Living in London means making every square meter of your space count. With the increase in each square meter causing a hole in your pocket, here are some ideas to get creative with your tinier floor plans.
Declutter
Declutter in order to make creative changes and make your design shine. Keep only the items that you really need or you feel would make a statement piece wherever you place it. Decluttering will also enable you to have appropriate circulation which is vital when it comes to smaller floor plans.
Colour Scheme
Colour scheme should be harmonious, preferably light and neutral to make the space feel bigger. However if you are more of a colourful person, make sure you pick complementing colours and similar tones throughout the house in order to have a pleasing effect on the eyes. An example of this could be chosing a single theme for the entire flat/ house and working accordingly.
Floating shelves
Floating shelves / built-in shelves or desk space can be very helpful to organise and display your decoration pieces, books or even to create a little study.
Install sliding doors
Install sliding doors, or alternatively, pocket doors to create more circulation space while also allowing separation. This would be very helpful in creating partitions or zones within the floor plan, but at the same time have the option of these doors to open up and enable visual connection.
Open floor plan
Open floor plan or creating zones, adding transparent partition walls is another creative way to make your space light and airy and let light pass through seamlessly. Always remember, visual connect. The farther your eyes can reach, the bigger your home will feel.
Multipurpose spaces
Multipurpose spaces that allow transitional function will allow you to have less objects and furniture occupying the space and instead of creating many smaller zones, you will be able to have one zone which you are able to use in multiple ways. It is an extension of having multi-purpose furniture, like sofa bed/ day bed, or a foldable dining table, etc. There are a huge range of options now in terms of multipurpose furniture that are beautifully designed and are highly functional and efficient.
Correct furniture
Correct furniture type will help to maximise what your space has to offer. Multipurpose furniture being one option, the other two ways to go about it are, either using bigger but fewer furniture, or avoiding bulky furniture altogether.
Good natural lighting and efficient artificial/ indoor lighting
Good natural lighting and efficient artificial/ indoor lighting can uplift a space immensely. With a smaller space, good amount of light is necessary, especially in common areas or where we spend most of our time like living area or even kitchen. It helps to bring your beautiful view inside.
Quick tip: Use of colour changing light fixtures (Smart light/ Smart bulb) can help transform your mood from study during the day, to leisure in the evening, enabling your multipurpose space idea.
Mirrors
Mirrors and other reflecting surfaces like shiny kitchen tiles even will contribute in creating an illusion of a bigger space by bouncing light off its surface. This can be done in your entryway, living or kitchen to add more depth to space.
Custom storage
Custom storage to fit in appliances like washer dryer, or even adding vertical storage space like kitchen cabinets will
help to maximise space. Keeping appliances behind doors will give space a cleaner and airer feel.
Quick tip: Using space under steps as storage, seating, reading or as study will add an extra character to your space.
Now that you are up-to-date with these 10 amazing ideas for updating smaller spaces, a final tip to help bring all the ideas together is to add textures and layers to your design. Oversized art or some personal touches will bring depth in space and create a harmonious design that is truly yours.
