Make More Space In A Small Family Home.

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Modern housing seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Or are we just more demanding of space these days? Whatever the reason, sometimes it can feel like your possessions are crowding you out. 

If you ever feel like you have no storage space and nowhere to put anything, these tips might help you get your house back and give all the family a bit more breathing room. 

 

Choose the Right Furniture 

The type of furniture you choose can impact the amount of living space you have.  

Some furnishings can also create the illusion of space even when it’s not a reality. A good example is furniture that stands up off the floor, on legs. When you can see some way under the piece, it has the effect of extending the floor space. Furnishings on legs also allow more light to flow around the room, casting fewer blocky shadows, which also helps create a more spacious atmosphere. 

Choose storage furniture wherever you can, to help keep random bits and bobs such as phone chargers, hobby kit, or magazines and notebooks under control. Lots of occasional tables have drawers or shelves fitted, or you could look for storage footstools or decorative chests which would double as seats in a pinch. 

Extra storage in children’s bedrooms is always a good idea when you’re trying to have less clutter in a room. So it could be worth investigating raised beds. When wardrobe or desk space is incorporated into the same footprint as the mattress, lots of floor space is reclaimed. 

 

Use the Vertical Space 

There’s always room for a shelf or two all over the house, and lots of different styles to choose from to suit most interior designs. 

You can have a bank of shelves in an alcove, or just a single shelf running high up around the perimeter of the room. Alternative areas for shelves include over doorways, especially in bathrooms where we tend to have lots of loose bottles and jars to keep tidy. 

When you’re thinking vertically, include areas such as behind wardrobe doors and on the ends of kitchen cabinets. Both these places can use narrow shelves or even just rails for additional storage or hanging space. 

If the idea of shelves makes you shudder with thoughts of clutter, you’re not alone. The skill with shelving is not to cram them too full and to arrange things artistically. Groups of three (or any odd number) work well and remember to leave plenty of space between individual items when you’re displaying ornaments. In some ways, the space is as important as the object, making the display look intentional rather than being a catch-all for stuff with no home. Here are some great ideas for organising your shelves. 

 

Find the Hidden Spots 

As well as the usual walls and cupboards, make more use of areas not normally used effectively. Hook, rails, or shelves in the little space under the stairs, for instance, can make the area more useful and easier to navigate. 

There is also a lot of space in the kitchen underneath the cabinets that we never use. Sealed off with fitted boards, this is wasted space when every inch counts. Put some sliding or hinged doors on instead and use the space for anything long, short, or flat. Examples include mops, brooms, board games or jigsaw puzzles, baking trays, bats, and racquets… you get the idea. 

  

Use Seasonal Self Storage 

If you really have got more possessions than space to keep them all (and you’re not alone), take a fresh look as self storage with a seasonal eye.  

There are many things we only use on a seasonal basis, from clothing to garden equipment to sports gear and even furnishings used only when guests come to stay. 

With a self storage unit, you can stow all the winter stuff during summer and swap things around as the season changes. That way, you double the amount of space at home without missing anything. 

There’s also the nice treasure hunt you get twice a year when you retrieve possessions you haven’t seen for a few months. It’s astonishing how new and fresh things can seem, and if anything dismays you, you know you can safely dispose of it without any later pangs of regret. Services like RRM rubbish removal Melton make proper disposal easy without you having to even lift a finger.

Small family living spaces can be a daily challenge, but hopefully a couple of these ideas will help you live in harmony, with your family members and your possessions.