If your home is 1,000 square feet or less, you’ve got a small home! Decorating the rooms in a small house can prove to be a difficult task, but with the right guidance and expert advice, you can make your small home feel larger than life. Carmen Mackey shares some of her best tips and tricks for decorating a small home.
Rethink the size (and function) of your furnishings. Bulky tables, chests of drawers, and seating elements can quickly eat up the space in a room. Instead, think outside the box and use compact furnishings that really pack a punch. Seek out furnishings that double as storage, like an ottoman that you can stow throw blankets in or a decorative bench that you can store electronics. In small homes, all of the furnishings should have more than one purpose. Invest in these furnishings to free up floor space and give each room in your home dual purpose.
Use wall space wisely. When hanging things like window treatments, it’s all about the spacing. Create the illusion of larger windows by installing curtain rods and valances closer to the ceiling. If you’re using drapes, make sure that they touch the floor so as to trick the eye into thinking the windows are larger than they actually appear. Similarly, well placed mirrors can completely change the size of a space, creating the illusion of depth. Mirrors reflect natural light, making the room brighter and thus, appear larger.
Be clever with color and contrast. Generally speaking, light colors make a room feel bigger and brighter. You can use the color you adorn your walls with to create optical illusions that trick the eye. Use tones of off-white, blues, and greens to achieve this. If your home features any kind of trim, paint them a lighter color than what you use on the walls. This will make the walls appear father back, giving you the illusion of more space.
Clear away the design clutter. You don’t want to fill your small home with furnishings and fixtures, as this can make the space feel cramped. To save on precious square footage, opt for lighting that can be attached to walls or hung from the ceiling. This will also free up more table space for entertaining or everyday living.
Float your furniture. Many homeowners think that pushing furniture up against the walls can make a room feel more open, but in reality, it does the opposite. Floating your furniture, or arranging it carefully away from your walls, can make the room feel more open and expanded.
