Scott and Caroline Doan Blog

An outdoor compost pile for turning scraps into soil.

Composting has a reputation for being complicated, something reserved for serious gardeners with a lot of space and even more patience. In reality, composting is one of the simplest habits a household can pick up, and it works in a small apartment courtyard just as well as a sprawling backyard. If you’ve ever wondered what to do with all those vegetable peels and coffee grounds besides tossing them in the trash, composting is the answer, and it’s easier to start than you’d think.

Why Composting Is Worth the Effort

At its core, composting is just controlled decomposition. Organic material, food scraps, yard waste, and paper products break down over time into a rich, dark material called humus, which is packed with nutrients plants love. Instead of sending that material to a landfill, where it breaks down slowly and contributes to methane emissions, composting turns it into something genuinely useful for your own garden or houseplants.

Beyond the environmental upside, composting can noticeably reduce the amount of household trash you generate, since food scraps and yard waste often make up a surprisingly large share of what gets thrown away.

What You Actually Need to Get Started

You don’t need a fancy setup to compost successfully. The basics come down to:

A bin, container, or area dedicated to a compost pile.

A bin or designated pile (a simple plastic bin, a wire enclosure, or even a large covered container works)
A mix of “greens” and “browns”
Occasional turning or mixing
Some patience, since compost typically takes a few months to fully mature

That’s it. No special equipment or advanced know-how required.

Understanding Greens and Browns

The key to good compost is balancing two categories of material:

Greens (nitrogen-rich): fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, fresh grass clippings, and eggshells.

Browns (carbon-rich): dried leaves, shredded newspaper or cardboard, straw, and sawdust from untreated wood.

A general rule of thumb is roughly two to three parts browns to one part greens. Too many greens can make a pile wet and smelly, while too many browns can slow decomposition down considerably. If your pile ever starts smelling unpleasant, adding more browns and turning the pile usually solves it.

What to Avoid When Composting

Not everything belongs in a compost pile. Steer clear of:

Meat, fish, dairy, and oily foods, which can attract pests and slow decomposition
Diseased plants, which can spread pathogens back into your garden
Pet waste, which can carry harmful bacteria
Glossy or heavily inked paper

Sticking to plant-based scraps and yard waste keeps the process simple and avoids most common composting headaches.

Composting Without a Yard

If you don’t have outdoor space, composting is still very much an option:

A small indoor container can be used to transfer scraps to a backyard compost bin.

Countertop compost bins collect scraps for a few days before you transfer them to a larger outdoor bin, a community compost program, or a neighbor’s setup.
Vermicomposting (composting with worms) works well indoors and is compact enough for an apartment, using a small bin of worms that break down scraps efficiently in a contained space.
Municipal or community composting programs are increasingly common; a quick search for your city or region can reveal drop-off locations or curbside collection options.

Keeping the Process Simple

A compost pile doesn’t need constant attention to succeed. A quick turn with a shovel or pitchfork every week or two helps aerate the pile and speeds up decomposition, but even a mostly neglected pile will break down eventually, just more slowly. If you’re new to composting, resist the urge to overthink it; the process is fairly forgiving, and small mistakes rarely ruin the whole batch.

Putting Finished Compost to Use

A person taking applying their compost and adding it to garden soil.

Once your compost turns dark, crumbly, and earthy-smelling, typically after a few months, it’s ready to use. Mix it into garden beds, work it into potting soil for container plants, or spread a thin layer around existing plants as a nutrient-rich mulch.

Composting is a small habit with a genuinely meaningful payoff: less waste heading to the landfill, and richer, healthier soil for whatever you’re growing, whether that’s a backyard vegetable patch or a single windowsill herb pot. Once the routine is in place, most people find it takes barely any extra effort at all.

Scott Doan Realtor®

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Caroline Doan
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Small bathroom design tricks include using light, large tiles, decluttering, and maximizing natural light.

Not every home comes with a spacious bathroom, and that’s perfectly fine. Some of the most striking, well-designed bathrooms are small ones, precisely because smart design choices can make a compact space feel open, airy, and intentional rather than cramped. If your bathroom is on the smaller side, these design tricks can transform how it feels without requiring a full renovation.

Go Big on the Mirror

A large mirror is one of the single most effective ways to make a small bathroom feel bigger. Mirrors reflect light and visually double the sense of depth in a room. Instead of a small, framed mirror centered over the sink, consider extending it wall-to-wall or floor-to-ceiling where possible. Even a slightly oversized mirror in a standard frame makes a noticeable difference compared to an undersized one.

Choose Light, Cohesive Colors

A light green tile can still be considered neutral in a bathroom.

Light colors reflect more light and create a sense of openness, while dark, busy patterns can visually shrink a small space. This doesn’t mean a small bathroom has to be entirely white; soft, warm neutrals, pale blues, or gentle greens all work well too. The key is cohesion: matching or closely coordinating your wall color, tile, and countertop keeps the eye moving smoothly through the space instead of stopping at abrupt color changes that make a room feel chopped up.

Maximize Natural and Artificial Light

Good lighting does a lot of heavy lifting in a small bathroom.

If there’s a window, keep window treatments minimal or sheer to let in as much natural light as possible.
Layer lighting with an overhead fixture plus vanity sconces on either side of the mirror, rather than relying on a single central light, which tends to cast shadows.
Choose warm-toned bulbs for a welcoming glow rather than harsh, clinical lighting.

A well-lit bathroom almost always reads as larger than a dim one, even at the exact same square footage.

Use Vertical Space for Storage

Floor space is precious in a small bathroom, so shifting storage upward keeps the room feeling open underfoot.

Wall-mounted or floating shelves add storage without visually crowding the floor.
A floating vanity (one that doesn’t touch the floor) creates the impression of more square footage by exposing the floor beneath it.
Recessed medicine cabinets use existing wall depth instead of protruding into the room.

Choose the Right Tile and Pattern Scale

Tile choice matters more in a small bathroom than a large one. Large-format tiles with fewer grout lines tend to make a floor feel more expansive, since the eye isn’t interrupted by frequent seams. If you love a patterned tile, consider using it as a single accent, a shower niche or a small feature wall, rather than covering every surface, which can quickly feel busy in a compact space.

Keep the Shower Enclosure Open

A clear shower enclosure makes a small bathroom feel larger.

If your bathroom has a shower, a clear glass enclosure (or no enclosure at all, for a fully open walk-in shower) lets sightlines carry through the entire room rather than stopping at an opaque curtain or frosted door. This single change often makes a bigger visual difference than any other update on this list.

Declutter Ruthlessly

Even a beautifully designed small bathroom feels cramped if every surface is covered in bottles, products, and loose items. Keep countertops as clear as possible, using drawer organizers and closed storage for everyday items, and display only a few intentional, decorative pieces. A tidy surface reads as spacious; a cluttered one reads as small, regardless of the room’s actual dimensions.

Small Space, Big Style

A small bathroom isn’t a design limitation, it’s an opportunity to make thoughtful, high-impact choices that a larger space might not require. With the right mirror, lighting, color palette, and storage strategy, even the coziest bathroom can feel bright, open, and well put-together.

Whether you’re planning a full remodel or just refreshing what you already have, these tricks prove that square footage isn’t the only thing that determines how a room feels.