Getting More Than You Thought You Could
You can do a lot more with the space you have available than you may realize; you just want to get a bit creative. Figure out what you do and don’t need, and be smart in how you design house interiors.
You can make 400 square feet feel more like 800 if you’re clever. Following are a few tips to help you do that—don’t be afraid to appropriate luxurious stylings. Condensed space need not sacrifice luxury.
1. Mirrors, Windows, Pictures, Posters, Tapestries
Mirrors spread light and increase the information our eyes take in, evoking the feel of larger space in smaller areas. You don’t want to go overboard, but wherever it makes sense, add a mirror. A wall of mirrors in one room could be just the thing to make it feel expansive.
Pictures, posters, and tapestries have a similar quality. Try to match the tone of such visual elements with whatever style you’ve incorporated in a given room’s interior design. You can use tapestries to round corners and add color or hide infrastructure you find distasteful. Pictures serve as visual focal points and tie room elements together. Posters or paintings do the same.
2. Color Diversity And Foliage
As tapestries add color to a room, so does foliage. Vines are relatively easy to maintain, and can grow throughout a space; just be sure and trim appropriately. This creates a natural, organic feel which is pleasant. A fern has a similar effect, as does a diorama with a tiny bonsai tree—if that’s all the space you can afford to give.
A spot of vibrant living green pleases the mind, as do many other colors. Just think about it. Where would you rather spend a day without having the ability to leave: the sterile white walls of a hospital room, or one that’s been painted in aesthetically pleasing colors? In either scenario, you’re dealing with exactly the same space. Giving the eye more to see makes the space feel more livable.
3. RTA Kitchen Cabinets
Ready Assemble cabinets can help you shape your storage around the space you have available. They’re more customizable than other options. RTA cabinetry is a bit of a trend; you can even get certain specific styles, such as the Shaker Style kitchen set at BestOnlineCabinets.com; many just saw it and it’s got some good reviews. Solutions like this help you store all you need in the space you have without having to sacrifice as much.
4. The Vertical Component
Dovetailing that, think vertical. How high is your bed now? How high is your ceiling above it? If you’re in a room that has eight vertical feet, you don’t really need more than five above the bed. Float the bed three feet off the floor and convert the space to your closet.
Perhaps use deep drawers. If you’ve got ten-foot ceilings, float the bed five feet off the floor and make it wider. Now you can use the freed-up closet as a small study, or for additional storage, or something similar.
5. Compartmentalization
A wicker partition can stylishly expand how a large space feels. The eye can’t see beyond it, and the brain fills in the missing information with imagination. Even though you know what’s beyond it, there’s a barrier in the space which similarly compartmentalizes it in your mind. Different kinds of partitions may fit different rooms.
You can adorn them in tapestries or another aesthetic element to help conform them to your design themes. You can even make zig-zag patterns if you like, using each section as a decorative space.
Living Big In Small Spaces
Living small in terms of square footage need not feel cramped. Some people live for years on end in mobile homes without feeling like they’re living mobile; those kinds of living options are smaller than most apartments.
You can feel like you’re in an expansive space if you use mirrors, pictures, and tapestries to maximize how things feel, compartmentalize as appropriate, utilize vertical storage options and conformed furniture like RTA cabinets, and color the space with foliage or other decorative arrangements.
There are certainly many other tactics to consider, and some of these may or may not work for you. But start thinking about it critically, and let your imagination go a bit. If you come up with ten ideas and one work, it was a worthwhile brainstorm!
