Whether living in a restored brownstone or a high-rise apartment, most people throughout Hudson County tend to live in beautiful, but smaller spaces. Even if you are one of the few who live in a larger home, your rooms may be more long and narrow than wide. No matter where you call home though, it is key to maximize your place and make the most out of every room. Everyone knows a large mirror on a wall will make the room look double the size, but we’ve come up with some unconventional ideas to help make even the smallest spaces feel larger than life.
Lighten Up
It is a very well-known fact that light colors on the wall give the room a larger, more airy feel, but you can take it even further by putting light colors on the floors as well. Maximizing the effects of natural light in the home, soft tones like off-whites, light greens and pale blues make a space brighter and more inviting. Painting wall molding and trim a lighter color than the wall will also make the walls seem further back and higher up.
Bare It All
While natural light does wonders reflecting off paint colors, it also works well on its own to add depth to a space. Leave windows free of heavy blinds and curtains and instead use sheer coverings or pull everything back completely, allowing the light to open the room up. Letting light in will also connect the room with the outdoors, lessening the limitations of your space.
Mind Your Placement
Furniture placement is key for comfort, function, and good traffic flow throughout a room, especially a small one. Keep larger pieces like couches about a foot from the wall, without blocking windows or entryways, then put smaller pieces next to or in front of them. This will make the room feel less closed off and give the space in the middle a more inviting feel, rather than being an open, but unused area.
A Clear Choice
Clear glass, acrylic, or plastic furniture, like living room or bedroom tables or kitchen chairs, will give the illusion of more space in a room. Light reflecting through the furniture will also give the room a more airy feel, and the see-through furniture will look as though it takes up little to no space at all.
Hidden Storage
Make your furniture multi-functional by buying pieces with hidden storage inside. Whether a coffee table, ottoman, or bench, keep blankets, extra pillows, gaming handsets, or chargers and cords organized inside. You’ll always know where to find what you’re looking for, and it will keep your home a lot less cluttered.
Float On
Select floating cabinets, nightstands, or media centers for your home. Floating media centers and nightstands will be one less thing sitting on your floors and are good spaces to tuck things into, making the room feel larger with the empty space underneath. Floating cabinets in kitchens or bathrooms will draw your eye up, making the ceiling look larger.
Unconventional Office Space
You may sit in your bed with your laptop on your lap (as I do), but if you need a desk to get work or studying done and don’t have the space, create one in an extra closet or on a landing. The desk will be out of the way and leave the floor plan open. You can also use a small, low desk partially as a nightstand, add a chair, and use it as an office area. Read the reviews of these chairs on Chairthrone.
Wannabe Carrie Bradshaw and lover of all things that involve ice cream, cats, naps, hippies, and sarcasm.
