As more and more people opt for the convenience and affordability of condos and apartments, the need for strategizing smaller living spaces increases.
It goes without saying that individuals living in smaller spaces need a living area that incorporates their aesthetic preferences, offering an elevated design edge while also fulfilling practical requirements. Even the most stylish of us also want a comfortable place to sit in a prime location, ample storage for books and other knickknacks, and a place to sit our coffee mugs(or wine glasses).
Fortunately, with some clever design choices, you can easily incorporate these wants and needs into a small space.
Adhere to a Uniform Color
By sticking with a cohesive color throughout the room — for walls, rugs, and pieces of fabric-covered furniture —you’re allowing a small space to merge visually. In other words, having one shade means that your eye isn’t caught by one stand-out wall or one lone piece of furniture. And by reducing any contrasting or conflicting elements, you’re giving the illusion of a bigger space.
If you choose to incorporate a print or a pattern, repeat it across the space.
Consider Custom Furniture
Through ordering a custom piece of handcrafted wooden furniture, you can find something that suits your unique dimensions, in the wood of your choosing, and with a finish to match your personal preferences. For example, if you’ve encapsulated a cottage-chic, industrial or vintage vibe in your kitchen, look for a local maker who can craft wood tables and chairs to match the aesthetic.
Maximize Lighting
A bright room immediately gives the illusion of a vaster space. You can maximize both artificial and natural light in a multitude of ways.
- Install sheer curtains in low-traffic windows; they allow natural light to flow in on sunny days.
- When you want or need the privacy that curtains offer, hang curtain rods so that they exceed the window’s width by one foot on either side. Doing so will ensure the curtains don’t obscure or block any daylight when the curtains are open. Last, choose lengthy curtains, and hang the rod as close to the ceiling as possible. Both tactics will help to accentuate the height of a small room.
- Add levels of light by placing floor lamps in corners and table lamps atop side tables and bureaus.
- And lastly, hang mirrors on the walls that receive optimal light.
Use Glass Tactfully
Another great way to give the illusion of a larger living area is by strategically using furniture that incorporates glass. For example, a coffee table with a glass top will create less of a visual obstruction in any room. And bookshelves with glass shelves allow light to pass through, brightening the wall or corner against which they sit.
Further, framed artworks in glass frames reflect light, bouncing it off neighboring walls.
Takeaway
You can maximize a small living space through careful colour choices, strategic light placement, and by leaning towards key custom furniture pieces. This way, you’ll have a delightfully comfortable space that’s as beautiful as it is practical.