There is possibly no greater interior
design challenge than a small space urban are tending to move into smaller
apartment sized dwellings and first time home buyers are having to settle for
less than the sprawling dream home and having to meet. With a “small” change in
perspective and some minimalist creative flair, though, you may find that you
enjoy a small space even more than the big space you thought you wanted.
Small
is Beautiful
There’s
a lot to be said for small space. For one thing, they are easier to keep clean
than large spaces, since you have fewer cubic meters to heat or cool. They can
also be more cosy and comfortable than large, yawning spaces; but you have to
make the best use of the space you’ve got.
Start
by thinking about what you need to feel comfortable. In the living room, it is
probably just a couch and perhaps a table occasionally. But do two coffee cups?
Do you need side tables for table lamps? Consider these possibilities:
● Go to your lighting supplier and find
wall sconces instead of table lamps. Decorative and functional, they can also
create great ambiance in the room.
● Now that you don’t need side tables for
lighting you can bring the side tables out when you want them for coffee and
put them back when you want more space.
The
living room is also an entertainment room in most homes. Today’s flat screen
TVs and digital entertainment centers are ideal for small space living. Hang a
flat screen TV on the wall and install compact shelf, wall or ceiling speakers
and you can have a full home theater even in the smallest living room.
Hanging
a flat screen TV on the wall is just one way to make use to wall space that
otherwise would just be wasted space. In larger living spaces, walls are often
filled simply so they don’t look bare. A small space gives you the opportunity
to create a focal point that can be much more aesthetically pleasing than walls
filled with hangings that get lost in the crowd. A modern painting with a white
background and a subject that has depth and perspective can make a room look
larger and provide an artistic focal point. A strategically placed mirror can
do wonders for a small space. Place at the end of a long, narrow room, the
room’s reflection will make it appear even longer and if the mirror reflects
the view through a window, it effectively doubles your view and makes the room
feel much larger.
Storage
Finding
storage areas for small space living is not necessarily as challenging as it
may seem. The trick to it is making better use of your vertical and “dead”
spaces. Take the space underneath the wall mounted TV, for instance. A local
cabinet make can make an inexpensive window seat out of MDF (medium density fiberboard) for you. Paint it the color of the walls; top it with colorful
cushions for extra seating; and use the space behind the doors for storage.
There is no rule that says bookcases must be no higher than 1.8 meters, but
that is as high as many bookshelf units are. Look for taller book shelves and
store the things you need daily on the easier to reach shelves and those you
need less often on higher shelves.
In
a small bedroom, combine a low platform bed with under bed storage. The low bed
will help prevent the room from appearing even smaller and you will find that
there is an enormous amount of storage space under the bed.
In
the small kitchen, you need to make use of every inch of available space in
most kitchens, there’s a great deal of wasted space behind the cupboard doors.
Inexpensive kitchen fitting such as drawer inserts, lazy susans for corner
cabinets and wire baskets for hanging on the insides of doors can nearly double
your kitchen storage space and make it much more efficient, as wall.
Colorful Small Spaces Makeover Ideas
There
are two schools of thought when it comes to color in small spaces. Most
interior decorators agree that white and off-white are the safest choices, but
an emerging trend in painting small spaces is the use of unusual colors to make
the room more interesting. If the bold approach to wall coloring does not
appeal to you, use splashes of vibrant color against a white backdrop to create
an air of spacious excitement. This combined with area lighting and dimmer
switches can allow you to change the character and ambiance of a room at will.
Don’t Forget Your Floors
Nothing
makes a room look smaller than a wall-to-wall carpet. Replace the carpet with
floor tiles and it will seem as if you’ve added meters of extra space to the
room. Avoid busy patterns and stick with paler colors. If you have low
ceilings, gloss flooring will make the ceilings seem higher.
As
more Australians move into smaller living spaces, manufacturers are coming up
with clever and stylish shelving & storage solutions and multifunction
retail furniture, such as couches with storage areas in the dead space
underneath. See consider getting custom furniture that will fit perfectly into
place without wasting space.
