How to Make the Most of Your Tiny Toronto Condo
Jun 21, 2024
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You’re committed. You’ve decided that downtown Toronto life is the life for you. Maybe you got a fancy new job on Bay Street, or maybe you love the hustle and bustle of life south of Bloor Street. It doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re doing it.
Of course, you’re well-prepared. You have an agent to help navigate the concrete jungle of the city, your affairs are in order, you've looked up all the condo listings, and you’ve even lined up a healthy roster of viewings for the week. The world is your oyster, and you’ve already dreamt up all the ways you’re going to decorate your Toronto condo… and then you see one.
It felt a little bigger in the photos, hey? Don’t worry… you’ve seen the folks downtown — they’re not exactly minimalist. No need to burn all your material possessions. Here are three ways to make the most of your modest place:
Think vertically
Leverage your walls
Decimate all the birds with a handful of furniture-shaped stones
Think Vertically
What do all the condos in the city have in common? Well… a lot, actually, but the thing we were going for was height. Some genius a bunch of years ago realized that square footage may be limited, but the sky is pretty damn tall… so why not build up?
And that’s exactly what you’re going to do… not least because you’re not about to let some developer schmuck get one over you. Ok, all sarcasm aside, what does this mean?
You’ll want to prioritize furniture (especially storage such as bookshelves and dressers) that is taller than it is large. Think of it like building little condos in your condo… condo-ception, if you will.
Hanging closet organizers and vertical dressers are a great way to optimize your space by allowing you to stack things. Here are examples of useful items for each room:
Bedroom: vertical dresser, hanging closet organizers
Kitchen: skinny pantry shelf (if you have the space), stackable Tupperware, spice rack
Living room: tall bookshelf
Bathroom: free-standing shelf above the toilet
Leverage the Walls
Walls… arguably the most under-utilized resource on the planet. Ok, for this next one, you’ll want your landlord’s blessing because it involves drilling some holes. It's definitely worth the back and forth, though.
The nice thing about your new condo is that it has walls (we hope to god it does). The nice thing about a wall is that you can hang things on it… more than you might think. Mounting floating shelves and hooks is an effective way of creating storage out of thin air. Here are some useful items for each room:
Bedroom: floating shelves for your plants, lights, and the like
Kitchen: magnetic knife holder, sticky hooks for towels, mounted cage for spices, sponges, etc
Living room: floating shelves
Bathroom: floating pharmacy vanity (warning… this may involve ripping out your existing mirror, which requires your landlord’s blessing and a little more than your experience putting together IKEA furniture)
Decimate All the Birds With a Handful of Furniture-Shaped Stones
Cryptic header… we know. Here’s what we have in mind. It goes without saying that not all furniture is built equal. You’re built differently; make sure your furniture is, too. Now, you probably have a “look” you’re going for, and we fully concede that some of the following suggestions may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but the tradeoff should be worth it.
Furniture with legs (especially your couch) allows you to store things underneath. If there are no legs, there is no underneath storage, sadly. That said, some clever 2-in-1 furniture solutions have cropped up to solve this exact problem, so they may be worth a look. Without further adieu, here is what we recommend:
Bedroom: bed with legs instead of a platform, bed with side storage, bed with pull-up storage
Kitchen: butcher’s block or island with levels (if you can fit it)
Living room: TV stand with drawers, coffee table with levels, ottoman with storage
Bathroom: nothing that hasn’t been said yet
We’ve done our best to avoid the Marie Kondo style of minimalist living (unless that actually sparks joy for you). That said, we’re sure there are some tips and tricks that we’ve missed. So, let us know: how do you make the most of your tiny Toronto condo?
The condo market in Toronto and paying your rent can be expensive, but there is a way to make your largest monthly expense - rent - work for you. With Chexy, you can earn rewards by paying your rent with a credit or debit card.
Subscribe to The Chexy Rundown for exclusive travel deals and more ways you can earn rewards on your rent.
You’re committed. You’ve decided that downtown Toronto life is the life for you. Maybe you got a fancy new job on Bay Street, or maybe you love the hustle and bustle of life south of Bloor Street. It doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re doing it.
Of course, you’re well-prepared. You have an agent to help navigate the concrete jungle of the city, your affairs are in order, you've looked up all the condo listings, and you’ve even lined up a healthy roster of viewings for the week. The world is your oyster, and you’ve already dreamt up all the ways you’re going to decorate your Toronto condo… and then you see one.
It felt a little bigger in the photos, hey? Don’t worry… you’ve seen the folks downtown — they’re not exactly minimalist. No need to burn all your material possessions. Here are three ways to make the most of your modest place:
Think vertically
Leverage your walls
Decimate all the birds with a handful of furniture-shaped stones
Think Vertically
What do all the condos in the city have in common? Well… a lot, actually, but the thing we were going for was height. Some genius a bunch of years ago realized that square footage may be limited, but the sky is pretty damn tall… so why not build up?
And that’s exactly what you’re going to do… not least because you’re not about to let some developer schmuck get one over you. Ok, all sarcasm aside, what does this mean?
You’ll want to prioritize furniture (especially storage such as bookshelves and dressers) that is taller than it is large. Think of it like building little condos in your condo… condo-ception, if you will.
Hanging closet organizers and vertical dressers are a great way to optimize your space by allowing you to stack things. Here are examples of useful items for each room:
Bedroom: vertical dresser, hanging closet organizers
Kitchen: skinny pantry shelf (if you have the space), stackable Tupperware, spice rack
Living room: tall bookshelf
Bathroom: free-standing shelf above the toilet
Leverage the Walls
Walls… arguably the most under-utilized resource on the planet. Ok, for this next one, you’ll want your landlord’s blessing because it involves drilling some holes. It's definitely worth the back and forth, though.
The nice thing about your new condo is that it has walls (we hope to god it does). The nice thing about a wall is that you can hang things on it… more than you might think. Mounting floating shelves and hooks is an effective way of creating storage out of thin air. Here are some useful items for each room:
Bedroom: floating shelves for your plants, lights, and the like
Kitchen: magnetic knife holder, sticky hooks for towels, mounted cage for spices, sponges, etc
Living room: floating shelves
Bathroom: floating pharmacy vanity (warning… this may involve ripping out your existing mirror, which requires your landlord’s blessing and a little more than your experience putting together IKEA furniture)
Decimate All the Birds With a Handful of Furniture-Shaped Stones
Cryptic header… we know. Here’s what we have in mind. It goes without saying that not all furniture is built equal. You’re built differently; make sure your furniture is, too. Now, you probably have a “look” you’re going for, and we fully concede that some of the following suggestions may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but the tradeoff should be worth it.
Furniture with legs (especially your couch) allows you to store things underneath. If there are no legs, there is no underneath storage, sadly. That said, some clever 2-in-1 furniture solutions have cropped up to solve this exact problem, so they may be worth a look. Without further adieu, here is what we recommend:
Bedroom: bed with legs instead of a platform, bed with side storage, bed with pull-up storage
Kitchen: butcher’s block or island with levels (if you can fit it)
Living room: TV stand with drawers, coffee table with levels, ottoman with storage
Bathroom: nothing that hasn’t been said yet
We’ve done our best to avoid the Marie Kondo style of minimalist living (unless that actually sparks joy for you). That said, we’re sure there are some tips and tricks that we’ve missed. So, let us know: how do you make the most of your tiny Toronto condo?
The condo market in Toronto and paying your rent can be expensive, but there is a way to make your largest monthly expense - rent - work for you. With Chexy, you can earn rewards by paying your rent with a credit or debit card.
Subscribe to The Chexy Rundown for exclusive travel deals and more ways you can earn rewards on your rent.