Lego ApartmentOh man! This single guy and his teeny apartment, which he designed to work like a Murphy bed (from the kitchen to the bedroom to the deck!), are a total inspiration. Would we want to live in a tiny space that required us to fold out every household item when we needed it? That would be a no. But can we steal some usable tips from his obsessive, adorable project -- ones that create room in our cramped abodes without breaking the bank?
 
Here’s a look at some around-the-web suggestions that fit this challenge:

Multitasking Furniture
I already have a coffee table that’s also pillow and blanket storage. It’s awesome, except when there’s a drink on the coffee table. But with toddlers in the house, there shouldn’t be drinks on the coffee table anyway, except for right after they go to bed, when you can bet there’s some schnapps/Real Housewives action going on. Anyway: the more storage you have, the more you use.
Via JC Penney

A Fold-Out Countertop Or Table
This fold-away countertop isn’t super-easy, but it can be done on the cheap and, if you can make it work, it’s a great way to make room in a multi-purpose kitchen. For me, this’d be a dream come true, because it would also keep the kitchen table from becoming the crap-stack-atorium that we desperately try to clear up before the stepkids’ weekends! Another alternative, of course, is a great fold-up table with tucked-away chairs.
Via ApartmentTherapy.com

An Over-the-Sink Cutting Board
Sad fact: I don’t have a toaster oven because there just isn’t enough counter space. When the going gets cramped in my pre-dinner prep, I crave the ease of an over-the-sink cutting board -- creating more space, with the water handily nearby for rinsing purposes. Object of lust is this one, with a fold-away colander inside. Le sigh!
Via Amazon
 
Expandable Windowsills
Do you have 900 bottles of vitamins over your kitchen sink, on the windowsill? I do. I would snap a picture for you, but it’s much too embarrassing, and I don’t want you ogling the “vitamins” that are actually antidepressants, not to mention that I just noticed I still have a bottle of stool softener from Abby’s birth. Nice. Anyway, Martha Stewart has a DIY sill-expanding project that I would love to do, if I had any faith in my sill-expanding skills, which I don’t. But maybe you do!
Via Martha Stewart Living
 
Fridge-Side Shelves
My friend Kerri has one of these! I’ve been coveting it. Now I know where to find one! Wait, but my fridge sits back in a cubbyhole. Darn.
Via TheKitchn.com
 
Stacking Chairs
Similar to the fold-away table, this is a simple idea that can be executed without too much wallet-pain. It’s only every other weekend that we have an over-full house, and there are such pretty options these days -- a set of stackable chairs means a small footprint with a big payoff.
Via Canadian House and Home
 
Small-Space Pantry Caddy
Random dark space: Place where the lids to all the Tupperware disappears ... or roll-out pantry? You decide.
Via This Old House

Cabinet-Door Spice Rack
This. This. If I can have only one item from this article, it’s this, except maybe not, because it would require me to make sure the front two inches of the cabinet were clear so the darn door would close, and that’s not happening, so never mind.
Via This Old House

Hang It All
Most “kids' clutter” solutions fill me with ennui, but I feel like this one would actually work.
Via IKEA

What have you done to save space in a small space? Could you live in this guy's boat-like apartment?


 
Image via Fair Companies/YouTube