There are many reasons people decide to live in a smaller space, like an apartment or a mobile home, over a traditional home. Some might be looking to save money, others might desire to live in a prime location where a stick-built home is out of their budget, certain folks may no longer need as much space as they used to, and the list goes on.
While there are many perks of moving to a smaller space, designing tighter living quarters can present unique challenges that require creative thinking and thoughtful planning in order to make the most of your space.
Here are nine tips for making a smaller space more liveable, and how to help it feel like home.
1. Use the walls when you have limited floor space.
Add visual interest with art and decor in your home by taking advantage of the blank canvas of your walls. Even if you don’t have much square footage in your home, strategically hanging photographs or shelving can help draw the eye upward and give the illusion of more space without the clutter. When hanging curtains over your window, a popular interior design trick is to hang simple or vertically striped curtains a few inches higher than the frame.
2. Add more greenery to spruce up your space.
Studies have shown that adding greenery to indoor spaces can brighten people’s moods, inspire feelings of comfort, and potentially even help purify the air. When designing your small space, consider adding hanging succulents from the ceiling or placing small plants on wall shelving to add a calming pop of color and freshness to the air.
Here are a few plants that are quite durable in the indoors:
Asparagus Fern
Succulents
Fiddle Leaf Fig
Yucca
Air Plant
Rubber Plant
3. Get strategic with storage solutions.
Smaller spaces like mobile homes are the perfect candidate for clever storage solutions. Find ways to build storage into your living space, with solutions like wall shelving or closed cabinetry, and explore multipurpose furniture (think: a coffee table that opens up to a snack tray, or an ottoman that has a removable top for storing books or blankets) to keep clutter to a minimum.
4. Open the space up with light colors.
Using lighter colors on your walls and floors can help the sunlight better reflect through the rooms, giving the illusion of a more spacious environment. If you aren’t able to change your flooring, a cream-colored carpet can instantly open up a room. While stark white walls can sometimes feel clinical, choosing light paint colors with warm tones can bring both brightness and dimension to your small space.
5. Brighten the walls with strategically placed mirrors and light fixtures.
Just as light colors can help light bounce better off the walls, hanging mirrors on the walls in dark corners of your home can trick the eye into thinking they’re filled with light. Multiple light fixtures placed around the room also help to provide depth to your home by casting light and shadows throughout each room.
6. Tuck away additional seating and dining furniture when guests aren’t around.
If you’re not always serving dinner for six or hosting a game night for four, you don’t always need to have your accent furniture or tableware out on full display in your home. Folding chairs, table leaves, and place settings can be tucked away quite easily and can keep your space feeling more open for everyday living.
7. Create defined spaces to separate living activities.
When your home has a small footprint, especially if it’s an open space like a studio apartment, it can be easy for each room to spill into the next, making the whole place feel cramped. One way to give each space in your home a true purpose is by using furniture to define it: A bookshelf can serve as a divider and privacy screen to separate a bedroom space from a living space just as easily as the strategic placement of a couch can divide the dining area from the living room.
8. Be mindful of proportions.
A small bedroom would probably have a hard time handling a California king bed on a four-post frame, just as a 200-square-foot living room wouldn’t comfortably fit a 12-piece sectional. When designing your small place, consider the proportions of each room, and select furniture that fills the space without overpowering it. You and any guests you invite over will feel much more comfortable this way.
9. Limit overall clutter, and go easy on the knick-knacks.
Unfortunately, small spaces don’t hide clutter in the way that larger spaces might be able to. Keep the clutter in your home to a minimum, and try not to fill every empty corner with numerous tiny knick-knacks. This will allow you to create a much more powerful visual impact in your space, and help you avoid wasting your time dusting shelves full of small decorative objects.
Small Space, Happy Home
From bright colors to calming greenery, to multipurpose furniture, and more, there are many ways to make a smaller space more liveable. With a little bit of planning and some strategic choices, it’s easy to make your place still feel like home.
Author Bio: Suzanne Felber of Lifestylist, focuses on many things but above all else, we focus on creating perfectly curated and beautiful spaces - from manufactured homes to food, beauty, and beyond.
