I rent a 550-square-foot apartment with my fiancé and cats. Here are my 4 best tips for living in a small space.

• I live in a 550-square-foot apartment with my fiancé and two cats and make the most of the space.
• Design your layout based on your habits and designate zones for different activities.

I currently live with my fiancé and two cats in a 550-square-foot apartment that costs $1,050 a month.

Many people believe we need to have as much space as possible to be happy, but I love my small apartment and value all of the things I've learned from living with less.

There are definitely days I feel frustrated in a small place, but usually, this means it's time to regroup and reorganize to bring it back to its functional potential.

So here are my top tips to get your home or apartment in working order, no matter the size.

Design your layout around behavioral patterns

Any space that primarily focuses on beauty without considering function is set up for failure.

Everyone lives within a space differently, and a home should be designed around the people using it.

So first analyze how you naturally move through your space. I usually try to live in my new place for a few weeks before deciding exactly how I want to lay out the furniture.

Recognize the areas you consistently use for the same activities or the items that are always "out of place" but end up in the same spot, then design around these behaviors.

If your dirty clothes always end up in a pile on the bathroom floor, then place a hamper there. Instead of changing your habit, you are finding a solution with minimal effort. Similarly, create a zone to work out in your sunroom if that's the only space that's big enough.

This will all make it easier to keep your small space tidy.

Create designated zones in each room to minimize clutter

Once you identify your behavioral patterns, create zones that reflect and support them. This is especially important in multiuse, open-concept spaces since there are no walls to separate the different areas.

For example, my sunroom is where I do laundry, work from home, keep my cats' litter, and practice yoga, as well as the spot my fiancé plays guitar and writes music. So I have designated zones for each activity.

I have my desk in one corner with a modular organizational system directly above it to store all of my work materials.

I also have a basket for my yoga mats, exercise bands, and weights, as well as three large wall shelves to store laundry and pet supplies. My fiancé's guitars hang on the walls above the amps, which the cords are stored behind.

This system makes it easy to know where every item belongs and gives meaning to each general area.

Use wall and ceiling space to decorate vertically

Taking advantage of vertical space is the most effective way to fit more.

You can opt for taller furniture, set up wall shelves, hang plants or decor from the ceiling, and position curtains higher than normal to draw the eye upward.

This trick accounts for almost all of my storage solutions.

I almost doubled the storage in our closet by getting rid of the dead space above the top shelf, in turn extending the shelving and drawers and adding three more hanging rods.

I also have long visual elements, like hanging plants or decor on high shelves, as well as vertical lines from high curtains or patterned wallpaper.

These elements draw the eye up and visually lift the space, especially if it has taller-than-average ceilings like mine does.

Make sure everything you own has a purpose, and only bring in new items when necessary

This last tip may also be the hardest.

It's easy to mindlessly buy or collect items that we may not use or need, but the smaller your home, the less space you have for meaningless clutter.

Living in a small space requires you to be purposeful about what items you prioritize room to store.

As Marie Kondo says, if it "sparks joy," it can stay. You don't need to get rid of your favorite books or nostalgic childhood toys if those are things you use, love, and enjoy, but you'll need to find ways to put them on display or effectively store them with the space you have.

But be honest with yourself about when it's time to part with things you no longer use — I go through my belongings in all of the zones of my apartment every few months to keep our clutter under control.

Though please try to declutter in a sustainable way, like posting on "free" or "buy nothing" Facebook pages or hosting a yard sale to give your items to folks who may need or use them.