Mad ABOUT THE house
KATE WATSON-SMYTH, interiors expert and Red columnist, shares how to make a small room look more spacious
House prices are getting larger while buildings are getting smaller. Space has become a luxury that many of us simply can’t afford. Even those of us with space often have small rooms to decorate. But compact living is no longer about making do; it can be used to highlight good design, clever ideas and luxury finishes.
In my new book, Home: The Way We Live Now (out 27th April), I have devoted a full third to the planning and decoration of small-space living to show you how to get the most out of every tiny room.
Yes, it’s about decluttering, but there are decorating tricks and storage ideas that will give the illusion of space, and, above all, make a room so functional that its size will be the last thing on your mind.
One of the key factors to living well is natural light. Dress your windows with blinds rather than curtains – unless you have space to pull them back fully at the sides. Hang a mirror so it reflects the light further back into the room. If you own rather than rent, consider a glasspanelled door that slides back and leaves you with more wall space – perhaps for storage.
Built-in furniture is your friend as it can add up to 30% more storage. To prevent your room looking too modern and functional, don’t forget vintage furniture. Many antique chairs and wardrobes are smaller than their modern equivalent, and this way you can add personality.
But you don’t want your home to look like a doll’s house, so you need to play with scale. Keep the main pieces as large as you can – beds and sofas – and add smaller accent pieces.
It’s also really important to leave breathing space. If you can, don’t cram a sofa against the wall or a corner; instead, leave a little gap all around, as this stops things looking squashed.
One of the key factors to making a small room look more spacious is to stick with a single colour on the walls, ceiling and woodwork. Traditional white woodwork is best avoided, as it outlines the edges of a small room.
We all know the trick of using furniture with legs in small rooms, as the more floor you can see, the bigger the space will look, but did you know that you should also take the eye upwards? Floors tend to be full of furniture, but adding a tall headboard or large hanging pictures encourages the eye to travel up to where the space is emptier.
Follow these simple tricks to make the most of your small spaces. There are plenty more in the book, which also deals with rentals and working from home. The pages are split into three, so you can mix and match the chapters and find solutions for the room you are dealing with.