Making the Most of a Small Home
If you live in a small home, making the space personable, cozy, functional and look open and inviting all at the same time can be difficult. Especially if you don’t know how to do it. Here are some tips on how to make your small space seem bigger than it is:
Use Colours to Your Advantage
When you’re thinking about the colour scheme for your smaller home, only use colours from the lighter scales. Light and neutral colors will give your small spaces more airiness, and that will make the area feel larger. Stick with white, gray, beige, and even pastel colours to make the areas look more spacious. Walls will seem to disappear instead of standing out, and the rooms will feel bigger.
Create an Accent Wall
If you don’t like the idea of having a single colour for every wall, choose a wall as an accent piece in the room. Pick a neutral or light color and then get a colour a few shades darker and paint one wall that color. The darker color should be on the wall with windows or other openings so more light can come into the space. This can help make the walls blend nicely and give you an illusion of even more space.
Use Mirror Tricks
Mirrors reflect space and they can make a room feel much larger. If you want your hallway to look longer, for example, put a mirror at the end of it. You can also put mirrors on walls opposite windows to reflect not only your nice view, but also the light that comes in through the window. Reflective back splash areas in the kitchen can also give you the illusion of more space.
Multi-Purpose Your Furniture
When you have a small room, you may wonder how you’re going to get everything into the room. The key here is to use items that serve more than one function. Instead of getting an open ottoman, invest in one that doubles as a coffee table or that opens up into a storage bin. Dining room tables can also be home office areas. And couches can be for seating and for sleeping if you get a sleeper sofa. Use each space you have available in as many different ways as possible and you fill find that your smaller home is more useful than you think.
Gain Natural Light
If you want your home to look larger than it really is, you’ll want to maximize the amount of natural light you allow into your home. Use all of the windows you can and keep them open during the daylight hours. Make sure you place light-coloured fabrics around the windows so you can bring in more light. If you have light that shines in too brightly, use sheers to diffuse the light without taking away the light completely. You might want to think about skylights in certain areas to illuminate and open up a small space. If there are rooms that don’t have windows, use light and bright colours to help the small space stand out.
Storage Options
The best thing you can do towards getting more space in small homes is to use as many storage options as possible, so your stuff doesn’t become clutter. Take advantage of organizing tools for spaces above and below counters in the kitchen and bathrooms. You can even hang things on the outside areas of cabinets. Get drawer organizers to help you keep things in place. And you can place things on top of your fridge, cabinet, or even on the backs of doors. Placing shelves above doorways can be a unique way to decorate and a great place to store without taking space away from the room. And for whatever doesn’t fit in your home and you don’t use on a regular basis, there’s always self-storage.
Paint Tricks
Darker colours do make the room seem more cozy and inviting but at the same time close down the space. Paint your home lighter colours to make it appear more spacious. You can go for whites and off whites such as creams. Love colour? Go for very light shades such as salmons and lavenders.
There are many different things you can do to make your home appear more spacious. Experiment with the above ideas and see which work the best for your home.
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