Unfortunately, not everyone got in on the housing boom and some people are basically priced right out of the market. The only homes left for them are abodes that are not suitable to live in or very small homes.
Although probably not their idea of a dream home, a small starter home can actually turn into a dream but there are some tricks to living in less square footage. First of all you need to appraise your friend's larger homes to really see that living with less is more. Look around at their big homes and take note of the wasted space, the large pieces of furniture, the extra tables and chairs that are simply decorative and rarely get used. There are probably even entire rooms that see the cleaning lady more than they see a houseguest. This should boost your resolve. Yes! You can live with less.
Once you've found your home you're going to have to make some tough decisions. It's time to downsize. What can you get rid of? If you've lived on your own for a while this might be difficult, but if you're starting out it probably won't be too much of a challenge. You need a couch, right? But do you need an easy chair as well? Your table currently seats 4 but there are only 1 or 2 of you - do you need the extra chairs, do you need a table that large? And once you've winnowed down your stuff, don't begin collecting again. If you're going to bring something new into the house make sure it's to replace something else or you're willing to part with something.
Part of the expunging process is knowing what you want. If you really want a huge wall-mountable, flat panel television then you should make this a priority, but accept that you're losing an entire wall in the process and you're going to need enough distance between that and the seating area so viewing is comfortable. If you've addressed these issues then fine, go big. One or two oversized items in a small room can anchor it and give it an illusion of proportion that isn't there. Likewise, if you really want a king sized bed and it will fit in your room, adjust the proportions of other items in the room to draw attention to your big luxurious bed; use bedding colors to enhance the attraction.
Which brings us to color choices. Keep your small home painted very light colors or white. Use pieces within the home to add the color punch and accents. Yes, white makes a room look larger. White on white makes it look even larger. If you really want to add color to your home then stick with light colors and layer them together. Consider that bright orange pillow with the gold trim that you just love. You want to paint your room a complementary gold color but in a small home that will overpower everything and leave the room feeling small and cramped. Instead, find that color on a paint deck and then see what the lightest shade on that swatch is. If that's still got a little too much color ask the paint store to make you a 50% batch of that color, so you'll effectively be cutting the color in half. It may not seem like much color when it goes on the walls, but in a small space the key to remember is that less is more.
Finally, cleaning. Small spaces can get dirty pretty quickly but they also are fairly easy to clean up. Establishing habits that keep clutter out of sight or out of the home entirely will help your place seem liveable and cozy. A small cuttered home feels small, as though the owners do not have enough space for their junk. A clean and organized small home feels just right. It's as though the home was built to fit the occupants.
With these tips you can turn a small starter home into just the right living space.
