If you've got it... use it!

I had a general idea of what I wanted to do with my "space" when I moved into my dad's house for the year.  I mean, I was basically trying to consolidate an entire house-worth of things into a singular room, minus my kitchen/dining room.  Since the hubby is overseas for the year without the pooch and me, I figured it a step backwards to get an apartment.  I can save us some money by NOT spending it all in rent, and I could be super close to my loved ones.  Plus, since it was just us two ladies, why have all that empty, lonely space?  (Sadface)  So when I took over the master bedroom (with a walk-in closet and bathroom) I figured I really had to be smart with the footage.  Let me know what you think...

The biggest feat in the main part of the room was hanging my monstrous TV.  I had to acquire a heavy duty mount that would allow me to put the TV as far away from my viewing area, AKA my bed, as possible, and allow it to come across pleasurable to the eye.  I got a great deal from Amazon on the mount, found myself two glorious studs in a perfect spot, and with the assistance of both my mother and brother, got that bad boy hung up!  Then I installed a small shelf underneath to house the DVR and Xbox, and the side HDMI and USB ports on the TV are easily accessible to hook up my laptop and external harddrives!!!  I also had to squeeze in ALL of my books (minus the kid's books, which ended up in storage) so that they looked more like art than just shoved in there.  There's potential in that little corner for a bean bag chair or something later on.  On the floor under the TV, which isn't really in view, I have a two-drawer unit with all my games/accessories and all my "tools" and cords and such; on top of that is the printer because it hooks wirelessly to our network and wouldn't get a signal in my office...

 ... which is my converted walk-in closet.  I had enough drawer space in the two borrowed dressers, that were already in the room when I got there, that I only needed one side of the closet for my clothes (the side not pictured).  With the other side, I wanted to be able to do all the things I love... scrapbook, craft, write, draw, package up all the boxes I'll be sending to the hubs, etc.  I hung some shelves in the middle to house things I need to easily reach and re-purposed a shelf and brackets that I already had from our previous home into a makeshift desk!

Using my filing cabinet as a sturdy base, I centered the two brackets between the rest of the wood, in studs :), so that I could lean and press and pound on top of it without fear of it collapsing underneath me.  There's plenty of space for my large, comfy desk chair to slide underneath, and although I do have to stack stuff on top of the shelf above (most of that is singular use/special items like excess supply or empty frames/photo albums), it seems to fit my needs quite nicely.  I can easily get in and out to get to my clothes and shoes on the left, and can easily move around once seated.  It does get a little warm in there with no ventilation, so I took the door off and hung a curtain instead, for easier air flow from the main part of the room.  Also, there are no plugs, so I ran a small extension cord around the bottom of the base board, so if I need to plug-in, I'm good to go.

The space could look prettier, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.  It'll come, overtime, I'm sure.  I was more concerned with completing it and making it functional!

I also put my bed on risers to give myself even more storage space!  It's pretty high off the ground (which I like) but I have so many things underneath that I may not need everyday, but would be inconvenient if stored 20 minutes from my house!  I also did away with a traditional night-stand and use the pooch's crate instead.  I got a piece of plexi-glass cut to the dimensions of the top and it's my catch all for everything, even my bedside lamp! If I need a way to save or use space, I will find a way to do it :D

What are some awesome things you've done with your space?  I'm always looking for more ideas!!!

Until next time...