Image: Husman HagbergEven if you're not struggling with trying to make the most of a small apartment, small space strategies are still relevant. Small spaces come with their own charm, but also their own challenges, not least of which is that they can easily feel cramped and claustrophobic. When done well, they can feel like cosy, zen-like retreats, but it takes some conscious effort to achieve that.
Plenty of small space strategies are about much more than just making it work in a tiny home - they're smart design ideas that can be used in almost any space. No matter the size of your home, you'll rarely find a negative in creating the appearance of a bigger, or more spacious home.
On the plus side, the key to successful small space strategies at home is fairly simple - it all boils down to tricking the eye into perceiving more space by playing around with scale, light and movement. We've got three easy tips to create the feel of more space, whether your home is of petite proportions or not.
Try these on for size!
1. Reduce Clutter
Image: Cup of JoWe know, we know - it's an obvious, clichéd point, but it's not without merit. Clutter so easily takes over and it quickly makes the space stressful to be in, whether you realise it or not. Stacks and piles of stuff not only take up precious, precious inches of space, but you've got to expend mental energy on it as well. You can't have a bright, airy breezy space if you feel stressed just looking at it, even aside from the fact the physical presence of piles of stuff makes a space feel crowded. Find the stuff real homes, or get rid! It'll make a big difference.
2. Scale it down
Image: Alexa DagmarWith small spaces, it's all about proportion when it comes to furniture. To create a sense of roominess, leave a little air between the sides of your furniture and the walls. Also, avoid large, heavy looking pieces of furniture. Often it can be better to have multiple smaller pieces of furniture than one large one in a small space. A good example is a coffee table in a living room - even if multiple smaller pieces actually take up more space than one large coffee table would, having it be broken up and easily moved around with the smaller tables, creates a sense of space and movement, rather than one solid piece occupying a large area.
3. Create space with furniture of contrasting weights
Image: Becki OwensIf you love big heavy industrial furniture, that's totally fine! You can make it work in a small space easily, but it's important that you break it up with 'visually light' furniture. What we mean by this is furniture that feels and looks light and a bit more dainty by contrast. In this Becki Owens' dining room above, the perspex chairs with thin gold legs essentially look like they take up no space, which is a good contrast with the couch on the other side. Two couches would be overwhelming in a small room, but the visually light chairs create the balance the room needs, and avoids it looking overcrowded.
