Small houses are affordable, practical, and often the only option in cities or neighborhoods that are popular. A small house doesn’t necessarily have to stay small. Our perception of space is malleable.
There are things we can do to make a tiny house look bigger and more spacious. It all comes down to creativity and understanding of a few basic principles of interior design. Let’s jump right into it.
The Importance of Light
Light is the prism through which we observe the world around us. Just like different types of light can change the way people look, light can also change the way we perceive different spaces. Light adds volume, especially if you can let in more natural light into your living space.
Tiny houses are generally well covered with windows and other glass surfaces, so this should be a built-in feature. If it isn’t, opening up more ways for the sun to enter your home could be worth your while.
Free Up the Real Estate
One of the main problems with tiny houses and houses that lack square footage is space management. In many cases, it’s not the lack of actual room that’s the problem, but rather a poor interior design.
You can greatly improve your situation by reorganizing your furniture and moving storage space to the vertical plane. If you have any massive cabinets taking way too much room, get rid of them. Instead, take whatever was in them and move everything into storage that’s either wall-mounted or otherwise hidden.
That sounds like a tall order, right? It doesn’t have to be. You would be surprised how many ingenious products there are on the market that will make smart storage easy. All it takes is some out of the box thinking on your part, and you can make it happen.
Multipurpose furniture has become one of the most popular home design trends because it provides more storage without compromising space. You can get a teak modular sofa for outdoors with added areas for storage or a bed with built-in drawers. These pieces of furniture will not only make your home more spacious but also add an interesting touch to your interior design.
The Magic of Stripes
Humans are susceptible to optical illusions. We are great at seeing things that aren’t real as our mind completes various shapes on its own. Pattern recognition is a strong human trait. Because of that, adding stripes to your tiny house could potentially make it appear much roomier.
Whether it’s a striped rug or a striped wall decoration, adding stripes works. The only thing to look out for is to keep the stripes longitudinal. In other words, add stripes in a direction of length.
Form Over Function with Drapes
Drapes can be your friend if you’re looking to give your home a bit more height. Just like striped rugs expand space in the horizontal plane, drapes do the same in the vertical plane.
The key is to use drapes but still let in as much light as you can into your home. Essentially, you’re using them for their form rather than their function.
Drop a Wall or Two
If you’re not sure that optical illusions will satisfy your need for more space, you can always remove a non-load-bearing wall. Hire a crew that’s experienced in general construction and have them assess your living space. There is a good chance that you can get away with removing a wall or two and thus creating more open space.
Of course, whenever you’re looking to demolish interior walls, you need to triple check and confirm that you’re not messing with a load-bearing structure.
Play With Colors
Alright, back to optical illusions. Colors, just like light, can affect our perception of space. We tend to associate brighter colors with increased depth of field. On the other hand, darker colors close space. In fact, if you were to paint your walls something dark, or even black, you would get an impression that your space is now smaller than it originally was.
By combining bright colors with natural light, you’re essentially making sure that your basics of interior design are geared toward creating artificial depth. Combining everything we’ve mentioned so far, you could really add some perceived square footage to your living space.
Mirrors
The last trick in our book involves mirrors. This one should be self-explanatory. A big enough mirror can make your room appear twice as big simply by being there. Best of all, achieving this effect doesn’t require you to cover entire walls with mirrors.
You can enjoy the same benefits by using smaller, strategically placed mirrors around the house. It’s worth mentioning that mirrors are also quite practical, but you probably know that already. Many people are looking for an excuse to get more mirrors and there’s no better one than making your house look bigger!
Be Creative
Overall, there are many methods you can use to expand your home at least a little. Thinking outside the box and being creative will prove to be extremely helpful, if not essential during this process. Be open-minded, and you’ll forever change the way your home fees.