With the rising cost of living and the inflation of the housing market, more and more people are opting to purchase smaller homes to save money. Styling smaller spaces can be difficult though, especially when your life doesn’t seem to fit within the square footage of your new home. Here are some tips to keep your small space from feeling cramped.
Create Space By Ditching Clutter
The easiest way to make your small space feel claustrophobic is by filling it with too much clutter. Sure, it’s important to fill your home with pieces that you love, but be selective. Instead of adding more furniture by buying bookcases and filling them with books, consider decorating with just a few of your favorite titles, either as an accent on the coffee table or a floating wall shelf. The same concept goes for art. Don’t over-fill your walls, instead just select a few statement pieces that draw the eye, either as a focal over the couch or bed.
This same “less is more” ideology applies to furniture as well. If you don’t have a designated office or dining space in your home, don’t try to shove a desk or a dining table into your living room or kitchen. This will only make the rooms feel tighter and disrupt the flow of your home. Instead, opt for double-duty furniture, like a lift-top coffee table, which offers both an alternative solution and provides more storage for books, board games, or extra throw blankets. Many small home and apartment owners already know that single-duty spaces are a thing of the past and that where a paper is written or a meal is eaten does not affect the quality of it.
If you’re still struggling with finding space for all of your belongings, then you might consider investing in a storage unit. This way you can store all of your holiday decorations, childhood memorabilia, and winter clothing outside of your home, saving room in your closets for the clothing and other items that you use on a more regular basis. Renting a storage unit can also keep you from having to get rid of things you’d like to have in the future, especially if you are saving up in the hope that you’ll someday upgrade your space.
Creating the Illusion of Space
It’s possible to trick your mind into thinking that a space is bigger than it is. The easiest way to do this is by brightening up your spaces with more light. If you want the kind of light allowed by sheer curtains, but don’t want to be waking up with the sun each morning, consider using double traverse curtain rod tracks over your windows, that way you don’t have to choose between sheer or room-darkening curtains, you can just adjust both options to your liking to give you the perfect balance of light and privacy. If you live somewhere where you can’t always rely on natural light to brighten up your home, then you should look into adding decorative lighting to your spaces.
Not only will decorative lighting help to brighten up your smaller spaces, but it also doubles as art, making it a great statement piece to add to any room. Another lighting tip is to avoid filling your home with too many lamps since they take up a lot of room and can cause your space to feel cluttered. If you need to add additional lighting in your rooms, look into installing overhead or wall-mounted lighting instead. If done well, this can help improve the overall design of your home.
Another way to create the illusion of space in your home is to incorporate mirrors into your decorating. A well-placed mirror can make one room feel like multiple rooms, and can even help amplify the light already present, making rooms feel brighter without increasing your electricity bill. When decorating with mirrors, make sure not to place them across from clutter since they’ll reflect and double whatever faces them. To maximize their effectiveness, place mirrors directly across from, or next to windows to help brighten your space.
One of the most important elements of your decor, when it comes to maximizing your space, is the color palette that you use. There are a few, very rare instances where darker colors can help make a small space feel bigger–like with dark grey or navy blue–but for the most part, you want to choose lighter colors for your paint, furniture, and larger decor. This is because lighter colors will help the space feel more light and open.
