10 IKEA Organization Hacks for Small Chicago Apartments

Between work, commutes, and everything else, keeping your Chicago apartment clean and organized can feel overwhelming. But what if you could transform your space with simple, affordable solutions? We’re sharing our favorite IKEA organization hacks that make apartment cleaning and maintenance so much easier.

Why IKEA for Small Spaces?

IKEA understands the challenges of urban living. Their modular systems and space-saving solutions are perfect for Chicago apartments where every square foot counts. Whether you’re looking for quick fixes or complete makeovers, these ideas will help you maximize your space.

Our Top 3 IKEA Organization Heroes

1. Wheelie Carts for Flexible Storage

The IKEA wheelie cart ($39.99) might be our favorite find. These mobile organizers are perfect for hard-to-reach corners and can move wherever you need them. Add a bamboo cutting board from Dollar Tree on top for extra functionality. When you need fast cleaning services, being able to roll storage out of the way makes everything easier.

2. Cube Shelves with Modular Inserts

IKEA’s cube shelving systems are incredibly versatile with inserts starting at just $15-20. The secret? They offer drawer inserts, baskets, and organizational systems that fit perfectly. You can create custom storage for crafts, office supplies, or pantry items in about 20 minutes. Sometimes you need deep cleaning help before implementing new organization systems.

3. Mountable Storage Solutions

For less than $20, you can create organized “moments” throughout your home. The hook systems (5-pack for $5) work beautifully in kitchens, bedrooms, or entryways. The cup holders (just $0.99 each) add extra functionality. When you’re ready to schedule a cleaning, having everything off surfaces makes the process smoother.

Real Chicago Small Space Makeover

We helped local entrepreneurs Melissa and Patrick transform their awkward under-stairs space into functional storage for their microgreen business. With a $300 budget, we proved that even the most challenging spaces can become organized and beautiful.

Under-Stairs Transformation Secrets

• Shoe Shelves for Seed Storage: IKEA’s stall shoe shelves provided perfect visibility and access for frequently used items
• Tension Rods & Cafe Curtains: Created a beautiful, functional cover for under $5
• Clear Containers: IKEA 365 clear containers with bamboo lids kept everything visible and fresh
• Budget-Friendly Reusing: We repurposed existing containers and found items to stay within budget

More IKEA Hacks for Your Chicago Home

Billy Bookcases for Custom Storage

Remove the backing from Billy bookcases and attach them to walls to create custom mudroom storage. This works perfectly in entryways where space is limited. When you book an appointment with professional organizers, they often recommend similar solutions.

Moopy Shelves for Vintage Vibes

These wood shelves take stain beautifully and can be transformed into elegant apothecary-style cabinets. We created a piece that looked like a $4,000 custom cabinet for a fraction of the cost.

Brimnness Wardrobes for Hidden Storage

Line up multiple Brimnness wardrobes to hide craft supplies, cleaning products, or seasonal items. They keep clutter out of sight while maintaining easy access. Sometimes the best way to clean your apartment is to have proper storage solutions first.

Small Space Organization Tips

• Work with Your Space: Instead of fighting awkward angles, use modular furniture that adapts
• Prioritize Visibility: Clear containers and open shelving help you see what you have
• Think Mobile: Wheeled carts and trolleys make cleaning and reorganizing simpler
• Reuse and Repurpose: Don’t overlook items you already own that could work better elsewhere

Living in a small Chicago space doesn’t mean sacrificing organization or style. With these IKEA hacks, you can create systems that make daily maintenance easier. And when you need that extra help to get your space cleaned thoroughly, professional services are always available.

And you’ve got a small space. I’ve got you. Well, hello. Welcome to IKEA. These light up on the inside. Okay. Yes. >> Yes. I’m so excited. Today, I’m sharing with you 10 super easy IKEA ideas and a makeover. Move back. >> All right. Here we go. Oh my gosh. Maybe you thought you weren’t great at home stuff or hacks were way too hard for you. Nope. I want this video to prove you wrong. Let’s get started. No matter where you are in the world, these hacks are ones you can use. Let’s go. Welcome to my nonsponsored IKEA video and my top three products. Right now, I have shared with you this hack in many videos. I love the IKEA carts. This one is $39.99. You can also take a bamboo wood cutting board from Dollar Tree, put it on top. I use this for organization all around my house, including my craft room. And wheelie carts are amazing because if you need modular storage or to move things around, especially in hard-to-reach places, I highly recommend this product. IKEA wheelie carts are first up. We use these all over our house. If you need one, this is one of the cheapest places you could get them. I want the beginning of this video to be easy things that you could take home literally today. One of my favorite IKEA products are their cube shelves. I have these all over my house in our kids’ room, in my craft room. But what you may not know is all of the IKEA cube shelves have all of these different modular systems. And all of these are between $15 and $20. Have a cube shelf at home? Did you know that they carry these inserts? They’re really affordable. You can stick them inside any cube shelf in any order. Pick all the different kinds. $20 and 20 minutes. These go in easily and you just screw in the sides and add your drawers. This is the Call system, but it would work in any cube shelf that’s 13 by13. I use this to store sewing supplies, extra fabric, but it feels really custom and all of this stuff is interchangeable. I also really like the baskets from IKEA. They are some of the most affordable for the size and shape that you get. They are some of my faves. I get so many questions about my craft room. More on that in a minute, but all of the cube shelves come from IKEA. Up next, we have mountable IKEA storage. These are some of my favorite. These hanging racks are great for kitchens. They’re great in bedrooms. And all of these hooks, you get a five packs of hook for $5. So, for less than $20, you can have a super organized little moment. Maybe like in a mudroom. I really like this. This is really pretty. Now, here’s what I’m talking about. This is less than $5 with four hooks and two cups. Plus, if I want to purchase these additionally, I can get some for just .99. This is such an amazing price. And this is literally rated five stars. You can use these all over your house. And stay tuned because I can’t wait to share with you what I do with it. I hope these ideas are useful to you cuz really, if you’ve got a small space, IKEA is the place to come. They’ve got all of the small space hacks. And I was thinking, what’s the smallest space I could possibly think of to show you? Oh yeah, that’s right. My friend Bissa busted out this space under her stairs to store some of her bakery items. So many of you love this video where I went over to her house and made over her dining room to turn it into the bakery she deserved. >> Open your eyes. >> Oh my god. Oh my gosh. It’s amazing. Beautiful. I’m so glad you love it. Oh wow. Oh my gosh. Yes. >> I love helping out fellow entrepreneurs on a budget. This is Crow’s Dough Micro Bakery right out of Melissa’s dining room where she serves our local community. But the coolest part, we came back to Melissa’s house. She installed this really cool barn door underneath of the closet. She had punched out a little hole under the stairs for all of her seed storage. Yes, seeds. Her husband has a microgreen business. I think it’s greens. >> Hi. Yeah, I got some micro greens here. We have a whole grow tent upstairs. Maybe you guys can go show them. Yeah, >> these are peashoots. Micro greens are up to 40 times the nutritional density and just one cup of the greens. >> Today I got to see the home of crows grow. >> Oh, it looks really good. Can I go inside? >> Yes. >> Okay. This is so cool. Oo. Her husband Patrick works a full-time job, but he also serves our local community with micro greens. >> The flavor of that bush is concentrated into this leaf. >> And I want you I want to explain. Oh wow. Four years ago, Patrick reached a health rock bottom, which led him to learn more about microgreens, the pain necessary for change to grow, literally grow a whole business. Melissa sells her bread and Patrick sells his micro greens at our local farmers market. >> How I look for ways to kind of like not like look for the pain, but just like understand that that actually is part of the change. That is part of the story >> and beautiful things can only come from it. >> That’s so cool. Patrick. >> Patrick shared with me how everything great in his business came from something that was a moment of pain, something he didn’t know how to do and he had to learn. And that’s how I look at small spaces. To me, they’re an invitation to try something new, to get creative. And I’m going to share with you some IKEA hacks that we made to make this space so awesome. These are all of her husband’s seats, and right now, he’s storing them in pretzel containers, which honestly is such a great method of storage, but this is a business proper, and we want to give them proper storage containers that are really cleanly labeled. This is going to be easy to access and look super beautiful. This space is really great and this is very unconventional storage because it’s really hard to get in here. So, I want things to be able to come out really easily from this space and be able to be put back. Right now, it’s kind of like an abyss that you have to crawl into. Here I go, Kathy. This was truly a small space for a big business. And I wanted to go through and find all of the best IKEA hacks while sitting in the space. I started brainstorming what would actually work to give him the most efficiency. I would love to know in the comments if you could think of some IKEA products that might help a really awkward under the stairs area. A blank slate was going to help us get started. Our entire budget just $300 to totally fix this space. Are you ready? Cuz I’m ready. So to IKEA we went to get started. But even if you don’t have your own business or an under the stairs space, I’ve got lots of ideas that I found in store this day. I really like this. This is $11, but it’s great. It’s super sturdy. Awesome for tools in a tool bench. All of the tool items for organization. You can use these at any spot of your house. They’re great. While IKEA prices have gone up recently, just like Dollar Tree, there’s a few items like these drop down storage that are less than $5 and still lots of dollar items. So, in Melissa’s house, we have that stairs nook and we’ve got to do something with it. So, I’m going to grab this little tension rod. This is less than $5 and we’re going to put a little cafe curtain over that spot. It’s going to look super cool. Now, I just want to redo my closet. These are great over here. You can just pull this out. And there’s all of these dividers in here. This is really great for makeup. Love this. These are soft clothes. IKEA is where it’s at. This is going to be even better than a storage shelf. One, two, three. Yes. I’m so excited. Okay, these are absolutely stunning. If you had a side hallway or you want custom cabinetry, this is not sponsored by IKEA, by the way. These are really great shelves. I love the soft closed drawers. So cool. You open them. These light up on the inside. Okay. Yes. I love this kitchen. It’s kind of like cottage core. I really like I love how they have it all organized on the inside. This gives you an idea of like what you could do, you know? I love coming and seeing that. This is a really great way to double your space super affordably. And these are a lot sturdier than the dollar store ones, so you can customize it how you want. I really like these drawers. Great for pantry. I can see all the way back anytime you’re organizing, especially in a small space. Visibility is totally key. I took a look at some of the couple dollar products like these spice organizers and lots of things that were just a few dollars for food storage. Their dish towels are some of my favorites and they’re just 99. >> So these are airtight sealed bamboo lids and they fit on all of these containers. So, like I can put it on this one. I can put it on these smaller ones. This is so cool because a lot of times with glass containers, the lids themselves end up being plastic, but I really like this combination. The IKEA 365 products are really awesome. I absolutely loved these clear white containers. They fit up to two quarts and I thought it could be perfect for seeds. What do you think? And I love IKEA for an unconventional storage moment. I found this stall shoe shelf. Now, I’ve recommended this so many times on my channel, but I knew that this would work really well in the space, and I was not kidding about my obsession with a wheelie cart. Now, this one is even cheaper than some of the larger ones. It rings in at just $19.99, but I loved its low profile. I was really excited to take this home and show you how I use it. I checked out with all of the items, wanting to keep this under budget, and we came in at 27335. And I told you I wanted to share lots of ideas in this video for anybody. Billy bookcases are one of the most versatile products from IKEA, and I’ve been using them for years. A few years ago, I helped my friend redo her mudroom in her garage. We put together simple Billy bookcases. These aren’t too hard to do, but we left the backing off. We attached them to the wall and then she could use this as storage right by the back door. She didn’t have the space for a proper mudroom, so we made one for her. And we did it on a really small budget. And if you’re somebody who likes really quality pieces, never discount the IKEA wood items. This is the Moopy shelf. Yes, it is called a Moopy. I don’t know if I’m pronouncing that right, but these take stain really well. We added drawer poles to the front of this to create a DIY apothecary cabinet. There was one that I saw on Facebook Marketplace that retailed for almost $4,000. These are really trending right now, especially with the vintage vibes coming back into style. And when you buy these in mass, you can put them together for a similar look. No one ever came into our house and thought that this was an IKEA hack. It’s so beautiful. And I actually ended up giving this to one of my dear friends and she is using this to store all of her jewelry making supplies and she broke it down in different spots of her house. But this looks so elegant and regal. And I promised you I would share with you my craft room. I get a lot of questions about my storage. These are the Brimnness wardrobes from IKEA. I bought three of them and I lined them up in mass. And yes, they are wardrobes on the inside, but they hold all of my craft supplies so well, and it kind of hides all of that mess so I don’t have to look at it, but I still get to create super cool crafts for my channel. And how do I know if these IKEA hacks are actually going to work? The truth is, I actually don’t. >> Does it fit? Does it fit? >> It’s going to go in perfectly. Wow. >> Yeah. Just just so >> like a glove. >> Yeah, Charlie. That was >> lucky. >> Closer than I think it should have been. >> Oh, dear Charlie. Thumbs up for Charlie. We have the little tension rod and then the two cafe curtains. Easily get into here, but also close it up. I knew these shoe containers would be awesome for storing his extra seats. He could see everything, but it was low profile enough that you could fit into this space. And here’s the thing. If you work with Catherine, just know that I’m going to be doing unconventional tricks like reusing stuff. We’re going to garbage pick their garbage. This is coming in with us. We’re on a budget, okay? I might go to another room to steal something, pick something from your curbside. I broke down this shelf and I knew that if we cleaned it up, this would actually be perfect in that back space. No money spent. Remember those IKEA plant trolleys? If you’ve got an unconventional space, work with it, not against it. I knew that these could be changed around so we could easily access those seeds, but he didn’t have to look at these giant orange containers all the time. Then I added some extra storage to the back of things he uses less frequently. Then I could decant his other products and give them beautiful labels. I use these IKEA containers for some of the seeds and I reuse the pretzel containers, too, because why not? I thought they could look really great in the space. I also learned that cilantro smells like Fruity Pebbles in seed form, which is very strange, but super cool. I wanted this space to match the rest of Melissa’s home to be a beautiful farmhouse vibe, but I also wanted it to function for Patrick. I had a lot of metrics that I had to hit with this one in a really tiny area. Let’s see if I did it. >> So, without further ado, Melissa, open up. This is move. >> All right, here we go. >> Oh my gosh. Oh wow. >> Do you like it? >> I was not expecting that. And it is so like my style and so cute. It’s got like a little farmhouse for all. >> Oh my gosh. This is amazing. I will have you know we did not have to get rid of a single thing. These seeds that he uses less frequently are easy to see in the shoe shelves and all the seats he uses all the time are on top. This is a tight space. It looks beautiful and it offers opportunity to move. I never even would have thought about that. That’s That’s awesome. That’s amazing. Thank you so much. >> You’re welcome, Patrick. I >> so organized and clean and it makes everything so much easier for me. >> It was so fun to see Melissa and Patrick light up seeing this space and just see their passion for all they do. Now they’ve got a tiny space they can move in and what was the problem actually gave way to an awesome and pretty simple solution. And it’s why I say it every time. If nobody has told you today, you have and you are more than enough. You’ve got this.