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August 7, 2018 By Abby Lawson 12 Comments

50+ Ideas for Organizing and Decorating a Small House, Townhouse, or Condo

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Get ideas for organizing and decorating a small house, townhouse, or condo in this helpful post that shows simple and practical DIY and organization projects that can help you maximize your space!

50+ Ideas for Organizing and Decorating a Small House

Today I thought we'd take a little walk down memory lane. 🙂 If you're new-ish around here, you may or may not know that for seven years, we lived in a tiny little townhouse. In fact, the first 3 1/2 years of this blog chronicled the transformation of that small house from drab and outdated to a space we absolutely loved by the time we moved out.

Recently, I've gotten some questions about our time in the townhouse, and I realized that I had never compiled all of the projects and updates we did in one place. I thought it might be helpful to others who are organizing and decorating a small house, townhouse, or condo to have a resource for projects we did to maximize our space and make it look beautiful, so that's what I plan on doing today. Better late than never, right?!

50+ Ideas for Organizing and Decorating a Small House, Townhouse, or Condo

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Before I jump in to a room-by-room breakdown, when we were in the townhouse, I wrote out my best tips for getting organized in a small space in this post: How to Get Organized When You Live in a Small House, so it may be a helpful place to start!

Let's take a look at each room...

(I apologize in advance for the lack of sources for most of the items in this post! We lived in the townhouse from 2009-2016, so many of the items are no longer available. I linked the items I could still find.)

Entry

The entry went through a couple of different phases while we lived in the townhouses. It did a stint with a command center to help us stay organized.

Brightly Colored Command Center in a Townhouse Entry

And then when we remodeled the kitchen, the entry got a little facelift too!

Small Entryway in a Townhouse with a Bench and Hooks for Coats

Bench | Shelf- Hobby Lobby

Get all of the details about our entryway projects in the posts below:

Organization

Creative Coat Storage

Our Family Command Center

Decor

How to Decorate a Small Entryway

 

Kitchen

Our kitchen was easily the biggest project that we tackled in our townhouse. It started out with hideous laminate cabinets that weren't in great shape and a very interesting fruit-laden backsplash...eek!

Townhouse Kitchen Before Photo

After living with the kitchen for about 5 years, we ripped everything out, took it down to the studs, and put in a brand new beautiful IKEA kitchen.

IKEA SEKTION Kitchen in a Townhouse

You can learn more about how we organized it, decorated it, and DIY-ed it in these posts:

Organization

How to Organize a Small Kitchen

How to Organize a Kitchen Pantry

How to Organize a Small Refrigerator

Decor

Our DIY White Kitchen Renovation Reveal

How to Design and Install IKEA SEKTION Cabinets

How to Add Crown Molding to Kitchen Cabinets

How to Install a Marble Hexagon Tile Backsplash

An Upcycled Kitchen Sideboard

Simple DIY Cafe Curtains

Our Kitchen Renovation Plan

 

Half Bath/ Powder Room

A little paint and elbow grease was all this room really needed to become the cute space we knew it could be!

Small Half Bath / Powder Room in a Townhouse

All of the details can be found in these posts:

How to Decorate a Powder Room for Less than $50

How to Make a Simple Shelf

 

Dining Room

When we moved in, the dining room had one of the most hideous looking light fixtures I had ever seen. (And just in case you thought it was charming in its own quirky way, do not be fooled... it was plastic, not even glass!)

Townhouse Dining Room Before Photo

Some new paint and updated furniture did wonders for this small space.

Small Dining Room Decor in a Townhouse

Parson's Chairs | Table | Chairs

See more in these posts:

How Our Dining Room Looked When We Moved Out

A Painted Hutch Makeover

 

Living Room

The dining room, living room, and the boys "playroom" area were really all one big room in the townhouse, and we spent a ton of time in this space. It started out with stained carpets and pink walls when we moved in...

Townhouse Living Room Before Photo

(These were the previous owner's furniture and accessories.)

...but with some new flooring, paint, and some furniture, we ended up loving hanging out in here!

Townhouse Living Room, Neutral Living Room Decor

Couch | Chair | Mirror- Hobby Lobby

See our townhouse living room projects here:

How Our Living Room Looked When We Moved Out

Dresser-to-TV Stand Makeover

How to Patch and Paint Baseboards

How to Hang Stockings When You Don't Have a Mantel

 

Playroom

On the other side of the living room was the area where we kept the boys' toys. Since it was a part of our main living space, I had to work extra hard to keep it organized so the toys didn't completely take over!

Organized Playroom in a Small Townhouse

White Storage Units | Dark Storage Unit

You can see the strategies I used in these posts:

An Organized Playroom

A Storage Solution for Big Toys

 

Master Bedroom

The master bedroom was one of the last rooms we tackled (Isn't it always?!), but I loved how it turned out. We worked especially hard to maximize the closet space since our clothes storage area wasn't huge!

Master Bedroom Decor in a Small Townhouse

Organized Master Closet in a Small Townhouse

Closet System

See our master bedroom projects in these posts:

Organization

How to Organize a Small Master Closet

Organizing Clothes with the KonMari Method

Decor

Master Bedroom Reveal

How to Create a Board and Batten Accent Wall

DIY Upholstered Headboard

Fabric Covered Lamp Shades

My Painted Dresser

Donnie's Painted Dresser

Master Bedroom Plan

 

Master Bathroom

Our master bathroom was another gut job. When we moved in it had an ugly plastic accordion door. I have never seen anything like it in any other house I have ever been it. Ick!

Small Master Bathroom Before Photo

Donnie worked his magic, though, and we ended up making the most of that tiny bathroom space and vanity.

Small Master Bathroom Renovation

Master Bathroom Vanity in a Townhouse

All of our master bathroom projects can be seen in these posts:

Organization

Bathroom Vanity Organization

Decor

Master Bathroom Reveal

How to Update a Builder-Grade Vanity

How to Install Board and Batten in a Small Space

 

Guest Bathroom

The guest bathroom was probably the room in the house that we did the least work in, mostly just because it was the least offensive to begin with! 🙂 We painted and added some simple decor to give it a bit of a facelift.

Small Guest Bathroom in a Townhouse

See the guest bathroom projects in these posts:

The Guest Bathroom Reveal

The Easiest Way to Remove Wallpaper

 

Kids' Shared Room

If there is one room that I worked to eek out every single usable inch, it was our boys' shared bedroom. They had sleeping space and clothes storage, of course, but I was also able to squeeze in some toy storage and even a craft nook! It was definitely one of the harder working rooms in the house!

Shared Boys' Bedroom with a Transportation Theme, Bunk Beds

Bunk Beds

Get all of the details about the boys' bedroom in these posts:

Organization

How to Maximize Space in a Shared Kids' Room

How to Organize Hand-Me-Downs

Decor

Shared Boys' Bedroom Reveal

A Kids' Craft Corner

Race Car Growth Chart

 

Home Office

My home office was my favorite space in the townhouse! I took over the third bedroom when we moved the boys in together, and it quickly became my little getaway. It was simple, but it had great storage and met my needs perfectly.

Bookshelves for Storage in a Small Office in a Townhouse

IKEA Desk in a Small Organized Home Office

See all of the home office projects in these posts:

Organization

How to Organize a Craft Closet

Organizing Books with the KonMari Method

Decor

Home Office Reveal

How to Add Crown Molding to Bookshelves

How to Add a Wrapping Paper Background to Bookshelves

A Pegboard Makeover

A Stenciled Chair Makeover

An Industrial Style Standing Desk (Donnie's Office)

 

Outside

I didn't share a ton about our outdoor space when we were in the townhouse, simply because there wasn't much of it!

Small Deck Outdoor Decor, Bistro Set

Bistro Set- Kirkland's, no longer available

You can get a glimpse of our tiny deck here, though:

How to Decorate a Small Outdoor Space

 

Tour the Entire Townhouse

And sometimes a full tour is the best way to get an idea of an entire space, so here are some of the tours of the townhouse that you may find the most helpful:

A Before and After Home Tour (See all of the before and after shots of each room.)

A Paint Color Home Tour (I shared the paint palette for the entire house in this tour.)

Our Small House Home Tour (This tour has a lot of specific details about how we made our small house work for us.)

Our Classic Christmas Home Tour: Part 1 (These two Christmas tours were from our last big holiday in the townhouse!)

Our Classic Christmas Home Tour: Part 2

 

It was so fun for me to look back over these pictures as I was putting together this post! The townhouse was so good to us, and I fully credit our time there for giving me the organizing bug and forcing me to think outside the box to make the most of a small space! I am so grateful for that!

If you are living in a small space (or did at one time!), I would love for you to add your small space living tips in the comments so that this post can become even more of a resource for people who are looking to "live large in a small space"! 

Thank you for taking a walk down memory lane with me today! Have a great week!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Filed Under: Decorating, Organization Tagged With: small house, small space living, townhouse

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marissa | Squirrels of a Feather says

    August 07, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    Funny, I don't think I have ever seen all those "before" pics! I am familiar with the afters. 🙂 Amazing how much you have done!

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 08, 2018 at 12:50 pm

      Aw, thanks so much, Marissa! Hope you're having a wonderful week! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  2. Mat @ Antispygadget says

    August 07, 2018 at 10:48 pm

    I likes white color. It looks clean. A small house look like got more spaces with white color.

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 08, 2018 at 12:49 pm

      Thanks so much!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  3. Micah | Home Faith Family says

    August 08, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    You make decorating look so easy! The transformations you’ve made are inspiring and beautiful (plus, I LOVE the blue to your entry/front door). It’s such an inviting and happy color. If you ever decide to do a home decor course for dummies, let me know. I’ll be the first to sign up.

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 12, 2018 at 8:42 pm

      Aw, thank you so much, Micah! You're too sweet! Hope you've had a wonderful weekend! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  4. Julia La says

    August 16, 2018 at 6:15 am

    Oh, so very nice! I really love it! Thank you for an inspiration and such great idea!

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 16, 2018 at 12:32 pm

      So glad it was helpful for you!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  5. Kristine the Dane says

    August 16, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    What a fun and helpful post. We currently live in a small townhouse in Scandinavia and here small is smaller. Haha. We do love it though! And we are constantly trying to make the smartest and most optimal decor decisions without compromising on the look. Not an easy job. Our entryway is our latest success. It seems even smaller then yours did and there is no storage space for shoes. So after really trying to figure out what our perfect solution would include we came up with a really great solution with a door organizer on the back of the basement door and an overflow shoe rack in the basement. It did take a few tweaks to get it all the way right but now we love it.

    Thanks for sharing all of your wisdom.

    Kristine the Dane

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 23, 2018 at 10:42 am

      Yay! Glad you found a solution that is working so well for you. It's all about trial and error! 🙂 Hope you guys are having a wonderful week!

      ~Abby =)

      Reply
  6. Julie Briones says

    August 27, 2018 at 2:52 pm

    Super fun post and SOOOO much inspiration! Thanks for taking us down Memory Lane!

    Reply
    • justagirlabby says

      August 29, 2018 at 1:45 pm

      Aw, so glad it was helpful, Julie! Thanks for stopping by, sweet friend! <3

      ~Abby =)

      Reply

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