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Small on space, big on design

13th December 2016 Print

Do you ever gaze longingly at interior design websites and blogs and wish your house could be like the utopian vision before you? Is your house just too small to be able to realise the wonders magicked up by designers on TV? You don’t need to feel quite so powerless about your lot in life. There are lots of tricks and tips that you can deploy in order to maximise your space and ensure that your home is still big on design even when it is small on space.

Storage is key

The most important thing to consider is how you can be smart about storage. If your clothes, books and electronic devices are all strewn across the house with nowhere to go then your design efforts are bound to be scuppered and the eye will be drawn to your ‘stuff’ instead of your design. Search out solutions for every room in your house – from ways to use your kitchen drawers and shelves right through to beds with storage underneath such as those at www.divancentre.co.uk - and you’ll welcome the extra space you have to play with. Sheds and garages are also worth their weight in gold when it comes to storing the things that you don’t need to hand on a day-to-day basis.

Unnecessary furniture

There are some things you just don’t need. They might look good in the magazines but they are space hogging pieces of furniture that you could easily do without and still benefit from a well-designed house. Chief offender here is the ubiquitous coffee table. This will become a clutter magnet and make your floor space seem tiny. Ditch it. You can also do without a TV stand – hang it on the wall instead to free up a vital corner of space. Be ruthless and get rid of anything that you don’t really need.

Pick your theme wisely

As House Beautiful notes, it pays to use a light palette if space is at a premium. Embrace a design trend that uses white or pastel shades and you’ll stand a better chance of getting the look that you’re after. Dark colours and shades could quickly feel cramped and cluttered and are probably not for you.

Make use of every room

That guest room that you’ve got… how often do you really use it? Do you really need a fully made bed in there at all times in case someone drops by in need of a bed for the night? By using your spare bedroom as an office or storage room you’ll buy yourself the room you need to do something special with your living room and bedroom, say. When space is at a premium it pays to focus on these key rooms as these are the ones where you’ll feel the most benefit from your design anyway.

Call in the experts

Got a dream of how you want your kitchen or bathroom to look? Maybe you have a list of must-haves that you are struggling to squeeze in? Speak to a professional and challenge them to see what they can do with the space you have. Sometimes it can be tricky to visualise your rooms in any other way than they are now and this could hold you back. Be prepared to get another opinion.