The “practical” in the title of this post indicates that there will be no great spiritual insight. This is about logistics.
1. Make use of trays. Trays make it to where you can set something up and then move it out of the way. I do crystal grids, set up spells that might take a few days, and have my altar candles and small cauldron on trays. If I have to do something else on the top of the altar, I might move a tray to the floor or onto the shelf. I have a silver platter and several trays made of wood. Trays also make GREAT portable altars that you can pack up and take outside.
2. Think vertical. Deity images in framed pictures can hang on the wall. Permanent shrines to specific spirits and deities can move to small hanging shelves. Your athame can have a home in a sheath hanging from a hook. Candle sconces could free up some room.
3. Downsize. Do you really need that huge amethyst cluster on your working altar all the time? Find it another home and bring it to your altar only when you need it. Is your chalice too big for your needs? Do you use all the tools on your altar, or are they just there because they are pretty?
4. Integrate your altar space into the mundane. If you don’t have a room or a walk in closet, do you have a bit of space on a kitchen counter, or on top of your computer armoire, or on your dresser.
5. Portable altars are the bomb. Even if you have a permanent altar, a portable altar is great to have. It’s great to be able to take it with you and set up in the woods, backyard, bathroom (like busy moms and college students sometimes have to do), park, or porch. There are many examples online for ideas for portable altars.
6. You don’t have to use an altar. Many people create an astral temple to work in, and I highly recommend this even if you have an altar already.
7. Places for offerings: At the base of a tree, on a large flat stone, on a tree trunk, on a shrine in your garden. Some offerings (that don’t pose a pollution problem) can be thrown into natural bodies of water. For ancestors, the cemetery they are buried in is an ideal place.
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