By Aidan Cannon

Chances are if you're a young adult, you're going to be living in a lot of apartments while you try to get your career off the ground. While it would be really convenient to have a space all to yourself, the economic realities of the day make that quite difficult. In all likelihood, you will be sharing an apartment with one or multiple other roommates. Despite living in a shared space, you'll still want to have an area or areas that belong to you so you can feel at home. This can be difficult when the space you are cohabitating is small and your roommates, of course, want the same respect extended to them. Disagreements over what space belongs to whom and a sense that one person is dominating the apartment can quickly blow up into fights. Use this guide to prevent fights and maximize your personal space in a crowded apartment.

via Pixabay

Talk with your roommates

When you're first moving into your new apartment, after everyone has settled in, gather together and have a frank discussion about space expectations. Does someone have their own room? Perhaps they forfeit some decorative control over communal spaces. If two or more people are sharing a room, the rest of the apartment might need to understand that all their belongings might not be able to fit in that shared space. Thus, one of their desks or workspaces might need to be placed in the living room or community space. These discussions should be about trying to achieve equity in the house, considering everyone's different circumstances and needs when splitting the apartment up. While ideally, everyone leaves these conversations with perceived equality over the space, it's important to advocate for yourself if you feel you're being short-changed or not being given access to the apartment you need in order to live properly. Ultimately, these conversations help create bridges of understanding between yourself and your roommates so no one misunderstands who has domain over different areas of the apartment.

Pare down your belongings

There's a very simple way to get the most out of your apartment space: don't have clutter in the first place. If you know you're going to be sharing an apartment with a number of other people, it's best to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you really need to bring with you on move-in day. While you might want to move your whole life into your new space, it will be easier to live if you're not constantly surrounded by junk. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle when first moving into the apartment will be beneficial not only in that you will have fewer belongings to juggle but also because once you have acclimated to the space, you can begin bringing more items in once you know you have the space to support them. Additionally, starting in your new apartment with a minimalist perspective will make your space more readable and prevent you from losing anything.

Use your walls

It might not be your first thought when brainstorming how to get the most out of your apartment, but you can use your walls! While many young adults simply use their walls as an avenue for self-expression, adorning them with photos and posters, they can be used for functional purposes as well. Consider installing shelves on your walls. These can provide extra space to hold your belongings like photos, books, or trinkets. It can also be a helpful neutral spot for you and your roommates to place things that don't belong to you, functioning as a sort of lost and found within the apartment. Finally, it helps keep things off the ground, where someone could get hurt.

Invest in discreet storage

If at all possible, invest in discreet storage. It's possible that when you move in, you will have a lot more stuff than you appear to have room for, or maybe you just want to store your belongings in a way where they aren't sprawled out all across your room. The best way to do this is to use discreet storage containers, like boxes or drawers that can fit into your room without taking up any additional space. For example, elevating your bed so you can put boxes underneath it, or getting a set of drawers to put inside the legs of your desk. These will help store your belongings without encroaching on your limited apartment space.

Living in an apartment can be tough! You need to move all your essentials into a tiny little space, and multiple roommates can further exacerbate the issue. However, it is possible to thrive in an apartment and utilize the space effectively, improving your quality of life and mental health. Hopefully, this guide has given you some ideas about how to organize your apartment and maximize your personal space.