How to live in a very smal room, most of the day?

[Myrica]

I'm stuck in my small bedroom all the time (except when I'm in school).
I'm a very busy person so it's rather small for me. I would like any suggestions on how to organise this room so I would feel more comporable in it, and stop moving every litlle thing around just to be able to do something. The situation:
I have 2 computers in it, 1 I use and 1 to expiriment. The one I actually use is standing on a desk near the window in a small corner. The other is standing on a computer desk thing I really hate because it doesn't give me any room. I don't have a surface left to use to write or make my homework.
I also have a lot of craft suplies. I have a small desk downstairs just for all my crafting-art like hobbies, but because my parents are currently remodeling the house it's not very usable. At the moment there are paterns for clothing, some boxes with beads, some painting suplies, a lot of paper, stuff to write with (pens, pencils, gel pens, makers,...). I also have my clothing lying around, usually on one of the to chairs or on my bed.
When I have to write I usually sit on my bed.
I have a nighttable, two desks, a bookcase, 2 chairs and a wardrobe. I can not move any of the furniture, and my room is completely filled with it. I also have a loot of school books, cd's, a printer and a scanner, and extra stuff like a game pad, mp3, webcam,... (a LOT of cables).

on top of that I don't like the colors. My furniture is white, my curtains are white and pink :wtf: (I don't like pink...) My walls are a sickening kind of yellow, and everythings seems to have this kind of baby-color-glow :ugh:
When the remodeling of our house is done, (something that is taking 1 year, with the making of plans etc 5 years,... wait maybe more like 10-18) I will have a new, bigger room. I already choose it wil have grey walls and I'm going to have less furniture.
I don't know when that room will be done, maybe in 2 months, maybe next year?
Now I'm still stuck here, and getting tired of it. Has anyone any ideas how I can make thise more livable? Without making big changes... repainting etc is impossible. Moving furniture is a NO... putting in something new is a NO to... hanging a new poster is not a good change, it makes it more full then it already is...
I'm constantly cleaning my room in this situation. I got more stuff and hobbies than this room is made for.
If anyone would like to see pics to get an idea I'll try to put some online.

*edit: I also like to collect a lot of materials for my BoS and a sort of memory book me and my boyfriend made, both a sort of scrapbook-alike thing...

[ShamanFeather]

To make it better would be a big change and you basically ruled them all out. In my college we built lofts so you had mutliple levels. I used to sleep on what was like a high giant table that was 4 feet off the ground that had stuff stored under it. Others would make theirs higher and put desks underneat and have their living space underneath which would be impossible otherwise. I've also had people who had them two feet off the ground and put a mattress undernetah to sleep and the top was all living space. Posters are a great method. New curtains would help, look for deals, look in thrift stores for those. Or take old bed sheets and get creative with them over the windows. Shelves are definately your friends.

[Darakash]

Maybe hang some mirrors? that sometimes help things seem bigger rather than smaller like a poster might. Also, you can find at most department stores (like walmart) these lap desk type things, that are large enough for a laptop computer, etc. so that you have a space to do your writing/homework on a hard surface; it kinda looks like one of those breakfast in bed trays, but it has a little spot for pens, etc. If you can get some stackable bins, that might help with all of the miscellaneious items that you have lying around. If money is tight, you might check out dollar stores for those, or thrift shops. I empathise with you! I have spent my fair share of time in very tiny spaces!
DK

[Raydreamer]

I know you said putting something new wasn't going to help, but you could sell your bed and use the money to buy one of those high beds from ikea to put in its place...
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10101&storeId=12&productId=47120&langId=-1&parentCats=10103*10144
then you could use the space underneath...but remember to check the height of the room.

[Myrica]

I can not sell my bed ^-^. All my furniture is quite new and all belongs together as a set, and when I move to my new room I'm going to keep my bed, my nightstand and my wardrobe. I'll get a large diner table or something like that instead of a desk then.
This room now should only be temporary. I have also shelves (forgot to mention them), but they meanly just collect dust. These hang above my bed and are not so big, more decorative. That's the only wall I can hang something, the other walls are gyproc, very light walls.
I once had a small mirror and for some reason my mom toke it away :ugh:
New curtains would be a waste, in my new room I will have 2 windows, double size of the one I have now and those will have roller things (how is it called :s) with on top of that probably something bordeaux colored.
The desk type thing might be something I'll look for, Or build my own.
I'm also thinking of putting all the stuff in more logical places, like cd's near the computer in stead of on my shelves, but on the other hand, they fit better on the shelves and not on the computer desk...

[enchancea]

I have a crapload of craft stuff and a very small apartment so I took this zip up plastic bag that I got a bedding set it in and I keep it all in there. I can leave it out or just shove it in the closet when I need more room. As for your walls, since painting isnt an option what about hanging sheets on your wall? When I lived with my mom I couldnt paint my walls and I hated them so I got some black satin sheets and I hung them on my walls and they made my walls appear to be black and then I just hung my picture and every else up over top of it. Thats all I can really think of. Except maybe cleaning out what you really dont need. You'll get more space and you can always try to sell it online and make some extra cash too.

[Danuko]

One thing that I've done that really helps (I also have the problems with craft stuff infesting every available horizontal surface) is to get clear plastic boxes for everything. Those under the bed boxes you see? If your bed is high enough up off the ground, they're a great place to store fabric and patterns. Also, for any little things that you can stick in jars, a spice rack is a great invention. If the space under your bed isn't big enough for the under the bed boxes, you might look into finding a source for pizza-type boxes, which are also really good for keeping patterns and stuff in, especially if you're got small-ish in-process projects that you need to keep together.

I second the thought of hanging fabric on the walls as a way of changing the color of the room. Another thing that might help is to think about how you're lighting the space.

On the windows: Maybe you've got some old sheets or extra muslin laying around that you can use to cover them for the time being? Sheets work really well because if you just snip the side-seams, you can fit the top part over a curtain rod.

Clothes storage: Have you thought about getting some of those over-the-door hook things to hang some of the stuff on? Hanging stuff up tends to work well for getting it out of the way.

On the CDs: One option might be to keep the CDs in some kind of case tucked away near the computer and the jewelcases on the shelves you're not using right now. Also, you might consider putting some of your crafty things there that you don't use much.

Another thing about the crafty stuff: If you're needing a place to store a lot of drawings and or papers that are standard-size or a little bit larger, you might consider a milk crate that's set up to handle hanging files. Actually, milk crates in general are a useful thing.

Another thing you might want to think about is, are you using ~all~ your available horizontal sufaces? One place that a lot of people don't think about is the tops of things like wardrobes- they're great places to stick books or CDs or boxes of crafty stuff.

Another thing you might think of if you want something small to use to make the space more bearable is, think about getting a couple small potted plants- or even some fake ivy to put up around your window or something. For some reason, green things tend to change a room like not much else can.

Hope that helps!

~Aine

[Myrica]

I think I'm going to get some plastic boxes and use one for crafting suplies, one for computer pieces,... (was planning on that even before reading your post. I do have a drawer for hanging files. I used it to store some of my quite large collection of paper. I don't like using all my surfaces, because I like to put down something there now and then, BUT I ended up stacking a lot of stuff on them any way, again paper, books,... in all kindes of storage systems.
My cd collection is hard to organise. I have A LOT of anime on cd's. I have a lot of software cd's, music cd's,... the anime cd's are all in 1 big file-bag thing (something like this (http://www.caselogic-intl.com/cgi-bin/sgsh01b6.exe?SKW=intl-audio-cdwallets-nylon&FNM=20&UID=2005013017200377) ). I also have stuff in slim & normal jewel cases, and dvd boxes, double dvd boxes, 10-cd boxes, those 50-cd tower things,.... I don't really like cd racks or boxes. I think it's commercial crap, you don''t keep your books this way do you?? I wouldn't be able to keep my games togheter, just because a few are in dvd boxes, and some are not. So I'll just put those in a box or on a shelf or something. CD's are a nightmare (worst, most of my writables turned out to be unusable after 3 years...)
I have some hooks on my wall to keep my clothes on, but since I make my own clothes and change during the day (I don't like waering same clothes at home as I wear at school) the hooks are quite full, and I don't know how to put T-shirts on them.
The top of my wardrobe is currently completely token by my mom. She puts everything on the top of wardrobes of me and my brothers.
I'm not even sure where I'll live next school year, but for the remaining half year I want life a bit better....
Anyone any good idea on keeping all papers togheter? I have binders, folders,... but I have so much things I don't know where to put them any more. Some are articles I collected on diffrent subject, some are empty, some is for school (if I can find it !!)
My drawings are the only things I have a place for. I keep the small ones in a bag for books, and the larger ones in a folder for drawings. I don't make any really big paintings any more because I don't have the place or time to do those.
Plants are also a very nice idea... :boing: but my mom is going to be agianst it... But I'll try to have plants in my new place the day I move out .

I know it's very hard to make any changes here because my mom doesn't alow me anything (even though I'm old enough), and I don't know what the future will bring...

[Danuko]

For the papers two thoughts come to mind- one is accordion files. These tend to be especially good for organizing things like magazine clippings. Another is manila folders arranged in magazine holders and labelled, both on the tabs and along the spine, that way you have the option of arranging them either spine out or tab out (I prefer tab-out myself but have seen it done the other way). If you've ever been in a Brook Mays and seen the way they organize the shelves of sheet music, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

On your mother- have you thought about talking to her and telling her how miserable your room is making you? Do it in such a way that it makes it sound like you're trying to work with it, even though it bugs you rather than sounding like you're whining about it.

And if you want to talk... feel free to PM me, I can relate to what you're going through to some extent- been there, done that.

~Aine

[Myrica]

I have a HUGE accordion organiser. It's verry heavy (It's not plastic, it's completely in heavy paper, and with a leather-look on the outside). The reason I don't use it is because it's filled with stuff from when I was 12 years old or something. I was totally forgetting I had that one. Problem is whith these kinds of things, I don't have a lot of space to put them.
And my mother... she often seems to stand on the edge of a nervous-breakdown and she talks a lot to me instead of I to her. The house thing here is something we all have to deal with, and my mom is always at home, and she feels really bad about it. Me complaining about my room wouldn't exactly do her good.
I have the day off today, so I'm gonna try to re-organise some things in my room.

[Sisqi]

One thing I've found really good for organizing some of my craft supplies, especially pens/markers/brushes etc is to get some of that board with the holes in it and the little hangers that just poke in wherever you need to put them, then hand the various supplies in little pencil bags or whatever that you can get for real cheap here in the states. Its nice because you can arrange all the little things without taking up too much space and still being able to find things when you need them. Keeps them from being all bunched up in one container that you (if you're like me) have to dump everything out of when you are trying to find one thing. Good luck with the organizing!

:tub:

[charmedkisses1]

hang big peices of pretty fabric you like on the wall, like tapestry. or you can go to an art store like Michael's, they have all SORTS of great prints (about $20) for cheap you can place on your walls to avert from the icky colors. Get rid of the curtians and replace them with royal purple sheers or maybe a cool neutral colors that wont make you want to gash your eyes out. You can use the colors to you advantade by making sure the art doesn't clash with it though. I also suggest tons of colored candles from Wal Mart ($15) and maybe a cool mirror ($25-50 at the most) Mirrors give the illusion of light and depth, it will make your room appear much larger. All of this is relatively cheap, and if you choose wisely, can make a HUGE difference.


sheer curtains that go good with yellow (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3212372&cat=109684&type=1&dept=4044&path=0%3A4044%3A173038%3A173046)

framed art (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/framed_art.gsp?cat=172224)

cool non expensive mirrors (http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=mirror&search_constraint=4044&ics=20&ico=0&ref=&search_sort=4)