tiny space inspiration

Each year, Apartment Therapy runs a contest just for tiny spaces-- small cool. Looking through all the spaces has really been a blessing for brainstorming how to organize our own tiny space and for realizing that our space could always be smaller. Like most of the contestants, our main issue has been storage. We're lucky enough to have several built-ins, but the main room of discontent is the kitchen. Our building was originally built in the 1920s, when people had decidedly fewer kitchen gadgets.

Here are some of my favorite tiny places, broken down by the Apartment Therapy categories:

Teeny-Tiny
Stephanie- New York, NY
330 square feet

all photos via

Tiny

Emily- Denver, CO

572 square feet

all photos via

Little

Kiera- Washington D.C.

750 square feet

all photos via

Small

Chris & Julia- Groton, MA

962 square feet

all images via

Head over to Apartment Therapy to check out all the entries and be sure to share your favorites in the comments!

So This is Spring in Minnesota

That's right folks, it's April 18th and it is actively snowing. So much so that it took me two hours to get home from work instead of the usual 20 minutes. And, like some kind of cruel joke, these arrived at my doorstep this afternoon.

They were ordered several weeks ago when it felt like warm weather was imminent. It looks like they'll be staying in the box until May at the earliest. But hey, at least I'll be ready.

Moomin Craze

So apparently Moomins are a big deal now. I just looked on Etsy (my beloved) and there are eight pages. That's a pretty big deal for an obscure Scandinavian book series. Of course, I'm now at risk of becoming one of those adults that are obsessed with cartoon characters. Only instead of the room full of Mickey Mouse snow globes and Cinderella figurines I'll have a room filled with dinnerware decorated with strange hippo-looking creatures.

washi tape via washimatta

felted wool moomin via totootse

brooch via oh my clumsy heart

Curious what the heck a Moomin is? I discussed it here.

on stuff

Since moving to the little apartment, I've been thinking a lot about stuff-- mainly that we have too much of it. Somehow in the past five years since graduating from college (and probably even before) I've accumulated enough stuff to fill both an apartment and a room in my parent's house.

I'll be the first to admit that I am somewhat of a sentimentalist about my stuff. I've kept shoes that I purchased in Greece that have long since developed holes in the heels. I've kept shirts that I wore on first dates with my fiance even though they no longer fit. I've kept sweatshirts from high school and t-shirts from college. All of these sit in my closet taking up space.

I've been trying to pare down my belongings to items that I want to wear (instead of items I might wear) and items that fit me and the rest of my wardrobe. I am never going to wear that hot pink t-shirt I bought, or that peasant blouse. No matter how many times I wear those slightly too small flats, they will still give me blisters. I'm ok with these things.

I've owned these shoes for at least seven years and have never worn them.

So, for the time being,  I've decided to continue ridding myself of things that are taking up precious space.  If something doesn't make me happy, or make me feel good, I don't want it in my apartment. This goes for decor as well as clothes, but I feel like my closet is an excellent place to start.

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

my favorite song lately