Hideaway beds are one of the most creative, space saving ideas out there. Especially, for those of us who live in very tiny spaces. When you have company over for a dinner party or want to spread out to work on a crafting project, you can literally hide your bed.

Let's take a look at the history of the hideaway beds (a.k.a. the Murphy Bed) and a few examples of how this idea has evolved.

The Murphy Bed Company was created by William L. Murphy who "moved to San Francisco at the turn of the century where he met his future wife. He lived in a one-room apartment that had a standard bed taking up most of the floor space. Because he wanted to entertain, he began experimenting with a folding bed, and applied for his first patent around 1900."

The Murphy Bed Company is still open for business and has a number of unique designs on the market.

Sentimental objects can be difficult to part with because they have meaning -- they aren't just random trinkets or clutter. But keeping and displaying sentimental items is especially difficult for tiny-space dwellers. If you're faced with the problem of too many meaningful mementoes and not enough room, here are a few ways to get the situation under control.


1. Consider passing along heirlooms.

In "The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide," Francine Jay -- a.k.a. Miss Minimalist -- writes, "Instead of squirreling away mementos, honor the person you lost by sharing stories and photographs of them with friends and family.... Our obligation then is not necessarily to keep the items we inherit but to find the best possible home for them. We've been entrusted to steward them to a new home; but it doesn't have to be ours."

Jay recommends lending valuable or historically significant items to a local museum or historical society. Other options include selling less cherished objects on eBay and digitizing old photos and postcards.

If you're anything like me, you probably don't have a porch or huge backyard for a fruit and vegetable garden. But chances are that you have a roof, and that's a great place to start an edible gardening project.

Apartment Therapy recently featured the story of Basil Lee. He's a Brooklyn-based architect who has transformed his roof into an "urban escape" where he grows pots of heirloom tomatoes and blueberries, as well as parsley, mint, basil, rosemary and sage. His example shows that it's possible for small-space dwellers to have access to fresh, homegrown food.

Have you heard of the 100 Thing Challenge? The challenge was started by Dave Bruno, who calls it "my little way to personalize my efforts to fight American-style consumerism."

"A lot of people around the world feel 'stuck in stuff,' " Bruno explains. "They feel like their closets and garages are too full of things that don't really make their lives much better."

After reading about the 100 Thing Challenge, I decided to commit to living for a full year with only 100 personal items. At that time, we lived in a huge two-bedroom apartment, with two cars, overflowing closets and a kitchen stuffed with two sets of dishes and silverware. The 100 Thing Challenge has helped me streamline and simplify my life.

Whether or not you go to the extreme that I did, the 100 Thing Challenge is a useful exercise. No matter how much stuff you have, the challenge will force you to inventory your possessions and examine your buying patterns. The intent is to figure out what you really need in your life so that you can focus on what matters. Here are some tips for getting started:

Junk drawers are spaces in your home where random stuff is stored. The stuff might be useful, but it doesn't have a designated home and the result is a drawer full of clutter.

For those of you with a cluttered junk drawer, consider the following strategies to clean it out:

1. Sort and remove your stuff.

After you've taken all the stuff out of your junk drawer, the Everyday Minimalist suggests going through each pile and throwing out "what is really too small or unable to be useful for anything in the foreseeable future. Test what you can to make sure they still work such as pens for ink. If that red pen is dried out & useless, now is the time to toss it!"

Vertical gardening and window farming is all the rage this summer. And the latest trend in the gardening world is called string gardening. The idea is simple: Grow your vegetables from the ceiling instead of the floor. Plus, string gardens don't take up much space and are a simple yet elegant addition to any room.

Rachel Cernansky from Planet Green said, "Fedor van der Valk, a clever guy from the Netherlands, has worked out a way to grow a surprising range of plants, from (small) trees to flowers to tomatoes."

Originally Fedor created these gardens as an art installation. By using string, moss, grass, and bowls, these plants are transformed into living works of art, similar to the Japanese botanical style, kokedama.

The summer heat is still on, but before you know it the winter cold will be here. So this is the perfect time of year to organize and weed out your winter wardrobe. After you've purged your closet, you should have more space to hang your clothing. But if you're like most apartment dwellers you might need a little extra space for big bulky items like sweaters and coats.

Let's take a look at a few free-standing storage solutions.


1. Storage cubes

Harri Koskinen's beautifully designed birch storage cubes would be perfect in my apartment. But they are quite expensive and aren't very feasible for those of us on a budget. However, the IKEA Molger series has a number of cool bench and storage stools that are inexpensive.


2. Vintage luggage or suitcases

Incorporating vintage luggage or suitcases into freestanding storage units is one way to store seasonal items like gloves, sweaters, and coats.

Creating a comfortable, cozy, yet well designed space isn't as hard as it sometimes seems. The key is incorporating simple, small, and inexpensive design ideas into your living space.

Follow the tips below and I guarantee you'll add more depth and warmth to your abode:


1. Small space? Big pattern!

Use fabric to create depth in your apartment. For example, you can head to your local craft store and pick out a variety of fabrics that can be used as curtains, living room decor, or doorways.

Another option is using bold wallpaper patterns. Teresa's 65-square-foot S.F. kitchen is a beautiful example of this strategy. This little kitchen not only seems larger, but packs a punch of cheer.

Lighting your small space can be challenging. Especially, when floor space is limited. However, Apartment Therapy recently posted a clever solution to this problem. By incorporating a variety of pendant lamps into your small space, you can create "an eclectic look along with a pleasant overhead glow."

The folks at Apartment Therapy recommend "choosing pendant lamps of different textures and sizes and hanging them at different heights to create depth and interest. This also creates a layered light source with a softer effect than a single flat overhead fixture."

A sofa is the centerpiece of a living room. So picking a comfortable, yet well designed sofa is one key to designing a comfortable living space. This is especially important for those of you who live in small apartments. A sofa that's too big can overwhelm a living room and leave you feeling cramped.

But don't fret: All you have to do is follow a few simple rules, and you'll be set.