Small-space design is my jam. It kinda has to be. Ever since I moved to New York City at age 22 and stayed in the area for the next 17 years, I’ve set up home in some super-small nests.
What’s my secret to living big and beautiful in a tiny footprint? Both form and function must be equally at play.
The most spacious-feeling adult home I’ve had was V’s and my brick loft in an old Rhode Island mill. It was bright and open, with 20-foot ceilings and 11 massive windows. I could even stretch my arms out side-to-side in the bathroom without touching a wall! I know you fellow small-spacers feel me on that. As Summer started to grow and our needs changed, we moved into the charming in-law suite that had once been my Gram’s. The plan was to stay for a year or so, but as plans sometimes go, we’re still here. Two adults, one toddler, and an orange cat residing in this cozy little cottage. Curious to see how we make our living room work?
Bigger is better.
In the loft, our sofa was a gorgeous focal point floating in the middle of the open floor plan and visible from all angles. Here, it’s tucked into a little nook with no more than an inch to spare on either side. (Tip: Think you need to stick to small furniture in a small space? Think again. It seems counterintuitive, but a few larger pieces of furniture can actually make a small room feel bigger. The same goes for art.) I like to spread a faux-fur throw over the sofa seat for an added layer of coziness and easily washable toddler/cat protection. Though it may be the grownups who spill on it more…
White and light.
While we love, love, love color, we chose cohesive, warm-white walls and drapes to blend with our sofa fabric. That helps the space feel open and airy and lets the pillows, rug, and occasional chair provide the colors and textures that give the look warmth and depth.
We hung the drapery rods far above the windows to make the ceiling appear higher and had just enough room to lay down a 5’ x 8’ wool rug to make the floor feel larger. The rug is also key to defining the living area from the very-nearby entryway and kitchen and keeps toes, paws, and playtime comfy.
Our sofa table does a few tricks: It floats the sofa off the wall, creating visual “breathing room”; allows the drapes room to flow; and creates a surface for an ambient table lamp, a decor moment, and our morning-coffee mugs. This is pretty handy, since we opted to ditch our coffee table in lieu of room for Summer to play.
Storage solution.
And what about our stuff? How do we handle the storage needs of a small family in our main living area? Two words: built-in bookshelves. Or in this case, faux built-in bookshelves. At only 11” deep but almost 7’ high, these Billy bookcases from Ikea are my small-space secret design weapon! Here, we’ve used three of them mounted together and securely anchored to the wall. Selecting a finish that blends in with the paint color and omitting the back panels allows the whole wall to read as expansive and unified while maximizing space and drawing the eye up.
Now our pops of color can come in! Baskets and bins organize toys and games, books are arranged by size (both standing and stacked), and cherished pieces are mixed in to display personal style. With the back open, we’re able to plug in a small lamp and all of the electronics cords hiding behind my Gram’s old suitcase. We also mounted the television on an extending arm so it floats in front of the shelves and is comfortably viewable from all seats without taking up any livable space. Though one person’s treasure may be another person’s headache, remember this: Clutter looks less crazy when it’s corralled inside of straight lines. Try it anywhere in the form of a tray, a cubby, or a bookcase. You’ll be delighted by the way it works!
Of course, the trick to keeping this look feeling calm is to keep it tidy. And yeah, we need to tidy all.the.dang.time, seeing that only a few things out of place makes it look ransacked. But isn’t that life with a toddler anywhere?
Throw-pillow refresh.
A fun way we keep our living room feeling fresh and interesting all year long is by changing up our pillow covers from season to season. This is a trait both V and I inherited from our days working together on the visual team for Pottery Barn, and it’s stuck. Each season welcomes an opportunity to showcase different colors, patterns, and textures, and because we kept our large pieces in warm whites, we’re here for it!
For this winter season, we created a modern, neutral palette without it feeling dull or solely white and beige by layering a mix of pillow sizes in warm desert hues, like a soft, velvety blush and warm cognac leather; cool January blues, like an embroidered jacquard and a textured linen kilim; and a pop of bling and whimsy from a shaggy Moroccan wedding tapestry.
Accessorize with seasonal colors, textures, and goods.
The sofa-table decor can also be an ever-changing scene, and this large glass Bosphorus vase is the perfect element for showcasing a seasonal display. In the springtime, I fill it with flowers or faux lemons; in the summertime, seashells or beach stones and candles; in the autumn, pinecones or faux pears; and at Christmastime, glass baubles or winter greens.
But what to do for the cold season between the holidays and the first daffodil blooms? I was craving something to lift the winter blues—something calm and earthy that nodded to the warm desert hues of our new-year throw-pillow refresh—but nothing I tried felt right. I fought the instinct to go shopping and challenged myself to roam around our rooms and see our belongings in a new light, hoping for a spark of imagination. As I surveyed our stuff, it came to me—music! What lifts your spirit more than the magic of music, even if it’s just showcasing color-coordinated spines? A stack of CDs proved to be the perfect size to fit inside of the vase, and topping them with a philodendron in a greige terracotta pot reminds me that spring will be here soon, bringing with it open windows and a door that will make our space feel a little bit bigger.
Small-Space Design Tipsheet
Big ideas to help your small space live large:
- Paint Your Walls in Light Colors – As a general rule, a light paint color or wall covering will make your walls recede, creating a more spacious feel. Conversely, a dark paint color or wall covering will draw your walls in, creating a dramatic, nest-like effect. I love a dark color in a powder room, study, or large living room with lots of natural light. But if you want to create the illusion of more space, go light and bright.
- Keep Your Curtains and Large Furniture Pieces in the Same Color Family as Your Wall – Tone, on tone, on tone lets your eye flow over these big pieces and read them as one canvas. Too much contrast between your walls, curtains, and furniture can register as visual clutter, making any room seem smaller.
- Maintain Consistent Color Schemes from Room to Room – I painted every room in my first apartment a different color. Yellow, white, gray, cornflower blue, cream, terracotta, and dark green. I was too excited over Martha Stewart’s new paint line and didn’t want to choose only one or two. It was a long, narrow space, so I kinda got away with it. Now I know that creating flow and unity in my space means sticking to a cohesive color scheme from room to room, or at least choosing pieces in hues that complement one another, thus making the whole space feel larger.
- Choose Larger Pieces of Furniture – Quiz time! What feels more cluttered: four small chairs or one large sofa? Too many small pieces consume visual space and make it feel tight. One or two larger pieces let a room feel more spacious.
- Define a Zone with an Area Rug – An area rug will ground everything on it and let your eye see a defined area, which reads as flow. And yes, your rug counts as one of your larger pieces. Choose a size that properly fits the entire space you want to designate so that at least the front legs of your furniture can sit on it.
- Float Furniture Away from Your Walls – Moving furniture even a few inches from a wall lets light and air move about, making your space feel more open.
- Hang Curtains Above Your Window Frames – To make a room feel taller, hang rods 4 to 6 inches above window frames. Extending the rod 3 to 6 inches beyond both sides of the frame makes a window feel grand and allows more light to shine through when the drapes are open. For a clean, casual look, hang drapes so they fall just a 1/2 inch above the floor – or as I like to say, just enough for a Swiffer to slide under them.
- Add Built-In or Faux Built-In Bookcases – Just like in a city, when you can’t build out, build up. Stylish, vertical storage is a small space’s best friend. Bookcases corral visual clutter in eye-pleasing straight lines and read like one large piece of wall art.
- Mount Your TV – Hanging your TV immediately buys you more floor space. But it also creates another situation: Where are you going to store the cable box and other devices? We solved this issue by mounting our TV on a universal arm inside our faux built-ins and placing the components on the shelves. We softened the look of the heavy electronics by separating them from one another and mixing in cheery books and DVDs.
- Hang a Single Piece of Art – You know I love a good gallery wall, but in a small space, a single statement piece of art on a wall will shine. You don’t need to hang it centered on the wall between the floor and the ceiling. Hang it in visual relation to what’s below it. And pssst . . . it’s lower than you think.
- Add Ambient Lighting – Table and floor lamps throughout the room will disperse light and draw your eyes around the space.
- Keep It Interesting with a Seasonal Throw Pillow and Accessory Refresh – Switching up pillows, throws, and coffee- or sofa-table decor every few months makes a small space feel brand new.
- Live With Items That Make You Happy – “If you’re going to look at it every day, you may as well like it.” Those were my sister’s words regarding baby gear and toys when I was pregnant with Summer. Just because it’s functional doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty. Whether it be your remote control holder, your coasters, or your baby’s bouncy seat, choose things that spark joy, because in a small space, even the little things matter.
Small-space living isn’t always convenient, and I sure feel like I run out of room daily, but it’s helped me learn to be more intentional about the material things we consume and live with. More importantly, it’s given me an appreciation for the sweet moments of now, when everyone I love is only a glance away and nothing from this season is being missed out on.
I’m listening to:
Resources:
Sofa: Pottery Barn, PB Comfort Roll Arm Slipcovered Sofa in Cream Twill
Armchair: Pottery Barn, Cardiff Tufted Upholstered Armchair with Nailheads in Denim Washed Indigo
Rug: Pottery Barn, Barret Hand Loomed Wool Rug in Gray
Bookcases: Ikea, Billy Bookcase in White
Curtains: Ikea (Similar to shown.)
Pillow Covers + Faux Fur Throw: Pottery Barn, Washed Velvet, Pieced Leather, Moroccan Wedding Blanket, Faux Fur Throw Fawn
Lamp: Pier 1 (Similar to shown.)
Vase: Pottery Barn
Side Table: HomeGoods (Similar to shown.)
Wall Art: Marshalls (Similar to shown.)
Television: Samsung
Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore, Mascarpone