How can I keep a very small living space clean?

I live in Japan where we have a 3 room (litterally ONLY 3 rooms) apartment which include the kitchen/livingroom/guestroom/dining room. And the office/library/playroom/storage room and a bedroom/nursery/laundry room. We have two narrow balconies. Hubby and I work full time, we have a 3 year old who messes things up constantly and another on the way!! My husband is a pastor so he has TONS of books everywhere. I am going crazy just trying to keep the place relatively acceptable! Any suggestions?

Yes, we do have a bathroom and a watercloset. Thats a good thing!

Try organizing everything into bins or baskets. It will make it easier to pick things up and cuts down on dusting hassles. It also cuts the look of clutter if you get fabric covered bins. Put shelving up for your hubbys books along the ceiling. This will keep them out of the way, but you will need to get him a sturdy step stool!

Move.

You can make a play room for you child and so he won't make your other rooms dirty. Everytime he wants to play or watch TV, anything, he can do it in that rrom and if he need one of you to be there with him, just go and stay with him in that room so he'll just play and mess up his room.

I'd Hate To Live There NO BATHROOM?

move and organization is the key. or move into the church lol

Invest in storage. There are tons of european furniture manufacturers who specialize in space saving products.

First off, you need to reduce the amount of stuff you have. If you have a small space, having a lot of "things" means clutter. You are in Japan, so think Zen.

Books can be shelved, but too many shelves cramps the space. Perhaps make an index of the books and put in storage what isn't being used frequently -- but with the index you'll know which box things are in and can retrieve it quicker.