We know it can be tough living in a tiny home, but sometimes, it’s your only option. Fortunately, there are plenty of simple things you can do to make compact living as comfortable as living in a huge mansion. Follow our tips to create a cozy and welcoming home in even the smallest of spaces.
Consider Your Furniture Size Carefully
This is one of our most important pieces of advice. It can seem frustrating to buy a whole new set of furniture when you already have perfectly useful pieces, but it’s necessary. Selecting smaller items, like a loveseat and accent chair instead of a big sectional, open up the space and keep it from looking overstuffed.
Use a Unified Color Palette
A common complaint with compact homes is that you end up using the same room for eating, working, and even sleeping. When everything is so closely packed together, too many colors make your house look disorganized and busy. Instead, we find it best to use the same basic color scheme throughout the home.
Stay Organized
In a compact space, we don’t have room for piles of clothes, a stack of loose mail, or a jumble of toiletries. Using proper organizational tools will help you keep everything in compact areas. Having shelving and storage units with plenty of dividers lets you keep on top of the clutter before it overwhelms your home.
Cut Back on the Textiles
When we look at images of small spaces done right, a thing most of them have in common is that they lack a lot of area rugs, curtains, and throw pillows. These sorts of decorative textiles tend to have textures and patterns that catch the eye as you glance around a room.
Though this might be a good thing in big spots, in small rooms it looks too busy to have every surface of the room covered in texture and pattern. Skipping these nonessentials immediately opens up a space.
Expand Your Space Outside
Don’t have enough space in the inside of your home? Make things more spacious by treating your porch, patio, or balcony as yet another part of your house. Use foldable patio doors that let you easily open up a whole wall to reach your outdoor space, and set up some furniture. This lets you add on an indoor/outdoor living room great for entertaining guests or relaxing in the evening.
Pick Simple, Open Styles of Decor
Anything that catches the eye in a compact space adds to the impression of crowding, so it is generally best to skip heavy, dark, carved and patterned pieces of furniture or decor. Instead, look for items that let the vision travel through it.
Glass topped tables, rattan furniture, and backless shelving units all add to the illusion of openness. More minimal styles like shaker or midcentury help to keep things look spacious.
Make Things Look Bigger With Optical Illusions
Our key to keeping a compact space from looking cramped is lighter colors, plenty of light, and reflections. Thanks to the way the human eye works, any area that reflects plenty of light appears larger and more open.
White walls, lighter wood tones, and pastel colors all make a home look bigger. Add wall mirrors to reflect space and put lamps in dark corners to further open up your home.
Think “Less is More” When It Comes to Decor
Having lots of little knick knacks piled all over surfaces keeps a compact home looking cramped and crowded. If you are a maximalist at heart, you may want to think about downsizing. To get the most impact while taking up the least amount of space, carefully select beautiful statement pieces.
Use Wall Mounts Whenever Possible
Over the years, we have noticed that one of the most common causes of cramping are things like television stands, computer desks, and shelving units. A lot of these items can be skipped altogether with the right type of mount for your electronics. When it comes to storage, wall mounts let you keep valuable floor space clear while still having a place to put all your belongings.
As you can see, making a small home look spacious is all about adding light and using minimalist design to create a functional area that is not visually overdone. Following these clever tricks can make your house look even bigger than you would expect.
