Last year, I moved from a two-bedroom flat to a tiny 22 sqm studio – and in order to make it work, I had to get rid of some pieces of furniture as my new compact space simply wouldn’t be able to accommodate them. Below, I’ve rounded up the things I got rid of when I downsized – and the small space-friendly items I got instead to replace them with or at least help me live without them.
Full disclaimer – the two-bedroom flat had to accommodate two people, while I live by myself in my studio flat. So half of the stuff in my previous home wasn’t actually mine anyway. But I still had to downsize in order to make my studio look and feel bigger than it is, since it is very, very small. And to be honest, I don’t miss the things I got rid of.
1. Work desk
I used to dream of having a proper designated work space at home with a desk that I could comfortably WFH at. But since I only work remotely from home two days a week, it’s not something I need anymore – and even when I had a desk in my previous flat, I rarely ever used it anyway. So that was a no-brainer for me.
Instead, I use my dining table as a makeshift home work station, and I’ve had no issues with it. I prefer working from the office anyway.
2. Chest of drawers
There is simply no space for a standalone chest of drawers in my flat so I couldn’t keep that one either. I do, however, have a wardrobe and I use every inch of it – quite literally.
I find that there’s often a lot of wasted space at the bottom part of most wardrobes, mine included. So I invested in these stackable storage baskets from Amazon and placed them inside my wardrobe to utilise the bottom part of it to its full potential. I think it’s a great small bedroom storage idea.
3. Shoe cabinet
Since I don’t have a hallway in my flat, I also don’t really have a designated space for shoe storage ideas. My storage shoe bench therefore had to go. So where do all my shoes go?
This is where my wardrobe comes in yet again – I told you that I managed to utilise every last inch of that piece of furniture. But until you open it, you’d never know it contains and hides so much. The inside of the wardrobe doors is where the majority of my shoes live thanks to this handy over-the-door shoe organiser from Amazon.
Some of the bulkier boots and special occasion shoes I don’t wear often are stored inside my electric ottoman bed - it’s the Camden model from Simba - which is a lifesaver as it stores so much of my stuff, especially all the big and seasonal things. I can’t recommend ottoman beds like this one enough.
4. Armchair
I used to have a really pretty red rocking accent chair in my previous narrow living room. But sadly, I had to sell it as yet again, there was no space for it. In fact, there was barely enough space for my modular sofa and I had to reconfigure it in order for it to fit, turning the middle section of my King Living 1977 sofa into an armchair facing the sofa.
But since I live on my own, this is more than enough living room seating for me.
5. Bookcase
In my last flat, I used to have a large bookcase that displayed all of my books and some decor, as well as cabinets which housed my magazine collection and several boardgames. All of that had to go.
Instead, my magazines live in this sideboard from Habitat which fits perfectly in my bay window – and it took me forever to find one that had just the right measurements and the right look.
But instead of the bookcase, I used three of these pine wood shelves from B&Q to cover a whole wall with what appears as one continuous shelf across the entire length of it. I also painted it the same white as the shelves so that it blends into the wall a little bit. And this is where I put all of my books with some of the decor, as well as my board games.
Some of the other miscellaneous items and my never-ending supply of the best scented candles - that’s what happens when it’s part of your job to test home fragrance - now live on top of my wardrobe inside storage baskets. I’m a big fan of storage baskets as a stylish yet effective storage solution.
The products that made my downsizing possible
These stackable storage backets also act as drawers so you can pull them out a little bit to get to whatever you need.
This set holds up to 12 pairs of shoes. They come with the hooks to attach to the door and are made from light mesh.
An ottoman bed is a game changer in my opinion. It can just hold so much stuff which is exactly what I need.
I'm pretty much obsessed with my sofa and with how stylish it is. It's modular and it comes with removable covers as well.
These shelves are very simple planks of pine wood, but they make for the ideal blank canvas.
The shelf is a floating design but since books are heavy, I added brackets just to give them extra support.
I have a large Homebase basket on top of my wardrobe. They no longer stock the one I have but this one is very similar.
I love that this sideboard is made from real pine wood and the grooved design on the doors makes it a little more interesting, too.
I use a lidded storage basket like this one for all my arts and crafts supplies and bits and bops. The fact that it's closed is really handy.
Moving house is always a great opportunity to declutter and reassess what you actually need and want to keep. And downsizing is a slightly more extreme version of that.
