Unless you live in a mansion, chances are that you never think you have enough space for all your stuff. Whether you share a house with a few people or live on a small property, space is an issue. In fact, the space inside new build homes has been steadily decreasing. If you bought a home built in 2020, it would have approximately 18% less space than an equivalent house built in 1980.
So what can you do to make the most of your space and alter your lifestyle in order to reduce the need for more items?
Take inspiration from Marie Kondo
Responsible for organised homes and storage boxes all over the world, the KonMari method is all about creating a home that is clean and organised and doesn’t contain items that you either use or love.
Clear and organised homes have been proven to reduce stress, increase productivity and improve mental health. So grab yourself a copy of Marie Kondos’s book, or check out some of her videos on YouTube and get organising. The space you’ll save from throwing things away and keeping them in a logical place will make your space seem like it has doubled without having to do anything.
Use storage smartly
Small properties run the risk of looking untidy and cluttered simply because there isn’t enough space to put things. Even with a huge clear out, you still have things you need and want to keep, so what do you do with them? In a small property, you don’t have the luxury of furniture being solely decorative. Whatever you’re buying, ask if there are ways to find a similar item but with storage inside. For example, a coffee table could have drawers, a double bed could be an ottoman bed, console tables could become a chest of drawers and footstools could be hollow with a hinged lid.
As well to furniture, there are some great products you can use around the home including overdoor and cupboard storage and roll out units that fit in small gaps between kitchen appliances. When it comes to making the most out of a small bathroom look to add storage onto walls or use the dead space under a wall mounted sink to install a specialist unit or drawers.
Learn the interior design tricks
How you decorate your space can have a huge effect on how big or small it looks. Some of the ways that interior designers make the best use of small spaces include using lighter colours throughout, hanging curtains as high as possible and keeping furniture in proportion to the space, rather than overwhelming it with large items.
Final thoughts
In today’s society, we all seem to have so much stuff that we accumulate. Some of it is valuable (both in terms of money and how important it is to us). Yet the places we live are still the same or getting smaller. You can learn to live with fewer items and make your place look and feel much bigger than it is.
Images courtesy of unsplash.com
