spaced planning

when it comes to space planning in a crazy small space: measure twice, write it down once. because if you're like me, you get home and don't remember what all the measurements corresponded to. i did a lot of "feet or inches?" when i got home.

but, i'm getting ahead of myself. i'm downsizing. not by choice, but my location. i recently took a job in manhattan from north carolina. 

and went from this ...

... to this.

how do i plan to have tomorrow's move-in go smoothly? well, i put some skills i failed at and then later retook for a passing grade to work. good work, i hope. 

so, here it is: rachel's space planning 101 for small nyc apartments.

you'll need:
a tape measurer
graph paper
a pen or pencil
scissors
a ruler
a camera
patience/wine

frist thing you do is measure all your furniture in the 1200 sq ft lap of luxury that you're leaving. be sure to get the width, length, heighth and depth of every piece, including rugs. and if it has doors or drawers on it, measure with those open as well.

then you find a tiny small apartment to live in. when they hand you the keys, excitedly run over to measure every nook an cranny. 

make sure you measure the wall space between windows and how much space a door takes up when open. why? the space between windows is positive space: you can use it — but there are a lot of pieces you can't put in front of a window. the space a door takes up is negative space: you can't use it — the door is using it. (although if it's an interior door, you can always remove it.)

measure the ceiling height, this is important to know when figuring out the btu output rating of the window ac unit you'll need. plus, most storage solutions build UP. since you can't build DOWN into the floor.

look around for odd spaces or spaces you'd normally not use. chances are you'll have to find a way to use them. measure them.

figure out how much space is between the window and the floor. and is there a strange, long 4 inch heating element that runs the length of your room? that affects furniture placement. measure it.

draw a rudimentary skecth of the room with your notes.

and take pictures while you're there for goodness sake. of everything. even if it seems elementary at the time.

then: draw your room to scale. 

i did every square equals half a foot. if i did less, the room was too small for me to play with. more, and i'd need bigger sheets of graph paper.

you'll have to figure out your own scale conversion.

remember: you can always tape sheets together.

tip: 
i found it helpful to number the feet around the edges for measuring reference.

i also used a ruler. it made me feel more professional.

then you cut yourself out your pieces of furniture to scale, based on your measurements and you're in business.

always remember door clearances and movement allowances. here's where I first landed:

living room

i was ecstatic. i'd found ways to bring a shit ton of my furniture.

then, i remembered i'd wanted to get an island or other counterspace for the kitchen. 

remember the kitchen? yeah, tiny. 

so, i needed to make sure i had space for this:

island from C&B

if i wanted that island, i'd be giving up the chaise attached to my sofa. 

so be it.

i'd even fallen into the same trap in my bedroom. i just turned the wardrobe the other way.

bedroom

so, i threw that bad boy on there.

it looked nice, it looked like it fit.

so i went to bed.

then i woke up in a panic.

of course all that furniture wasn't going to fit. the apartment would be unlivable.

because I had't taken into consideration me.

i need at least two feet to walk, more comfortably three feet.

i'd be crawling over shit with that plan. 

so here's where i netted out:

but each and every time i liked a design, i took a pic. i tried scenarios with more furniture than i ended up with and scenarios with less.

but i knew it when i saw it. and we'll see if my multiple games of tetris paid off as guys shove shit into my apartment all day tomorrow.

look for more small space solutions coming soon. 'cause i've been freaking out ;)