Tip of the Month - Big Ideas for Small Spaces

Interior Design in a small space can present a big challenge. The eye travels quickly across a small room. Therefore, the room requires a well thought out plan in order to avoid looking junky and feeling cramped. But, with the right design techniques, you can make most any room seem spacious.

The best place to start is from scratch. Begin by totally emptying the room, if possible. This is also a great opportunity to declutter the room. Now you can implement a plan for an efficient, yet good looking room. Furniture arrangement is essential to a successful room plan. Start with the largest piece and the largest wall. From here it's a little bit like putting a puzzle together. A common mistake is to put all the furniture along the perimeter of the room. Instead, try bringing the furniture towards the center of the room. By doing so, you can create an intimate setting and allow for comfortable traffic flow around the furniture. Additionally, you might try to angle the furniture to create intrest and an open feel by breaking up a strictly rectangular room.

As with any room, it is important to assess the items you need in the room based on how you plan to use the room. It should contain nothing more or less than those items, ideally. In dealing with small spaces you may need to get really creative in figuring out how to get the most mileage out of the furniture you have.

The most common belief is that light colors are best for small spaces. Lighter shades tend to reflect more natural light and therefore make the room feel more open. While this is true, it is not the only answer. Deep, rich colors can be used effectively in small spaces if done properly. Darker colors can be a nice neutral background that can add a little "pop" to your artwork and furniture. The key is to not create too much contrast between the walls and the ceiling. So, if you want to use dark colors on the wall you should use just a shade lighter on the ceiling. Another technique in working with darker colors is to use a glossy finish that will reflect light. The challenge with high gloss is that this type of paint will show every imperfection in the wall and every brush stroke. You might consider a textured finish if opting for the high gloss paint. The texture will hiade most anything. < back