopping for a rug or if you are shopping for curtains, just keep that in the back of your head to consider linear prints. Now, this next tip is one that changed my bedroom like crazy. And I will not say that my bedroom is a small bedroom. It is actually a pretty large bedroom for sure. However, this would totally work in a small bedroom as well. And hanging your curtains as high as you can and getting the longest curtains that you possibly can totally impacted my space so much, you guys. When I moved into the space, there was short curtains that just covered the window. They did not go to the floor. They were mounted directly above the window seal and it just made the space look so drab and just boring. But when I tell you guys, I invested in my curtains in my room. Now, I personally think that curtains are something that you should 1 billion percent invest in because they could make or break a space like crazy. I cannot tell you how impactful me adding curtains to this bedroom totally made it disappear so much bigger, so much taller and just more lux in the end. It just looks so much nicer and elevated. So coming from me, you guys, if you have to go purchase a longer curtain than you actually need and you know, sew the bottom or have a seamstress sew it and pay that little bit of additional money to make sure that you have a curtain that fits your space nicely, I think it totally, totally elevates any area. Now, using rugs to add a little bit of separation to your space actually visually makes it appear a little bit larger. So for example, if you have an open concept home or an open concept department where you know your dining room and your living room and your kitchen are kind of all together, maybe consider adding a rug under your dining table and then adding a rug in your living room area just to kind of consolidate that this is the living room area. This is where the living room furniture is. This is where you would sit down and you know watch TV or hang out with your friends. And this is the dining area over here where you would sit and you would eat. This really gives a sense of separation and just makes the space feel a little bit larger overall. And now in a bedroom, of course, you don't want to add multiple rugs. I have just one rug in here but I love how it grounds my bed and it kind of gives you an area. This is my bed space and it also adds some color and texture. And in the living room, my living room is actually really connected to my dining room. So I have two different rugs in there. I have one under my dining table which consolidates this area as a dining room and then one in the living room which consolidates this area as the living room. So visually, I think it just makes the spaces feel a little bit larger because it's almost like two separate spaces within one larger area. Now this tip is a super simple one. It is actually all about sconces which I have one right here. Now I didn't want to go ahead in my bedroom and actually add table lamps on my nightstands. That is because I knew they were gonna take up space. My nightstands were on the smaller side. I actually purchased them because I loved them so much but I wanted to make sure I had enough free space on top of them to put my essentials and things that I want to do or if I'm reading a book or if I want to set my laptop aside, whatever it is, I needed my nightstands clear. So I actually opted for some sconces which work perfectly. And these ones I actually installed using a puck light so there was no hard wiring needed at all. So I think adding sconces is a great way to add that light element but not having to actually put a lamp on top of a table. You could free up that space for something else whether it be some organization or some decor and you still get that light source but again, we're using our vertical storage method which is our walls to add our lighting which isn't gonna take away from the actual square footage of the space or make you put a floor lamp that you know takes away from the corner where you could be adding a piece of storage or a plant. So just keep that in mind. Maybe a sconce is great for you. I think sconces are also really, really cute and I love mine in my bedroom. Now when you are designing a small space in terms of color, I definitely think opting for lighter colors is the way to go. The smaller the space, the lighter the color you should actually opt for and I totally made the biggest error when I was doing my little office nook makeover which is right in front of me. I was like, I'm gonna paint this dark, dark navy. And you guys, once I painted it and stepped foot in there, I was like, I feel claustrophobic. This looks small. I don't like it. From my bed at night, it literally looked like a black hole. It was just not the space I envisioned. And I realized after the fact, I was like, this is too small to be painting so dark and moody. So I actually opted for a more lighter tan color which I love so much. It bounces light off in there. It just seems so much brighter, so much airier. So when you are designing a small space, I definitely think considering lighter color palette is a great idea. It just bounces light off. Just gives you that airy feeling as well. Sometimes dark colors can really, really be intense and moody and it just kind of brings down your mood a little bit especially when it turns nighttime. And those colors are super, super dark and you don't have that daylight element. You just kind of bring down your mood. And I feel like that happened to me when I did my office makeover. It just wasn't a place that I wanted to sit in and work, you know, so I made the change. I made it a little bit lighter and I love the outcome. Now this next tip is one that kind of plays hand in hand with my grandpa's room makeover. And this is actually going to be to add storage to any closed off spaces. So maximize your storage in your closets, in your hall closets, in your bedroom closets, anywhere that is closed off that has a door behind it where you're not going to see what's behind there unless you open it up, maximize your storage. Now in my grandpa's room, a lot of you guys were like, where's the dresser? There really was not space for a dresser in there. There was not enough room for me to put a dresser on any of the walls. Drawers would not be able to pull out. So what we're actually doing in that area is putting a small little like more condensed shelf unit dresser that has some pull out drawers in the bottom of the closet, which will still allow you to hang the clothes in the top of the closet. But you get that dresser element at the bottom and we're going to do some form of door on that closet. I wasn't able to finish it off when I was actually back there working on the space because we're not too sure what kind of door you want to add there yet. I think it might be like a sliding farmhouse style door. So just consider really maximizing your storage in any closed off spaces. So anywhere that is kind of hidden away, maximize any storage you can there, but absolutely everything you can within there because clutter-free surfaces in a small space is a way to make it appear bigger. And my last tip goes back to color again and this is to kind of minimize the amount of colors you use in a small space. Something that I've seen people do when they send in, you know, submissions for the what would you do series. I always see so many colors going on in these like small little bedrooms and it really does take a toll on you. Like you're like, what am I supposed to be looking at next? What am I looking at now? There's so much going on here. So just consolidating and editing down your color palette is a great way to just make a space feel a bit more cohesive and thought out. And in the end, I feel like that also just gives you the vibe that this space was utilized to its fullest potential. And this goes back to the rule of thirds where you wanna see colors in three different sections throughout a space. So if you have a ton of different colors, your eye only goes to the individual colors whereas if you have a little yellow decor over here, a little yellow decor over here and a throw pillow that's yellow on your bed, it really allows your eye to kind of flow around the room and the rule of thirds is a great method to keep in mind. I learned that in photography class in high school and I used it all the time when I'm decorating spaces. You guys, I feel like I just talked on and on and on but I really do hope that this video could help you guys. Those are my 10 hacks for any small space, how to decorate them properly, organize properly and just make them the best into their fullest potential. So I hope that you guys enjoyed this video and if you are not already, make sure to subscribe to my channel. I post brand new home decor every single week here on Lone Fox. Also wanna thank today's video sponsor, Simply Safe. If you guys are in the market for a home security system, definitely use my link, simplysafe.com slash Lone Fox and take advantage of it. I'm going to link it in the description box below for you guys. And also if you guys have any tips as well that kind of correspond with this video, please leave them in the comment section below. We can have a nice little discussion down there. A lot of you guys are so, so intelligent when it comes to small spaces. So any information that you have, I would love to hear it as well and I'm sure everyone else would, so comment below. But I'll catch you guys all in my next video. Have an amazing rest of your day. Bye guys.