Maximizing What You Have Where You Are
There are a lot of different things you can do to make a small space livable. Following we’ll examine a number of strategies which can give a big heart to tiny rooms, increasing their utility, and allowing you to live larger with less.
1. Mirrors And Lighting
Mirrors expand the feeling of a given space. This is because mirrors double light. Essentially, if you’ve got one wall filled floor-to-ceiling with mirrors, fifty square feet feels like a hundred square feet.
Your mind knows better on an unconscious level, but simultaneously, the room seems bigger. You keep catching things out of the corner of your eye, and light is reflected.
There are a number of different ways to do this. Certainly, you could put mirrors all up and down one wall, or on across the ceiling, but a better way to go about things may be to stagger your mirrors—then it seems like there are little windows into other areas.
Another option might be using technology. Imagine a projector sending an image to a wall which changes scenes when you hit a button on your smartphone.
https://pixabay.com/photos/home-room-bedroom-vase-bed-2082922/
2. Partitions
A cubicle isn’t large, but it is designed to essentially condense an office into a single area. Now, you can bring this same sort of thinking to small spaces. Imagine if you’re in a tiny home that’s under 400 square feet. You can use partitions to cut one room into an office and a recreation area.
Additionally, you can put paintings and mirrors on partitions. So consider this: you stick a partition in the middle of a room, and hang mirrors on either side. Now though the room has been cut in half, each individual side feels as large as the other—even though it isn’t.
3. Built-In Or Customized Furniture
RTA stands for Ready To Assemble. There is a very interesting line of RTA kitchen Cabinets available right now. These cabinets have a level of customization surrounding them that is fairly recent. It becomes possible to find alternatives which exactly match the needs of your living area.
With furniture customized to space, you can essentially “build-in” storage. This means you can have cabinets, shelves, and other options that don’t require you to move them. Recessed spaces are even better, but a slightly more expensive undertaking. Still, built-in-furniture can be instrumental in helping you get the most from a tiny room.
4. Foliage
Plants can do a lot to make a house livable. When it comes to internal foliage, you’ve got expanded latitude. With a swamp cooler and regular spritzing from a handheld water bottle, you can keep tropical plants healthy indoors. Here are some more tips on keeping plants indoors to help you get the most out of them.
Imagine a vine grown and stretched around the corners of a small space. Suddenly what was only a one-room apartment becomes almost a fantastic getaway from reality. Bonsai trees, potted plants, flowers, and even tiny vegetable gardens can all be successfully husbanded indoors. Doing so makes a space feel larger from sheer curiosity.
When you’ve got pictures on the walls or mirrors, this makes what was blank a mental placeholder. That is to say: your brain must process this information, meaning you segment a portion of space toward a certain thought.
Foliage, pictures, mirrors, windows, figurines, statues—all these things expand the visible surface area of a space, giving your brain more to work with. This makes things seem larger.
5. Vertical Thinking
Think vertical. Instead of two bedrooms for your kids, get a bunk-bed—and use the same strategy yourself. Why do you need a closet? Lift the bed an extra foot and install drawers beneath—now you’ve got more storage without needing more space. The stairs to your bed can also be filled with drawers if you like. Find what works best for you. Vertical cabinetry also expands the utility of a given room.
Expanding The Utility Of Even A Tiny Room
If you’re thinking vertically, incorporating foliage, using RTA solutions, partitioning spaces, and properly installing mirrors, then you’ll be able to get the most from even the tiniest rooms.
Consider what you’ve got to work with, and what you’d like to have, and augment accordingly. Even a small room can be a castle if you’re savvy in its décor.
Identity Magazine is all about guiding women to discover their powers of Self-Acceptance, Appreciation, and Personal Achievement.
We ask that every contributor and expert answer the Identity questions in keeping with our theme. Their answers can be random and at the moment or they can be aligned with the current article they have written. In that way, and as a team, we hope to encourage and motivate each other, thus inspiring you to Get All A’s.
1. Think about what have you accepted within your life, physically and/or mentally? Additionally, what are you still working on accepting? Now, we’re not talking about resignation, rather stepping into, embraced, and owned.
I believe that accepting not being a perfect person is the beginning of becoming one. Life continues to throw opportunities at us to learn from our mistakes in order to better ourselves. I have my own share of hardships and successes and I am happy that I am on a learning curve and improving myself.
2. What have you learned to appreciate about yourself and/or within your life, physically and mentally? On the other hand OR in contrast, are there elements of who you are that you’re still working on appreciating?
Earlier I used to have intermittent bouts of anger and frustration with regards to my work and relationships, but gradually I started to overcome my insecurities and inhibitions. The fact that I know I have many weaknesses yet have the ability to make things better — is the biggest appreciation I have for myself.
3. What is one of your most rewarding achievements in life? Tell us not only what makes YOU most proud but also share the goals and dreams that you still have.
My individuality and my attitude are the keys to unlock my own true potential to achieve something bigger in life. I think this is my most rewarding and enduring achievement.
