(photo credit: pixabay.com)
With the rise of property and rent prices, more and more of us are facing the reality that it’s no longer possible to live in a large home. I was blessed to have lived in a fairly big family home back in my hometown when I was younger. Heading to the city to further my studies and work was challenging for me as I had to adapt to living in smaller homes. It can get quite frustrating not having the space to put my things at times. It’s also much harder to find furniture that fits my tiny home as I am now living in small spaces.
As the years went by, I gradually learnt to cope with the minimal amount of space that I have. If you are having trouble finding small house ideas, I have specially compiled a list of tips that you may find useful. Deciding on the best interior design concepts for your small apartment, studio apartment or tiny living spaces can be possible if you know how. Just try some of my suggestions!
Below the small space living ideas that you may find useful to furnish and make your home look larger:
11 Best Tips for Living Large in Small Spaces
1. Match Your Furniture to Your Wall
If you want your small rooms or living area to look larger than it actually is, then try to get furniture that matches the colour of your walls. Your furniture can be either the same colour as your walls or made with transparent materials. If your existing furniture does not match your wall colour, you can always paint it!
2. Use Multi-Functional Furniture
When you get furniture that serves more than one purpose, you get to save heaps of space! You could get a large table and use it as a desk and turn it into a dining table when you have dinner or entertain guests. You might also be able to find a dining table with extra storage space beneath it to store linens and towels. An ottoman can serve as great coffee tables while also providing you with extra seating for your guests when needed. Some ottomans even come with hidden storage beneath it. If you always have guests spending the night at your place, you can use a daybed or sofa bed so that you can turn it into a guest bed for your friends or family.
3. Place Your Furniture at the Center of Your Room
A room always feel larger when you have lots of space to move about. To give the impression of a larger room, you can arrange your furniture away from the walls, preferably to the center of your room.
4. Buy Furniture with Hidden Storage Space
A lot of people living in small spaces have trouble having enough storage space to keep their belongings. To maximise your storage space, you can buy furniture that are specially made with built-in storage. You can use a trunk or storage ottoman as a coffee table or purchase a bed with extra storage space beneath.
5. Use Your Wall Space to the Maximum
To maximise your storage space, make full use of your wall space. It’s best to have custom-built floor to ceiling bookcases and shelves with storage cabinets at the bottom of it. You can even have a place for your television made with your specially made floor to ceiling bookcases or shelves.
6. Get Nesting Tables
Nesting tables are great for bedrooms and living areas as they can be easily pulled out when in used and pushed away when not needed. They are great for small apartments and studio apartments as they do not take too much space.
7. Find Small Scale Furniture
Avoid using huge sofas and bulky armchairs. They’ll just make you tiny house look even smaller. Go for small-scale furniture because they are made to suit small apartments and will give you more room to move around your house. Try going for furniture with legs , small settees or love seats and chairs.
8. Utilise Mirrors and Wallpaper
You can increase the light and depth of your house to make it look larger by placing wallpapers and hanging a larger mirror on your walls. It’s best if you can have the mirror opposite a window so that you can reflect the natural light from outside.
9. Downsize Your Bulky Sofa
If your current sofa is making your home look too small, downsize it. Instead of a bulky and full-size sofa, why not go for a petite sofa or slimmed-down love seat? Get one with exposed legs to make your home look larger. You can even experiment by getting a backless sofa if you want to achieve an open-plan concept for your apartment or studio. Another alternative is to create a built-in window seat so that your seating area does not take up too much space.
10. Add Plants to Your Interior
Plants act similar to wallpapers and mirrors. They create an extra depth to small living rooms and make them look larger by softening the corners of furniture. They look great beside any corners, chairs or sofas.
11. Use Glass-Front Bookcases and Wardrobes
If you like a modern looking home, then go for glass-front bookcases and wardrobes. They’ll make your small apartment or studio apartment look less cluttered.
So these are my tips on how to live large in small spaces. Have you tried some of these tips before? Do you think they are useful? Or do you have some other suggestions?
