In any room you enter, a new experience begins. However, one of the biggest challenges is making the experience worthwhile when you don’t have the amplest space to work with.
Functionality comes into play almost immediately because rolling your office chair between your desk and the printer setup or laying down on a couch to watch TV are actions that require space. How the living space now supports those actions will differentiate a comfortable experience from a not-so-comfortable one.
Space is essential for many reasons. You may not be working with a lot of real estate, so you will need to make up for every piece of it.
What Does It Mean to Maximize Space?
For most people, the easiest way to maximize room is to go the minimalist route and buy the least amount of furniture so that you can ensure it all works wherever you live. This might work, but what if the couches don’t fit in the living room? What if the office chair can’t swivel because the office is too tightly packed?
Although you may think that creating space may be an object-to-room relationship, it actually is not. In many ways, it is an eye-to-room relationship. How does the eye interact with the room? What are you seeing? A lot of furniture crammed in one part of the room? A lack of mobility? It’s your experience in each room that dictates whether it’s comfortable or not.
4 Tips on How to Maximize Space
1. Create Space with Lighter Paint Tones
Begin your project by painting the walls light. Lighter colours that reflect light are more likely to make your home feel more spacious. The light reflects even better when the paint has an eggshell or satin finish.
If you find that your original paint tone is too dark, tint it with white paint. Doing so can soften the shade. But remember to be very careful with how much white colour you’re adding in. Start with a little to see how light you would like to go.
2. Smaller Furniture Makes for A Smaller Experience
Contrary to popular belief, using smaller-sized furniture doesn’t make your room feel open. You have to consider the functionality of your furnishings. Are they realistic to your lifestyle? Do you entertain a lot of people at your home? If so, having a single two-seater couch barely scratches the surface for what your guests find enjoyable.
You have to remember that smaller objects do not paint a bigger picture. It’s alright to have variety in the sizes in your furnishings, just try not to make your smaller-sized room space with small stuff in it. The solution to space restrictions is cutting down on the furnishings you need rather than hitting the minimize button.
3. Finding Your Perfect Look Requires Time and Editing
Allow yourself to enjoy the furnishing process. This is not a time-sensitive project; there is no one way that will work best. It’s a journey to finding what truly fits best for you.
Editing is important because it frees you up to think differently about the area. What worked before? Now try it a little differently. If it works better, keep it this way. If not, let’s try something different again.
The bonus to editing is that you can almost always guarantee that your space will be clean.
4. Stacking and Shelving Can Free Up Your Groundspace
For more mobility and open space, try to heighten all of your shelving with floating shelves. Make sure that your shelves are balanced and aligned with one another because having uneven shelves can be very evident to the eye and uneasy.
With appliances like washing and drying machines, the better option is always to go with the stackable selection. The devices tend to be so big that placing them side-by-side eliminates space that you could’ve otherwise cleared.
Stacking works for virtually any appliances and electronics that accept it, like printers, fax machines, computers, and charging stations. The key is always to think horizontally AND vertically. Where most people fail their spaces is thinking from left to right. But real space-saving takes place when you think from top to bottom.
Think of your living area as a canvas for your paint. Start with the essentials like painting and flooring. From there, scour the internet and furniture stores for furnishings of the right size and are complementary to the aesthetic of the room, and start moving.
