No matter how large your house is, creating a spacious feel and finding enough room for everything we collect throughout our lives is always one of the biggest challenges. The best way to keep on top of this is to start off with clever space maximising tricks that will benefit your home for years to come.
Decreasing the Clutter
The first step is to do a major clean out of all your belongings. You don’t have to cull everything as you still want your home to have personality, but if you’ve got so many throw cushions you’re getting smothered every time you sit on the couch, pick your favourite few and get rid of the rest! It’s simple maths really, the less clutter = the more space you have.
Choosing the Right Furniture
Our furniture is something we use constantly and often have for many years. If you’re limited for space it can be hard to make the right furniture choices to suit your room as sometimes what we love just won’t work in a restricted space. The main rule is to choose furniture that is in tune with the size and scale of the room. If your ceilings aren’t particularly high, choose low, slim line furniture to create more visual space.
Low-set sofas and armless chairs are less imposing in a lounge room and the same goes for a mattress that is closer to the floor. Glass table tops are also a great space maximising furniture trick as their transparency takes away the heavy impact a table normally has on a room. Moving furniture away from walkways and room openings will also increase the visual space in a room.
Utilising Clever Storage
Clever storage makes for a tidy home. Shelving and cabinets can be used in every room to hide and display at the same time. Wall mounted cabinets can free up floor space which in turn can make your room look larger, while freestanding ones can double as a surface for displaying things as well as hide-away storage.
Using cabinets for multiple purposes is a clever trick for minimising the amount of furniture you need in a room. A great idea is install a low-hung wall mounted cabinet that runs the length of the lounge room wall. This will not only make the wall seem longer but it can double as a TV and media stand as well as concealed storage.
Open shelving can be great for displaying books, homewares and other loved items. The problem is if there’s too much going on, the space can look too busy and cramped. A clever trick is to install built in shelves into any spare alcoves to maximise the otherwise vacant space. Painting shelves the same colours as your walls helps them recede into the colour scheme and be less imposing.
Investing in some clever multi-purpose furniture will also maximise your storage space and therefore, your room’s space. Beds with storage underneath eliminate the need for a blanket box or even a large wardrobe. Stools or ottomans with lifting lids that open up to the available room inside are great as secret storage.
Cheating with Mirrors
Mirrors are fantastic tools. Placed next to a light source, like a window or lamp, they multiply the amount of light in the room which in turn makes the space look bigger.
Hanging a large mirror on a wall in a small room can instantly trick you into thinking there is double the amount of space, you’ve just got to be careful not to walk into it! When used properly in design, they look as if they have been hung for decoration or vanity, when often the main purpose is to maximise the visual space.
Colour and Light
Using a cool colour palette will open up your interior while a warm palette will do the opposite. One of the main reasons crisp whites and blues are used in beach houses is to create that fresh and airy vibe that cool colours induce. To enhance the space even more, a clever combination of natural and artificial light will do the trick.
Dark spaces create depth so by lighting up a room properly the depth is minimised and the space is in turn, opened up. Interesting pendant lights are still very popular in design but if you’re limited for space they can appear bulky. Pick a design made in a light colour or crafted from a delicate fabric like paper or glass as this will soften the harshness of the pendant.
Wall sconces are also a great alternative to lighting as they use vertical space which is normally not being used any way. They also direct light upwards which makes the walls look higher. Bonus!
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Image Credits: Jonas Jacob Svensson via Wallpaper
