More and more people are moving into smaller homes, its an economical choice that reduces the environmental footprint you leave on the world. But there are downfalls to living in a smaller place, mainly that it can feel cramped at times and its hard to find room for all of your stuff. The obvious solution of course is to get rid of anything you don’t need, but there are other, less drastic, ways to make your small home seem larger.
Organize Your Stuff
Rather than tossing it all, find a way to organize your things and then do your best to keep them where they belong. Clutter quickly makes a room feel full and crowded.
Get Creative with Storage
If you own the home, take advantage of empty wall space by adding some built-in storage units. If you’re a renter, take advantage of every opportunity to find storage. Use a steamer trunk for a coffee table and load is with junk. Use footstools that have storage compartments inside. Think of new and creative storage ideas to keep your stuff at hand, but quietly hidden.
Lighten Up
Create an illusion of space by painting the walls white or a light color and incorporating more airy hued neutral tones. You can even use actual lights to brighten up a small space and make it seem more expansive. An overhead light only illuminates the center of a room but cleverly placed lamps will include the far reaches of the room and cast more visually interesting light.
Open Up the Space
Let there be some open spaces in your home. Again, clutter takes up space and can feel confining, but open space lets the eye rest and the viewer relax. Leave one wall blank and let it speak for itself. Don’t cover the floor with busy patterned rugs. Choose fabrics with solid colors or small prints.
Monochromatic Color Schemes
As discussed light colors tend to make a space seem larger, but many colors can do the same thing. By keeping your color scheme basically monochromatic you give depth to your room or home and you can then play with one bright or contrasting color in very subtle ways and give the room interest. One painted accent wall, a few throw pillows in a contrasting color, accessories or special collections highlights by brightly colored backgrounds.
Use Mirrors
A little care needs to be taken when decorating with mirrors as too many or ill placement can ruin the effect, but pairing mirrors across from one another can really give depth to a room and make it seem much larger. And a mirror places across from a window can give your room added visual interest.
Small homes need a little more thought than large ones when it comes to picking just the right accessories and furnishings as you have to limit yourself to things that really work for the home but the final effect can be huge and expansive.
