I Live in a 500-Square-Foot Apartment. Here’s How My Family Stores Our Kayaks, Camping Gear, and More
Credit: Apartment Therapy
After a year of continuously finding new pandemic-friendly activities, more and more people are finding themselves outside and looking to venture further than a picnic in the park (though there’s nothing wrong with that). Camping, hiking, boating, and biking are all fantastic options, but where do you keep your gear if you’re living in a tiny apartment?
That was a question I asked myself about 1,000 times after my husband and I moved to a 500-square foot apartment in Long Beach, California, with a two-year-old mid-pandemic. With both of us growing up hiking and camping with our families, continuing the tradition with our own son was important to us, and we wanted to take advantage of Southern California’s weather by exploring our surroundings as much as possible. I immediately began researching the best mountain bikes, boats, and accessories to maximize our leisure time but delayed clicking “add to cart” on anything with the fear we wouldn’t have anywhere to store the gear.
But it turns out you don’t need a fleet of canoes to be “outdoorsy.” You can have big days out by finding adventures right on your doorstep. With just a few thoughtful pieces, a little bit of creativity, and a few hacks you can turn your home into the ultimate outdoor basecamp, no matter how small it may be. Here are six tips and tricks that worked for me:
Transform your hallway closet into a bike shop
Riding bikes as much as possible is a no-brainer for us because of the distinct lack of hills in our area, so we turned to our hallway closet as an easy storage space. (Coats and bags are nearly always easier to relocate than bicycles and tools!) We reimagined the space we had indoors by creating a superb bike storage room by adding a couple of vertical wall mounts, some gear hooks, and an easy-access gear bin.
We store our helmets on a study shelf above where coats would traditionally hang, and added a pegboard on one of the walls to keep my husband’s waterproof jacket and some bike tools. Having our bikes so close to our living quarters has really encouraged us to ride them as much as possible, and has reduced the amount of weather and environmental damage they would have sustained being chained up in the courtyard. It’s also fun for our two-year-old, who enjoys opening the closet to demand bike rides whenever the mood takes him.
Invest in folding gear
Deep into a dark night early pandemic, I was trying to drum up reasons my husband and I should give up our parking space (something incredibly hard to come by in our city) in order to store a full-size canoe. Luckily, I came to my senses, our car still has a home, and we found the world of folding gear instead.
Read more: https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/outdoor-gear-storage-hacks-36902772