A lot more people are living in smaller spaces these days, new build properties aren't extravagant in their proportions compared to a 50's build for example. So this has led to a trend of knowing how to work the decor and storage in a small space, without necessarily being a total minimalist.
Read on for some interior design tips on how to manage your small space.
After styling a couple of show home apartments and designing a small cottage recently that weren't overly generous with size there were a few clever tricks I pulled out to make the space seem bigger.
Glass dining tables are a great way of making sure a piece of furniture doesn't appear to take up much of the room. The see through element means you practically look through this and not notice it as much as a solid table.
Don't over fill the rooms with furniture, be selective, what do you actually need? Can an item of furniture have more than one use? There are some fab coffee tables and side tables for example that have storage to keep those magazines, controllers etc out of view and keep clutter to a minimum.
Proportion is key, even if you only have a few items of furniture, don't have items that are too big for the space, this is as bad as having loads of furniture. Even if you absolutely love that dresser for example, but its too big then make the right choice and walk on by, find something else you love that is smaller and fits the space better. You will only end up making your home more claustrophobic.
A great interior tip is to use furniture that stands on legs rather than directly on the floor. Being elevated will give a sense of more space. Clunky furniture will make your space appear smaller. For example, choose beds, sofa's, chairs that stand on legs, the more slimline the better for ensuring the space feels spacious, rule of thumb, the more floor space you see the bigger the room will feel.
Now I can't not mention colour can I?
People assume that if a space is small, that it needs to be white, or light and neutral to make it bigger. But that doesn't always works. Embrace the smallness and use some colour, you'll be surprised at actually how much more welcoming and 'bigger' it can look than leaving it plain.
One piece of advice, which I've mentioned before, is take colour beyond the 4 walls, paint the ceiling or the floor. If you have low ceilings then embrace them and continue the colour onto the ceiling too, as it will actually make the room feel bigger.
But most crucially, as with all good design, is lighting!!
Get.The.Lighting.Right.
A dimly lit room can feel even smaller and so uninviting. If you light a room well you can make the proportion of the room appear bigger, zone the space with a mixture of wall, ceiling lights and lamps.
I hope you enjoyed my top tips, these are by no means the only ways to improve small place living but are definitely some key tricks to try.
Thanks for reading.
NB x