Small rooms, or odd shaped areas in a house can seem unappealing or problematic, but with clever design it’s possible to create a space with character that people will love - an area that feels much warmer and more inviting than a large, conventional room while still providing what you need, simply by decorating creatively.
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AWKWARD AREAS If you have room beneath a stairway, or an alcove anywhere it’s a great idea to show it off by setting up a small work-station, or by adding built-in shelving with a comfy padded bench seat beneath (with lift up seat for storage). That awkward area has now become an attractive asset! It’s paying attention to these little details that makes a house really practical yet charming too.
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SMALL ROOMS You want to keep a small room open and uncluttered, so when in doubt less is better. Although large furniture can be too dominating, one large sofa may work well if the rest of the furniture is smaller and complements it. This is where proportion and scale are so important. As shown on Episode 17 of ‘Kiwi Living’ recently, even a boring, small hallway can seem larger and more welcoming by adding items like hooks and a narrow hall table “of perfect proportions”, which provide you practical places for those bits and pieces.
ARRANGING FURNITURE
Bench seats can work really well in small areas like kitchens. You can also use your furniture to naturally create partitions between areas in one room, such as the back of your sofa facing the dining room to create a separation between the two, or a bookshelf…
In a living room arrange furniture in a way that creates conversations areas and so they focus on a common focal point – this can be anything from a fireplace, window, or TV through to a bookcase or painting. With focal points that can be moved, take them out from a corner and put them at a more central location in the room. You can even emphasise a conversation area by arranging the seating so people can walk around easily and sit facing each other.
Remember to create balance with your décor. Symmetrical arrangements usually work the best, so if you put a sofa on one side of the room, have two armchairs across from it. Here’s a few examples from homedit.com for arranging seating around a window, or fireplace in a square room where a relatively narrow depth of furniture is important, rather than the length:
One large sofa with smaller pieces, using ottomans that can double as seats, or a table
Circular coffee tables use less space than oblong ones, are easier to move around, and provide great balance to the room.
A demi corner sofa can provide comfortable seating using minimal space and defines an area without overwhelming it.
STORAGE Shelving is a great solution for storage in small spaces. You can buy attractive moveable shelving (see lundia.co.nz), or create your own. Storage cubes are another idea, even painting them in a complementary colour to make them a feature of your room.
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There's often neglected space in a house that you can utilise to your advantage. Get cunning and use spaces behind or under furniture, like that couch or bed - there are some great slimline storage boxes you can use for just this kind of purpose. And buy, or make your own, attractive boxes that you can hide things away in like ugly modems so they even look like a design feature in your room.
Use furniture that have drawers or shelves in them, or multi-purpose pieces like an ottoman or bench seat that have lift up lids which can also be used as a table, seat or footstool.
Finally, take a look at these great ideas of how to squeeze furniture into small spaces, and even more.
The sky is the limit so get creative!