It's possible I was an interior designer in a past life - interiors make me unbelievably excited and incredibly mad all at the same time. (For your own sanity: never ask my thoughts on wall or stair decals.) But moving wouldn't be moving without considering what your new place will look like once you've got it all done. This is especially important for me right now as we are quite likely to be downsizing when we do move. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster in trying to admit that downsizing will be a necessary step for this move - first it was 'well, we need a spare bedroom for the office', then it was 'well we need this much space...', and now it's 'well if the layout is smart and allows all the space to be used, we can definitely work with something smaller than we think'. And honestly, reaching that last conclusion has been a relief in so many ways. It allows us to have more options when flat-hunting, means we don't have so much useless space lounging about, means we will have a much easier time cleaning... I am a big fan of the smaller place and have been quietly trying to push for it since we decided to move.

It also means that I can spend way too many hours looking at Pinterest, trying to find some ways of making a small space work for us. (And inevitably getting so far off point that I have fifteen new DIYs bookmarked that will never actually be done but I can dream, right?)

1. fold up furniture. Anything that can be stashed out of the way and well is an automatic heart-eyes-emoji from me and this small fold out desk means hidden storage and a desk big enough for your laptop. And a little feature for your wall! So many advantages.

2. floating shelves. Our current place came equipped with a truly massive unit which meant no reason to buy shelves - whether for books, DVDs or display. But I doubt we'll luck out like that again and these floating shelves really look amazing and add space to the room (with the bonus of being another great desk solution).

3. space saving trouser storage. Okay, I hate hanging bottoms. Skirts, trousers, jeans, they're all a pain. But it needs doing and this is a really lovely looking solution that doesn't take hangers away from my (rather obscene) collection of tops and dresses.

4. under bed storage. As you might have figured out from my comments in this post, storage space has never been an issue for us in this place - there's rooms and nooks and crannies aplenty. But those days are unlikely to continue once we move, so I'm turning my attention to a storage solution that's as old as time: stuff it under the bed. Lift-up mattress storage like this is pretty cool, but there's nothing wrong with a simple drawer bed or a few nice baskets either.

5. making corners count. This seems like a great alternative eating/working space to the traditional table and chairs or breakfast bar. Just big enough for a meal for two, work on your laptop, or drinks with several friends. And, to be honest, I've wanted shot of our kitchen table for a while now...

6. open up the wardrobe. I feel like I see this everywhere nowadays - a minimalist rack (or a few not so minimalist racks) for your clothes rather than stuffing them all in a wardrobe. For the longest time I just did not get it - wasn't it cluttered? Didn't you worry about moths eating your clothes? - but nowadays I am all over it. A couple of clothes racks will cost less than a new wardrobe, take up way less space, and are nowhere near as heavy. Why on earth did I ever buy that wardrobe? I am dreading having to take it apart - it weighs a ton! I could have had a much easier time with a couple of stylish racks. Well, live and learn. If space is really tight, this might be the solution!