There’s no magic wand to push back walls and turn a small house into a mansion. But there are some tricks of the trade that can make even the tiniest home feel spacious and more comfortable:
1 – Clear Out the Clutter
It’s a deceptively simple concept that’s incredibly hard to put into practise. We don’t start out intending to clutter up every drawer and surface, but if it’s not constantly checked and controlled, that’s what happens.
Getting to a clutter-free status takes some work and a ruthless frame of mind. If you don’t love something or have an immediate use for it, it shouldn’t be taking up space at home.
There are a couple of ways to approach the problem:
• Go room to room, weeding out what’s not loved or needed one room at time. This has risks, because as soon as you make some space, clutter from another room easily gets transported.
• Work in categories. This is better because you look at the whole picture all the time. Choose, say, books. You’ll scour the entire house for books you no longer want, and having done so there’s no chance of books from elsewhere filling gaps you’ve created.
2 – Be Organised
If you’re naturally chaotic, this can be tough. But being tidy and keeping things where they belong is as much a habit as simply tossing your keys on the first surface you see as you come through the door.
If you went through the decluttering process, you’ll feel more motivated to break bad habits and tidy up as you go. Having a place for everything sounds like an old fashioned idea, but it does work.
Build the habit in small ways if you’re not used to it. You could, for instance, start by tackling incoming mail every day, and actually deal with matters that need attention instead of letting a ragged pile of junk mail and bills pile up. Success in one area motivates you to move onto another, maybe loading the dishwasher immediately after a meal rather than letting dishes pile up by the sink.
3 – Think Seasonally
If storage space at home is limited, consider alternatives and ways to limit what you keep within your own four walls. Thinking seasonally helps, as you can quickly identify items of furniture or machinery (parasols and lawnmowers?) or clothes and sports equipment (winter boots and skis?) that won’t be used for a few months.
Those items that will lie dormant and untouched could be placed into self storage until they’re needed again. Self storage is perhaps the most well-kept secret behind a tidy and spacious home. Small rented rooms, short term contracts of just a week at a time, easy access and transport links, long opening hours and low rental costs are just a few reasons why it’s a cost effective way of minimising clutter at home.
4 – Motivate Kids
Make it easy for children to clean up after themselves by providing or creating storage areas for their toys. Put up shelves or install cupboards in their rooms, have plastic storage containers for games with small parts or collections of little items.
If packing away is as quick as getting things out, kids won’t put up so much of a fight when it comes to tidying up.
5 – Make Furniture Work Hard
Be the boss of all those gadgets and cables that litter table tops and chair arms by investing in furniture with storage built in. End tables with drawers, coffee tables with lifting tops or shelves underneath, are incredibly handy for quickly hiding all manner of clutter.
6 – Use Vertical Space
Clever use of vertical space can create a more spacious feeling because it can do away with the need for furniture that stands on the floor. Replace bookcases with open shelving, for instance, or hang the TV on the wall with a shelf beneath or to the side for associated control boxes.
Clearing floor space allows in more light, lets the eye travel further along the floor and prevents deep shadows. Similarly, choosing furniture on legs creates an illusion of space.
7 – Small Room Solutions
In kitchens and bathrooms there are storage solutions that work wonders:
• Bathrooms – use vertical storage towers in corners over the bath, and wall cabinets for spare towels and loo rolls as well as toothbrushes and medicines. There’s no law that says only one cabinet is allowed in the bathroom. Have as many as you need. Mirrored ones of the same style and size make decorative features that reflect light and can make the smallest room seem bigger.
• Kitchens – install horizontal rails on the ends of cabinets for tea towels, oven gloves or aprons. Put up hooks for hanging utensils or pans. Consider removing kick boards and using the space beneath cabinets for storage.
Every home has the potential to appear more spacious. It starts and ends with organisation, and a little bit of sideways thinking.
Drew writes for Big Yellow Self Storage. For more information, see their blog.
