Is your small space a little cramped and you don’t know what to do? Or, are you moving to a smaller property and feeling a bit nervous? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you have a small house or a tiny apartment, you can still live large. You can make a small room look (and feel) spacious by letting in more sunlight, painting in neutral colours, and using double-duty furniture. But the key to success is to make all these elements work together.
So if you’re wondering how you can live large in a tiny home, we can help. Here, you’ll find 46 tips and tricks for living in small spaces.
Windows and doors
- Install large paned glass windows such as casement windows to open up the space.
- If your home has old school architecture, install modern prefab windows to brighten up the space and make it appear larger.
- Consider replacing your window screens with retractable fly screens so on nice days you can open up the space and let in more sunlight.
- Hang floor-length curtains to give the illusion of height.
- Replace narrow swinging doors with sliding doors with retractable screens as a wider doorway will make the space feel bigger.
- You can also replace swinging closet doors with a curtain hung from a suspension rod. It’ll take up less floor space and still hide the interior of your closet.
Walls and floors
- Go for an open floor plan with less walls and more rooms that you can use for various purposes.
- Use glass walls to divide a room so the space still looks big.
- Use room dividers instead of walls to separate rooms, for example, industrial metal rods can give the illusion of a wall while making the space look bigger.
- Have one type of flooring flowing from one area to the next to make it feel as if the rooms are part of one big space.
- Make your floor look bigger by choosing wider boards for timber floors and a large-format design with fewer grout lines for tiled floors.
- If you want a square or rectangular rug, choose a small size to highlight the area between your furniture pieces.
- Don’t place a rug under the sofa or this’ll make the room look tight.
Lighting and colour
- Open your curtains or blinds to let in natural light. This’ll brighten up the room and create an illusion of space.
- Install skylights to l et in more sunlight and make the space appear larger.
- If you have rooms with no windows, use semi-opaque materials to allow light into the room. You can use panelite kitchen backsplash for your bathroom walls.
- Use mirrors to bounce sunlight around the room. You can cover a wall in mirror or put 2-3 oversized mirrors on the floor. The mirrors should be perfectly placed to reflect a window or view to add light.
- Create an illusion of space at night by choosing slender floor lamps with the base and shade in the same finish. The base should also be small.
- Paint your walls and kitchen cupboards with neutral or pastel colours to make your home look and feel bigger. Light-coloured walls are reflective, maximising the effects of natural light in the area.
- You can also do a whole room in white with white walls, cupboards, curtains, quilts, etc to make everything appear bigger and brighter.
- Paint skirtings and door trims in a slightly lighter shade than your walls to make the surfaces visually recede and create an open feel.
Storage, shelves, and closets
- Build open and closed storage on your kitchen walls to store your things and draw the eye upward so the space doesn’t look cluttered.
- If you have stairs in your home with space underneath them, use the space to build cupboards.
- Turn unused crawl spaces and nooks in your home into organised storage. You can also consider shelving in the hallway or over a doorway.
- Have furniture that double as storage, for instance, consider shelving under a sofa arm, using a dresser as a nightstand, storage benches or stools, and under-the-bed storage.
- Use floor-to-ceiling cabinets with a combination of closed and open shelving so the area doesn’t feel cluttered.
- If you have a lot of books, install floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or build a bookshelf door.
- If you have an empty wall, consider building floor-to-ceiling shelves for extra storage space and to give a sense of scale and height to a room as it’ll draw your eyes upwards.
- You can also use pegboard racks to keep your belongings from taking up your limited floor or counter space.
- Display your clothes right out in the open to save more space. Or you can use huggable hangers in your closet.
- If your home has lofted bedrooms, fit a walk-in closet underneath.
- If you don’t have a broom closet, hang a fancy broom and dustpan from a hook or prop them in a corner of the room.
Furniture, art, and decorative pieces
- Choose a sofa with legs so it’s elevated (about 10 cm off the ground) and doesn’t make the space seem cramped.
- Pick a round table so it takes up less space and won’t interrupt the flow of traffic. Also go for a light and reflective tabletop material like glass or marble.
- Don’t have seats with splayed out legs, and the backs of chairs shouldn’t block a view or clutter the room.
- Use a selection of side tables rather than a coffee table to keep the flow open.
- Choose furniture with simple and spare lines to make your tiny home feel roomier, like furniture with acrylic, hairpin, or tapered legs, and leave a lot of empty space around your pieces.
- Use mirrors or metallic subway tiles to double the appearance of a room.
- Place art on a wall above your eyeline to create a sense of height and space.
- Display only a handful of your decorative pieces and place them in a way that creates a balance between a visual feast of the pieces and a calm area.
Kitchen, bathroom, and living room
- Make your kitchen feel open and bright by using a reflective island and translucent cabinets.
- Place small appliances in retractable pantry drawers.
- Keep lines and materials simple with cement walls and stainless-steel countertops.
- Install a built-in coffee bar or breakfast bar and you won’t need a kitchen table.
- If your bathroom isn’t large enough to fit a full-sized bathtub or a regular-sized bath mat, try a three-quarter tub and an absorbent hand towel as a bath mat.
- If your home has high ceilings, add a loft over your kitchen, bathroom, or living room to free up floor space. Sleeping and reading nooks can help maximise your space and offer privacy in shared areas.
Living large and happily in a small space
Your tiny home doesn’t have to feel cramped and uncomfortable. If you follow these tips, you’ll be able to live large and happily in a small space. It’s all about keeping each room clear, simple, and clutter-free. To get started, talk to the experts at Artilux about your screening needs.
