Maximising Space In Your Home

It’s one of the main questions my interior consultants get asked on a daily basis: “how do I maximise space?” Large open plan spaces, narrow and long living rooms, cosy but cramped bedrooms – sometimes the dimensions in your home can seem to be limiting, especially during the overwhelming process of redecorating your interior. Here are a few simple tips to consider when transforming those awkward spaces in your home. 1. Open Plan Spaces Huge open spaces, as much of a blessing as they can be, can also be a nightmare when creating a flow in your furniture settings. Usually you’ll have up to three different settings in the one space: a large area for your living space, one for dining, and your kitchen. Create designated spaces by incorporating an oversized rug into, let’s say, the living room – this will subtly separate the space from the others, whilst still keeping a sense of flow. Create harmony between each space through the use of repetition. I’m not saying to use the same furniture collection for every single piece; I’m talking about incorporating the same hues and textures to bridge the gap between each space. For example, if your sofa and coffee table have dark oak legs, then perhaps use a dark oak dining table like my Max Sparrow Dark Oak Extension Table to link the two settings. Or if you have white dining chairs, highlight this colour in your living room through accent cushions, décor items, or even the window treatments. 2. Long and Narrow When it comes to the long and narrow living space in a home, many people tend to squeeze all of their furniture on one side of the room to allow for a main thoroughfare. This tends to end up looking messy and crowded, not to mention that you have all this wasted space on the other side of the room. One way to get around this – literally – is to centre your furniture in the space, but carefully select smaller pieces to feature where you think your main traffic flow will be. For example, if the entry to the space is on the right, have two small stools sitting in from the right hand wall, and have the ‘heavier’ furniture items, such as the sofa or occasional chairs, sitting towards the left of the room. Using something like a bench seat at the rear of the setting is a great way to keep the space open and easily accessible, whilst still offering sufficient seating options. 3. Small and Poky Try to avoid small scale furniture in a room that’s limited in dimensions – this tends to highlight the lack of space, not to mention sometimes it’s not as functional! You can still get away with a decent sized coffee table and side tables, especially if it’s glass or Lucite. Having clear furniture pieces allow light to flow through the room, which helps create the illusion of a larger space. Another thing to remember when furnishing a smaller space is to take advantage of the height of the rooms; something like a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf will make for fantastic a storage solution – not to mention it’s such a fantastic feature piece! I know sometimes it’s hard to visualise what’s written on paper, so take a look at the photographs attached to help further guide you to maximising your gorgeous space at home! [gallery columns="4" ids="31875,31876,31877,31879,31880,31881,31882,31883,31884,31885,31887,31888,31889"]