Small spaces can also be effective spaces

Making an apartment into your home often means adding personal touches and there are a number of easy projects to do that also help the environment by salvaging and upcycling.

With more people choosing residences with fewer square feet, every bit of space counts. Each piece of furniture or item has to matter - by having more than one function, being affordable and perhaps upcycling or salvaging.

Jess Pound lives at Circa and he used the Maker’s Room, one of the residential amenities, to repurpose wooden pallets for a coat rack and a little end table. He also found some old bar stools and stripped the paint, shortened the legs, and repainted them. “I enjoy getting old furniture and redoing it,” he said.

The Maker’s Room is on the first floor of the historic building and allows residents to tackle DIY projects while keeping the mess, smell and stains in a work area. The space features an overhead door to the outside; allowing residents to wheel in large-scale projects, as well as use a large work table, sawhorses, shelves full of common tools, a sewing machine, a flat screen TV and bright lighting.

When Francesca Jarosz moved in, she didn’t have the room or time for the clutter of projects. Using the Maker’s Room, her mother helped her upcycle a framed whiteboard, turning it into a chalkboard. They also repainted a side table and a dresser. “It’s rare to live in an apartment, but be able to complete cool projects,” she said.

Here are some ideas for your own projects:

Comb through Pinterest to find thousands of ideas for everything from clothes storage to kitchen organizers to whatever you need. Some items require very little work such as jewelry organizers. Others may need basic tools and a little muscle such as a coffee table made from old wood pallets.

There are also great ways to re-purpose old suitcases as storage and surface space. You may choose to choose bright colors and old chairs to bring a splash of color into your home.

Looking for fun, quick and cheap ideas for under $10? Try a meaningful piece of art or add a designing touch to an upcycled glass bottle.

While spring is just around the corner, there’s still plenty of time to make your space more comfortable and functional before we all get to enjoy more time outdoors.