Having your own house is the greatest dream. However, not everyone has the budget to purchase a house. For those who aren’t financially ready to commit to a single-family home, you can still invest in a condo to live in for the meantime while you build your fund for the real deal. Eventually, you can turn your condo investment into a rental, making it a steady income source
One deciding factor when purchasing a condo unit is the space it offers. Condos have smaller rooms compared to a house. But smaller rooms aren’t as bad for a home as some may think. Even a limited space can look larger given the correct colors, furniture, and designs.
Making your small home more cozy needs conscious effort. Having less clutter won’t always do the trick; it depends on how you style your room and trick the eyes into perceiving your home to have a larger space by playing with lines, color, and scale.
- Scale down your furniture
Downsize your furniture to fit the small area that you have. Aside from thinking of the proportions, check the quantity of the furniture you have. It is better to have one sleek sofa that you can convert to a bed instead of three small chairs that only take up valuable space.
To have a sense of openness, choose modern furniture that is low and has exposed legs like the butterfly chair. Choose furniture pieces that are functional and versatile.
- Maximize the wall
Putting floating shelves and mounted cabinets on the wall provides more space around the area, leaving room for other furniture. Aside from saving some space, they are also excellent storing solutions for your books, decorations, and other objects to reduce clutter.
So whenever you feel like you’re running out of storage, look at the wall and see if you have vertical storage space to take advantage of.
- Add furniture with multiple functions
A table and chair with storage functions will always do the trick if you plan to save some space. Aside from providing more area, it is also practical as it means having less furniture to buy and set up in your room. When shopping for furniture, think form and multiple functions, essentially saving you not only space but also money.
- Hang mirrors on the wall
Adding mirrors create an illusion of a wider space as it reflects light to trick you into seeing a more spacious view. Look for minimalist and large mirrors to make it look seamless in your space. When paired with neutral walls, it can create a sense of breathing room.
- Create different zones
Look for a wall divider with storage to create room divisions. Aside from this, you can also use other furnishings that give a distinct visual presence to create different zones, such as rugs and a bookshelf, to establish the living room and separate it from your work area.
- Go for smaller lamps
Contrary to the belief that overhead lights provide more space, it is better to opt for multiple smaller lamps to spread the light around the room instead of a single hanging light fixture that can only light one space. It will also direct your eyes around the room or upward to create an illusion of height.
- Ditch the curtains on windows
Aside from adding more clutter, curtains also block your view of the windows, making your room seem stuffy and closed. Since the goal is to trick your eye into seeing more space, it is better to have an outside view from the windows to make the rooms feel less cramped. But if you don’t want to expose your room fully, you can opt to buy some shutters or cloth blinds.
You can also use a curtain rod that covers beyond the window frame, so you have an option to put the curtains to the sides to have a sense of openness.
- Highlight the lines
Don’t underestimate the power of lines in tricking your eyes into perceiving more space. Whether it is a high drape curtain, a tall shelf, or a horizontal tiled wall, the vertical and horizontal elements will make the room feel more open.
Anything that creates a sense of height and movement directs your eyes to look around in an orderly fashion. Thus, it creates an illusion that makes the space feel bigger.
- Colors matter
According to Hope Gough Marketing Manager Laura Ashley, stick to the magic of threes when deciding about colors. To make your space seem bigger, you must use no more than three colors. It can be any two neutral colors, such as gray and white, and one popping color like yellow and green to make your room more structured and color coordinated.
Always opt for lighter colors as dark ones absorb light, which makes your room look even smaller. In addition, avoid busy patterns, as they can be tricky to work with. And if you don’t do it right, it may end up making the space look chaotic and tacky.
- Go minimalist
Aside from having a complete room make-over, nothing beats having less clutter if you wish to save more space. If you have tons of things in your room that occupy more space than you intend to, it’s time to do some decluttering and decide whether each item should stay or not.
Only aim to keep things that you need and regularly use. All the discarded items don’t have to go straight to the trash can, but they can also be sorted for donations.
Final Thoughts
A small room does not mean spending less time and effort. If you want to transform it into a cozy and spacious pod, you have to make the most out of the spaces you have and be serious about designing your room. Be more conscious of how you set up your home by using the concept of lines, colors, and scale to trick the eyes into seeing more space than there actually is.
