Did you know that summer/early Autumn are the most popular times for people to move into a new apartment? Between July and October the rental market is booming. If you relocate to Boston, a city that I live 45 miles north of, you may find yourself in a pretty small but very expensive rental. While 'burb rentals here are much larger, it's rare to find a spacious flat in city center. I have friends that live in Beacon Hill in a one bedroom with a large dog, a baby, and the wife works from home. Eek! That's close quarters. I'd estimate that their space is 700 sq ft max. What can you do if you want to live large while living small? Get creative with your space!

Sony VAIO LT All-in-One PC - One Sexy Little Mama.

1. Utilize as much of the height in the room as possible. Try to find wall units and shelving with a slim profile that reach up as high as possible. Store things you do not need on top in solid coordinating boxes and just grab a chair when you need to access it.

2. Find items that perform double duty. Beds that have storage drawers are great, and if you have a way to conceal what lies beneath such as a bed skirt you can use clear plastic storage bins on wheels for quick easy access to things you need.

3. Burn your CDs onto your computer, recycle the jewel cases, keep the covers and CD itself, and store them in binders on your bookshelf or out of sight. Some people swear by burning their collection and then selling their CDs but I discourage this for many reasons but the most important is that if you experience some major hardware failure, you risk losing your entire collection. I recently lost 400 song files due to a crazy Mac/iPod experience that I had. It was heartbreaking. Fortunately, I was able to pull out my CD binder and upload everything all over again. 

4. If you love your movie collection, I encourage you recycle the plastic holders, keep the cover art and DVD, and file them into binders according to genre. I have several binders that range from Sci-Fi and Action to Foreign Language and Classics. I store them in my credenza out of sight. I was able to sell one very large wall unit that once held our entire music and movie collection. I use a quarter of the space in my living room now for the same collection, all neatly tucked away inside my credenza. When guests arrive, instead of everyone standing in front of this massive wall of movies with heads tilted sideways, they are able to relax on our sofa casually flipping through movie binders. It's actually more fun!

5. Create a focal point - often the easiest way is by applying paint or wallpaper to a single wall. Don't be afraid of dark colors, often they make the wall recede if the other walls are lighter or white, giving the room a  larger feel. Large art is something small space dwellers tend to avoid but I say don't -- go for it. A large print in a nice frame can work wonders!

6. Add mirrors. This trick of the trade has been around for ages but it's super smart so designers still rely on it to enlarge tight quarters. Consider what will be reflected into the mirror before hanging though, make sure it's something you like enough to see twice! A pretty fireplace, yes. A window overlooking a fire escape, no. Mirror placement is everything.

7. In addition to furniture that does double duty, look for technology that incorporates several different features into one unit. For instance the Sony VAIO LT All-in-One PC. It is a 22" flat-screen, wall-mountable, high-def TV and an all-in-one PC. There is no separate tower to take up space and it comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse along with a Blu-ray drive and DVR. It also has an integrated webcam and an external TV tuner. It runs Vista media center on a 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo processor with 4GB of RAM and both the screen and the speakers float in transparent glass. There's even a handy compartment in the back to neatly hide cords. Now that's living large while living small! Some complain that it's expensive, but given that I paid nearly two thousand for my Apple and it doesn't have half of the bells and whistles as this Sony VAIO LT, I can see why it comes in at just below two grand. I'm not saying to run out and purchase it though, it's merely an example to support the point -- look for gadgets that have lots of features so your media center is neat and organized.

8. When shopping for furniture, notify the sales associate that you live in a small apartment and ask them to point you towards pieces designed for such spaces. Many stores feature special collections, some with names like "Urban Living", "Apartment Living", etc. Look for armless chairs and sofas, glass coffee tables, and furniture with exposed legs vs. hidden (visually less heavy). When shopping for windows, look for window treatments that aren't heavy, opt for lighter options like roman blinds and sheers over a bamboo shade for instance, and step away from dramatic, thick fabrics like brocades and velvets.

9. Mount lighting on walls and ceilings or look for table lamps that do not have large bulky shades.

10. And finally, and Simply Stated blogger Erin Doland will do cartwheels when she reads this, clean out the clutter. Nothing makes a smaller apartment feel more confined than a ton of junk you don't need, or even nice stuff that you can store if you don't plan to live small forever, or donate. We should consider this no matter what size our home is, but it's vital for tiny dwellings to be neat and organized. Another point to consider: Small luxuries go a long way so invest in quality goods over quality. Look for appliances that are smaller, Europeans have been using smaller appliances for years and they are managing quite well. :)

(image from SONY)