The first rule for making the most of a small room almost goes without saying: You must de-clutter. Stacks of mail, old magazines, and un-put-away clothes don’t look good in any room. In small rooms, they’re overwhelming. “People know this, but they don’t want to hear it,” says organizer and designer Kyle Freeman, founder of Cloud 9 Organize & Redesign in Boston. Her advice? “As you’re going through things, ask yourself, ‘If I were moving tomorrow, would I bother bringing this with me?’ ” If not, give it away, recycle it, or sell it. Once the excess is gone, try some of these tips (many of which could work in not just one particular room but throughout your home) for making your place feel more spacious and efficient.
Get size wize
YOUR HOME: THINK SMALL
Interior designers and professional organizers share space-saving tips for every room in your home.
Living room
Keep the tones of the room’s major elements unified. “The fewer dramatic color changes, the better,” Freeman says. So having, say, a pale blue rug, then a dark brown couch, then a pale blue wall isn’t ideal. “Subtler transitions will make a small space feel more livable.”
It’s a good idea, too, to leave some walls blank. Rather than sprinkling artwork everywhere, place smaller pieces together in an attractive, eclectic grouping – a more sophisticated look than the one-piece-per-wall thing – and let other walls remain unadorned, Freeman advises.
Also, be realistic about your seating needs. “I always ask people how often they have people over, because often it turns out they’re trying to create seating for 10 when that only happens twice a year – and their space will feel cramped the other 363 days,” Freeman says. Make sure any ottoman or occasional table can also work as extra seating, and opt for pieces in clear Lucite and acrylic “that don’t crowd a space visually,” says Joshua Shockley, cofounder of Carriage House Creative, an interior design firm in Providence.
If you need a coffee table, consider an ottoman topped with a large tray, so the ottoman can serve as a bench when you’re entertaining. Even better, Freeman says, is “an ottoman that doubles as a file storage spot or a fold-up sleeper ottoman.”
Taking that concept further, make all your living room furniture multipurpose. Kevin O’Brien, also of Carriage House Creative, suggests using small pieces that can be easily shuffled around, redistributed, and re-purposed to help a small room serve a variety of needs. “A living room with one large sofa and coffee table can be a one-trick pony, but if you have ottomans, stools, and benches, you can turn a sitting room into an impromptu dining or game room in an instant,” he explains.
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