Living in a small house doesn’t mean there’s no space.
In fact, there are several ways to maximize the rooms in a more modest dwelling.
“When you live in a 3,000 square foot home with vaulted ceilings, two living rooms, and four bedrooms it can be really expensive to furnish. It can be even more expensive to decorate! Without a large amount of expendable income, it’s hard to create the warm and inviting home you dream of,” Living Well, Spending Less said.
“When you live in a smaller house though, having your space set up and decorated exactly how you want it is pretty easy! You can paint yourself, and start small grabbing quality items that are made to last and upgrading things slowly over time. After some time, you’ll have a magazine-worthy house that you’ll be proud of at the fraction of the cost of a larger home.”
A small house is not the same as a tiny house, though. Typically, a tiny house is between 100–500 square feet. Small homes, meanwhile, are a maximum of 1,000 square feet, according to The Plan Collection.
If you live in a small house, consider the following when designing.
Keep furniture compact
Small houses equal small rooms, so you won’t have a spacious eat-in kitchen. Don’t buy a big table that will make moving cumbersome. Instead, opt for a small, round table common for breakfast nooks, House Beautiful advises.
Infuse color
A simple way to amplify space is to give each room bright coats of paint — or paint them white. But you can also add depth with a dark color, too.
“For example, painting a room a dark color can add depth and camouflage the fact that it’s small. And wild colors like bright purple, orange or even green can give a room a bright pop of color without being overwhelming,” BUILD magazine said.
Put what you can away... or on display
Storage is a big factor for smaller homes. Seating that can double as storage, such as a bench, can be good for freeing up some space. But not everything has to be put away. Interesting Engineering says some of those things can be displayed.
“If you lack the space for a dedicated pantry or another storage area, why not display them? Make use of breathable baskets, wire baskets, and other aesthetically pleasing storage solutions,” it said.
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