If there’s one thing I’ve become acquainted with over the course of the last year and a half (okay, it’s been a year and 11 months!), it’s the lack of space my fiancé and I are currently living with. I never realized that I took for granted just how much space my old room in California offered – I had my own room, practically my own bathroom (my sister was at school all day, allowing me free range of the bathroom, all of it commodities, and it’s generous nature of not complaining…unlike my younger sister…when I made a complete mess of it), a living room, and a full sized garage that not only stored my exorbitant and incessant amounts of boxes, but the occasional flat-tired bicycle and toys I hadn’t played with in years. When I received the opportunity to move out to Las Vegas, I packed up my exorbitant - and incessant, mind you – amount of boxes, said my goodbyes and my I love yous, and booked it on the northbound I-15 out to Nevada, not once thinking of the space issue I was about to run headfirst into. And run headfirst I did. When we brought my furniture out, we had quite the situation on our hands – where to store my bed, my dresser, etcetera etcetera and my horrendous amount of clothes/shoes. What had fit so comfortably in my 12’ by 15’ room in California, didn’t fit so perfect in my new 10’ by 10’ room in Nevada – which I was now also sharing with another individual. Fast forward a couple of months and while my furniture was now stored properly, my clothes and shoes kept multiplying. (My spare cash was burning a hole in my pocket – don’t judge me!) Frustrated that he kept tripping through the front door over multiple pairs of shoes on the floor and a stack of clothes on the bed… and on his desk chair… and on top of the washer… my fiancé decided we needed to resolve this storage issue of ours – well, storage issue of mine - and get smart. Shoes: My fiancé built me what we call a “shoecase” – a lot like a bookcase, but for shoes. He also invested in cloth storage bins (which you can find anywhere from Target to Lowe’s) which happily support my shoe fetish and currently store about 2/3 of my shoes – especially the “OMG! We’re going to the Las Vegas Strip!” ones. While these storage options don’t prevent my long-term habit of kicking my shoes off at the front door and leaving them there, they definitely encourage less tripping and cursing and more free space in the house.

(http://blogs.camdenliving.com/2012/04/13/saving-my-storage-challenged-neck/1-3/)

Photo courtesy of Clothes: I moved out with one dresser which, oddly enough, held all of the clothes I wore back in California. However, when I moved to Nevada (and started shopping more…) I started to suffer with the issue of having too many clothes; the more I tried to stuff, the harder it was to get that one shirt, waaay in the back that I had to wear tonight. So, we (once again!) invested in storage bins – plastic, not cloth – for me to store the clothes I didn’t wear during that part of the year to free-up space for the clothes I did wear on a more regular basis. Three LARGE plastic bins later, my closet was more easily accessible, my clothes less wrinkled, and my dresser drawers far less miserable.

(http://blogs.camdenliving.com/2012/04/13/saving-my-storage-challenged-neck/2-4/) Bathroom Amenities: Bed, Bath, and Beyond sells wired storage bins to store blow dryers, straighteners, and all of the electrical components that women love, so as to keep them out of the way of the sink and to store them safely out of everyone’s way. Sick of seeing my straightener and curling iron on the counter, with the wires hanging down the front of the sink, practically tripping people by just looking at them, my fiancé bought me one of these beauties and he couldn’t be happier. And to fix my boredom problem with shampoos and conditioners of various brands and to prevent the backup of half-used bottles of product littering the bathroom counter, we (once again!!) invested in a storage bin that now resides very happily and very full in the side linen closet, just for me! There are numerous storage ideas on numerous sites to help people who are storage challenged, like myself. Camden Apartments, while spacious, may present similar kinds of challenges to someone who needs to store an exorbitant – and incessant – amount of boxes, and a distasteful amount of shoes and clothing items in a space you’re not accustomed to. Most Camden properties also offer storage units in the community that are available to rent – just ask your management staff! And for future reference, to prevent the horrible misfortune of ending up in a situation like mine, go through your clothes often and toss out the ones you don’t wear or donate them to the Salvation Army.  After all, if we were to encounter the zombie apocalypse, I’d hate to have my fiancé explain to people I was the first one eaten because I had tripped over a pair of shoes I had left on the floor the night before or because I had to stuff one more item of clothing in my bug-out bag that I had to wear that