Home Inspiration With Justine Hand
As a former New Yorker and current owner of a wee Cape Cod cottage, I am quite familiar with both the charm and challenges of small spaces. When done well, they can feel like cozy, zen-like retreats. But often when you have to cram all your worldly possessions into one tiny space, the results can feel cramped, claustrophobic, and anything but restful. Achieving the former instead of the latter takes some conscious effort.
The good news is that the key to successful small-space living might be easier than you think. It all boils down to tricking the eye into perceiving more space by employing three simple concepts: scale, light, and movement.
Photography by Matthew Williams for Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home, unless otherwise noted.
1. Scale it down.
Above: At Harbor Cottage in Maine, all the furniture, even the woodstove, has been downsized to fit the small living area.
Furniture for the small space is all about proportions. Simply put, if a piece brushes up against the boundaries of the room, either up and down or sideways, it's too large. To create a sense of roominess, always leave a little air in between the sides of your furniture and the walls. (The one exception is a bed; a queen placed between two walls, for instance, creates a cozy sleeping cave.)
Also avoid heavy, weighty pieces that eat up too much of the usable space in the room. For example, a sleek sofa or chair will give you as much sitting room as its overstuffed cousin but will take up much less of your room. If you long for a large, statement piece, hang it on the wall (a piece of art and mirror). Don't consume valuable living space by putting it on the floor.
2. Keep a low profile.
Above: Designer Corinne Gilbert uses low-slung pieces to create an open feel in her living room. Also, notice that the mirrors are hung low so that they "relate" to the sofa.
Furniture that is lower to the ground will create a feeling of openness in a room simply by the fact that they leave more space above them. In the bedroom, choose a loft bed or even try placing a mattress directly on the floor. In the living room, embrace your inner Mad Men style with low-to-the-ground midcentury pieces. Or, if your tastes run more toward the romantic and ornate, 19th-century furniture also has a low profile.
Above: Designer Michaela Scherrer's bed feels spacious even though the bed takes up most to the room. That's because both her bed and the art on the walls are positioned toward the lower half of the room, leaving the upper half virtually empty. The single bulb hanging from the ceiling also serves to emphasize the height of the room.
3. Show a little leg with lithe furniture.
Above: The Hudson Valley retreat of Workstead's Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechbuehler is short on space and long on charm. To maximize the sense of light and air, the design duo employed leggy and lithe furniture and fixtures.
Again, creating the illusion of more space is all about creating a sense of openness and movement. Furniture that is streamlined allows light and air to flow not just over, but also under and around it, so that it appears to float in space. Again, think midcentury modern pieces which are both low and "leggy". Or consider the perfect piece of soaring furniture: the butterfly chair. (See Object Lesson: The Classic Butterfly Chair.)
Above: In her London living room, Remodelista's Christine Chang Hanway creates an open feel by employing midcentury furniture that allows light from the generous windows to flow through the room. Photograph by Kristen Perers for Remodelista.
4. Mirror, mirror on the wall…
Above: In her small bedroom in Brooklyn, architectural designer Elizabeth Roberts cleverly positions a mirror so that it actually looks like another window.
Any discussion of small spaces needs to include the idea of using mirrors to create a greater sense of openness. Not only do they reflect light, they also reflect the view, thereby tricking the eye into perceiving more space.
5. Ditch the drapes (and rugs).
Above: In their Hudson Valley living room, Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechbuehler of Workstead maximize a sense of space by using leggy, low-profile furniture and fixtures as well as a mirror over the couch. They also keep the space looking uncluttered by ditching the drapes and the rug.
As we saw with mirrors, it's all about tricking the eye. Curtains stop the eye from taking in the view outside, even if they don't cover the whole window. And drapes and curtains just add more "stuff" to the room. Eliminating them keeps the space simple. If you want privacy, consider shutters or lightweight mesh or cloth blinds. Or if curtains are a must for you, use a bar that extends far beyond the window frame, so you can fully expose the window.
Ditto rugs. Cast your eye over all the small spaces in this article. Note how few have rugs or, if they do, how simple and minimal they are.
Above: In my own Cape Cod cottage, note how with the absence of curtains, the eye is drawn right through several rooms and out the window beyond.
6. White it out.
Above: Author Sara Emslie promotes the reflective power of white in her book, Beautifully Small.
We all know of white's reflective qualities. It opens up a room, making it feel airy and light, calm and serene. Painting the walls and ceiling the same shade of white only enhances this cloud-like effect. And it serves to blur the boundaries between wall and celling, causing your eye to travel up, essentially making the ceiling seem higher. Finally, in small spaces that can quickly become cluttered looking, white is a good choice because it simplifies a space and emphasizes the architecture. (That's why architects love it so much. See 10 Easy Pieces: Architect's White Paint Picks.)
If you're worried that an all-white space will feel too cold, then pair it with warming elements like wood, or textured elements, such as a shaggy wool throw. And remember that you don't have choose a stark white. (See Remodeling 101: How to Choose the Perfect White Paint.)
7. Emphasize the vertical.
Above: Sydney-based architect Christopher Polly used vertical shiplap to emphasize the height of this small living/dining/kitchen area. Note also the small-scale furniture and feeling of movement as your eye travels all over the room.
Whether it's a tall shelf, some vertical shiplap, or the bare hanging bulb we saw in Michaela Scherrer's bedroom above, employing one element that emphasizes the vertical space in the room will increase the sense of openness. It also enhances the feeling of movement and flow.
Above: In her wee bath, clothing designer Dagmar Daley ditched her curtains, used all white to maximize the sense of light and air, and she used vertical elements, wainscoting and a shower curtain, to emphasize the height of the room.
8. Emphasize the horizontal.
Above: In this bedroom, designer Tiina Laakonen ran horizontal shiplap right up the walls and ceiling. The effect is a seamless transition from wall to ceiling that emphasizes the height and the width of the room. Note also that the curtains are pushed to the side to frame the view.
It all boils down to creating a sense of movement. Like the leggy furniture that creates a sense of dynamism, or the mirrors that reflect light and a view back into the room, anything that causes your eye to travel around a room in an intentional and orderly fashion will make it feel larger. (I say "international and orderly" because a cluttered room with lots of distracting elements will also cause your eye to travel, but in a haphazard fashion.
Above: In this small dining space, both the horizontal and the vertical are emphasized by the horizontal color band that divides the space in half. Note also how the large photo above the table acts as a window drawing your eye into the "view" beyond. Photograph by Nikolas Koenig via Desire to Inspire.
9. Clear a pathway.
Above: In her Napa Valley bungalow, Remodelista's Sarah Lonsdale cleared a path in her dining room by stetting the table to one side rather than at the center of the room.
When dealing with a small room, one naturally whats to maximize the space by pushing all the pieces to the edges. But if this causes you to bump into things, it can enhance a claustrophobic feel. Sometimes it is better to group the furniture on one side of the room, so people can pass through unhindered.
10. Use breezy fabrics.
Above: To maximize the open, airy feeling of this cozy Berlin apartment, Lea Korzeczek and Matthias Hiller of Studio Oink employed the reflective power of white coupled with breezy, lightweight fabrics.
If possible, avoid heavy materials and fabrics that absorb light and weigh your room down. Linen is a perfect example of a lightweight material that will increase the sense of airiness in the room.
11. Above all, keep it simple.
Above: As demonstrated in Workstead's Brooklyn home, keeping your palette and furniture to a minimum serves to create an open feel. A few choice pieces (in this case, a midcentury Eames lounge chair and Jean Prouve Potence lamp) go a long way to adding personality to a room.
Small spaces are all about editing. The more pieces, possessions, and patterns you have in a room, the more cluttered it will feel. Avoid too many knickknacks or at least group them so they read as an installation. Ditto with art; concentrate your framed pieces on one or two walls. Avoid busy patterns and overwhelming colors. Or, if you absolutely must have that William Morris-esque wallpaper, consider placing it on one accent wall. Same with color, try painting just one wall or a door and stick to a single shade. Now is not the time to embrace the whole spectrum.
The bottom line is you need to be strict with yourself (actually, this concept applies to all spaces) and intentional about everything that goes into the room. If you go for the wallpaper accent wall, then keep the rest of the room simple. If you need that huge oil painting in your living room, try having it be the only art in the room.
Above: The bare bones treatment of this bedroom by Father Rabbit Limited turns a small space into a restful retreat.
N.B. Looking for more small space and other design solutions? See:
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Architecture & Interiors With Margot Guralnick
How do you link good design, smart business practices, and a social conscience? James and Chelsea Minola have been having this discussion since they met as RISD industrial design students on a winter-session class in Guatemala almost 10 years ago. Just out of school, they introduced Ty, a durable and recyclable, PVC-free shower curtain, and their company, Grain, was launched. Not long after that, they followed both of their family's leads and moved to Bainbridge Island outside Seattle, where they settled in a 1901 craftsman-style farmhouse (and were joined last summer by their baby daughter, Ada). A rental last touched several decades earlier—"think avocado ceilings and cantaloupe walls," says Chelsea—they spent a month painting every inch of the place, and then put it to work as their living quarters, test lab, and factory.
Photography by Ben Blood, except where noted.
Above: Chelsea and James in their living room, home to Grain's customer service desk. The house is approximately 2,000 square feet and furnished with inherited pieces, hand-me-downs, and the couple's own designs—"it's an ever-changing mix," says Chelsea, "but we rarely purchase something new."
Grain makes almost all of its goods in the Pacific Northwest, whether downstairs in the basement workroom or in collaboration with area craftspeople.
Above: The couple painted the living room their go-to white, Benjamin Moore Decorator's White, and the mantle is in an Ace Paint color called Khaki Shorts. The pillows and rug are examples of Grain's small textiles collection, which is made by a number of artisan groups in Guatemala, several of whom Chelsea and James were introduced to during that fateful RISD class. The pillows are their Jaspé design, a pattern created "by working with a Guatemalan jaspé master to tie-dye threads that are then handwoven," they explain in their online shop. The grid-patterned wool rug is a version of their El Prado design. The table is their African-stool-inspired Dish Coffee Table, made in Seattle of FSC-certified American ash, and, like all of their wood pieces, hand-assembled and finished in their home workshop.
Above L: The couple use their basement lathe to hand-turn their beeswax Totem Candles—"we don't use a pattern, we just do it by eye, so they're all a bit different," James told us. They're shown here in a Grail Dish, part of Grain's hieroglyphics-patterned terracotta collection made for them by a potter on Bainbridge Island. Above R: The dining room's Windsor chairs were in the house. (See more Windsor Chairs here.)
Above: The room overlooks a jungly backyard that backs up to a park.
Above L: The period kitchen, with its linoleum floor, Formica counter, and metal cabinets, was largely left untouched. The walls are Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue from the Natura line. Photograph by Grain. Above: The table is Grain's stained-ash Dish Desk on a variation of the Zacapa Rug.
Above: The upstairs consists of two dormered bedrooms, neither with closets, so chests of drawers (this one came with the room) are put to maximum use. The couple's bed frame is the Malm from Ikea and the rug is a Grain prototype for the Momostenango pattern.
Above: Set in a paneled niche, the bed is flanked by Grain's Dish Side Tables and Circlet Single Sconces of FSC-certified ash with handblown glass shades made by Seattle artist John Hogan. (The Circlet collection has LED lighting components hidden in each canopy, so there's no visible bulb.)
Above: The vintage dresser pairs well with the Stitch Nonagan Mirror, a hemp-twine-embellished design backed with apple ply—"excess wood from the apple farming industry," explains James.
Above: A bedroom window seat with a Danish cord chair prototype. (At ICFF in New York, Grain just introduced the similarly shaped Circlet Chair.)
Above L and R: The upstairs landing showcases more of the couple's work, including the Hung Mirror, inspired by James's pre-RISD experience as a boat builder in Maine, and an etched-glass Circlet Triplet Sconce.
Above: Ada's room has an Ikea crib—read about it here. It's decorated with a garland made by a RISD textile designer friend and a custom Aura Chime by Ladies & Gentlemen studio. Photograph by Grain.
Above: The house has dark green shingles and wood-framed windows. ("We have to do some trim repairs and replace the roof this summer, so we're currently discussing whether to change the exterior color," says Chelsea.)
It's within walking distance of town and ferry, a 30-minute ride to Seattle, and on overcast days, they can hear the foghorn blowing.
Above: The couple converted a neglected backyard shed into a custom chicken coup with a slatted facade and walk-in ramp. They sell their work directly as well as through stores across the country and on commission. See more at Grain.
For more inspiration, browse our Creatives at Home issue and take a look at a DIY Remodel in LA by fashion designers Black Crane.
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