Any home might have a tiny room as part of the whole,
but often times,
a tiny room is the home.
Welcome to the Library/Office/Living Room
Don’t despair or turn a blind eye.
There are a multitude of tricks to fool perception and maximize the use of space.
First off, stop thinking your space is “small”, as if that’s a bad thing.
Think of it as “intimate”. Surprisingly, medium or darker wall colors add to this feeling of comfortable enveloping warmth, rather than make the room seem smaller. That said, you don’t want to use a lot of different colors, as this will read as too busy. Try to confine yourself to two colors and the rest neutrals or natural materials. In fact, a monochromatic color scheme is the most effective in expanding your horizons within the envelope. Use the same fabric for the drapery and upholstery.
To make a one-color scheme work without tedium, vary the shade of color to get lights, mediums and darks, and add a variety of textures. Use reflective and/or shiny surfaces contrasted with course textured fabrics.
If you find that your low ceilings qualify as “unfortunate architecture”,
then wallpaper can do wonders.
You can bring a low ceiling to new heights visually by using vertically striped wallpaper. Also, the larger pieces of furniture should be low slung and lean. Think twice about a high backed wing chair.
A patterned paper can disguise irregularities in old walls too. I’ve seen hopeless little attic rooms with the ceilings sloping on all sides be transformed by using a small patterned paper on all walls including the ceiling. The weird wall angles become un-noticeable. Not for everyone, but using the same patterned fabric on the upholstered furniture, window coverings, bedclothes (if applicable) and walls can look spectacular.
Don’t neglect to play up any good qualities that might exist,
such as a fireplace, great views, or even beautiful molding.
Mirrors are magical when it comes to making a room seem larger. The trick is to hang them in places that reflect something of interest in the room. Use a mirror opposite or beside a window with a great view, for example. The bonus of hanging a mirror to reflect a window is that the natural light coming though the window will be doubled
The real key to living gracefully in a small space
is to be ingenious about creating storage space.
Put drawers in and under everything possible. Use pocket doors. Build storage to fit alcoves, nooks and crannies as well as the end walls of long narrow rooms.
There is no such thing “Random Accident Chic”
Everything in the room counts. Edit as much as possible and find containers of some sort for the small indispensables. You’re better off with a few well-considered pieces of furniture rather than several small ones.
When in doubt, how about the idea of rotating your favorite things in and out of the room a few times a year? This is a great way to keep a fresh look.
Minimize what you might call “visual blockage”. Use furniture with legs and look for “see-though” pieces like Lucite, and metal-framed tables with glass tops.
There are two schools of thought on furniture size for a small room.
One great looking idea is to have very few pieces but of a larger more dramatic scale. Or, if you need to have more furniture for the sake of multi-tasking in one room, scale your furniture down appropriately. For example the standard depth of a sofa is 32”-36”. Sofas can be found at only 28”deep and can be very comfortable. Standard sofa length is about 84” but there are other options. Love seats are only 60” wide and can seat two very well. There is also a sofa size known as “apartment length” at 72”. Round or oval side and coffee tables serve best in small spaces.
Next Time: Small Space Solutions Series: Fooling the Eye – Part II – Working It
Related Posts
Small Space Solutions Series: Fooling the Eye – Part II – Working It
Furniture Arrangement Series- Part I – Form Follows Function
Furniture Arrangement Series – Part II – Creating Conversation Areas Worth Talking About
Furniture Arrangement Series – Part III – Seeing The Big Picture
Furniture Arrangement Series – Part IV – The Plot And The Measure
Photo – Jack Lindholm – Decoding Decor Portfolio
This is one of several articles I wrote for publication on Hamptons.com. It’s presented here as a foundation for further topic discussion, updates and commentaries…
Questions? Write to: DecodingDecor@Gmail.Com
