ENLARGING A SMALL SPACE

When you don't have a ton of space to work with, decorating can be difficult; so can organizing; living with children; keeping it clean; moving around in it….I could keep going for hours! Sometimes though, it's the little touches (and little items) that can change the feel of an entire room AND the way it functions. Take it from me— sprawling spaces aren't really my reality— but as a girl who loves organization and tidiness I can tell you, these are ways to make it work! 

WALL STORAGE is majorly important when it comes to cramped spaces. COAT RACKS are overlooked easily and I've never understood why. Maybe because people always picture the old-fashioned standing ones that are total eyesores. Luckily though, the world of coat rack designs have come a long way. The link posted above even shows some cool DIY designs (which I can't wait to make for my house!) from fellow design blog "A Designer Life". Coat racks can be multi-purposed; they can hang coats (obv) and anything you walk through the door with— while also standing in as makeshift kitchen storage… Rather than having your coveted cupboard space devoted to spices you can use it as a SPICE RACK. Same goes for UTENSIL STORAGE; it doesn't need to take up counter space when you can easily hang the ones you use regularly. In my experience the less things you have touching the floor of a small space, the better. So think vertical…hang plants, backpacks, purses, blankets….everything, really. The trick is to draw your attention upward. Which brings us to our next tip….

CURTAINS SHOULD BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER AND WIDER than the window that you're covering. It creates the illusion that the windows themselves are bigger than they are, which creates the idea that the room is too. I also, personally, like to opt for airiness to my draperies— which i know might negate the entire reason for getting drapes in the first place but they still get the job done and they look so much less hectic. These ones (pictured below) are found on the interior design blog, drab-to-fab design and illustrate my point perfectly! They're simple, chic, and tie the room together without the fabric overwhelming the space. There's something so effortlessly put-together about all-white window sheers. The purpose of hanging the curtains higher than needed (again) draws people's focus upward. It elongates the room visually. We typically associate high-ceilings with the word spacious...

MIRRORS are also a great trick to visually expanding a space, as shown here from Apartment Therapy (which if you don't follow online, you should start….they're seriously my favorite emails to receive ever and they single-handedly might be the only reason I know how to decorate a house.) Unsure of where to place your mirror? A good rule of thumb are places like the entryways… whether to the house itself, bedrooms, bathrooms; and anywhere you'd like there to be more light. If you have a drab living room, or simply wish it to look bigger than it is, placing a medium to full length mirror along the wall where light naturally hits will make it reflect toward the areas that it doesn't. It will also create the illusion that the room extends past it's 4-walls. You can also amplify this by hanging mirrors on walls parallel to one another. But keep it to 2. You're going for subtle illusions— not funhouse mirrors. 

You also want to try and use anything you possibly can in 2-ways. Look for storage in places that double as something functional as well. Like an ottoman that works as a coffee table and blanket storage…that's 3-in-1! Perfect examples of that are like this leather ottoman from Wayfair or this unique design from World Market. In the blog past i've shown how to use a decorative ladder to store living room blankets too (below)…anything that can kill 2 birds with 1 stone is what you're after. 

You can also try KEEPING DOWN THE WEIGHT. What that means in the land of decorating is to keep furnishings as low to the ground as possible. Shown below, the living room set up has a pretty "standard" amount of sq.ft. allotted to apartment renters, but by using "vertical thinking" they were able to make it appear to have ample space. And that's really all that matters! You can't make your apartment be any BIGGER, but you can make it breathable! Try to look for low sitting couches, large floor pillows for extra seating or a short coffee table. 

LIGHTING is the last bit of advice. I know I said to keep everything off of the floor but I learned the hard way that hanging lights from the ceilings in a small space has to be done just right otherwise you can actually draw attention to how low your ceilings actually are.  If you've got the perfect hanging lampshade that you can't live without, then absolutely hang it! Just keep it closer to the ceiling than you'd naturally think. Play around with it…walk in through the door a few times and be honest about what your first impression is of it's placement. Most of design is all trial and error anyhow…..trust. 

If you decide (like I did once upon a time with my beloved Anthro lampshade) that it just ain't gonna work, opt for curved floor lamps that work in a similar fashion or my personal favorite, sconces— like these: 

Hope this helps!! 

❤︎, b.