In the House Beautiful July/August 2010 issue, they pose the question, “Is Small the New Big?” Initially, I was irritated by the question simply because it sounded like yet another trend. In 7-10 years will we once again be in love with sprawling estates?
Naturally, small is the new big when so many are downsizing due to current economic conditions. While everyone is not in financial straits some have chosen to reduce their living space in order to be more ecologically responsible. The article examines three homes, the largest a mere 650 square feet, and concludes that living large is all about quality and not quantity.
When visiting potential clients, I find they have enough furniture and accessories to furnish two homes. In fact, most of us have more than we really need. My first inclination is to grab a box and begin removing excess from the walls and mantels, but I know better than that. We are sensitive about our stuff, aren’t we? Instead I offer the following suggestions, applicable to both large and small homes, when practicing “The Luxury of Less” principle:
via oly studio Edit Your Space
Perform a “healthy purge” and keep only what you love. If you can’t bear to part with your knick-knacks, consider a wall display or arranging them together in a curio cabinet. This works best when you have a collection of one or two items.
Seek Help With Organization
Living with what you need requires you to know what you need. Perform an assessment of each space noting the function of each room. If an item in the room does not serve a relevant need, then remove it. Be sure that each remaining item “has a home” or an assigned place when not in use.
Choose Dual Purpose Furniture
Shop smarter. Choose furnishing that serve two purposes, i.e. a ottoman that serves as additional seating as well as a coffee table.
via canadian house and homeSeek Help With Space Planning
The wrong furniture arrangement can kill a space. Employ designer tricks to find optimal seating arrangements and traffic flow in the room. The House Beautiful article lends two pieces of advice:
- Keep the seating arrangments pulled away from the walls. Creating spaces beyond the furniture adds volume to the room.
- Use furniture with exposed legs. This creates air space and a feeling of openness you cannot achieve with upholstery that goes to the floor.
Buy the Highest Quality You Can Afford, Fake the Rest
Your budget is small, but you splurge on your dream wallpaper. You don’t have money left for a custom bed so make one. There are countless tutorials on the web that guide you through the steps of making an upholstered headboard. Give your headboard an expensive look with tufting and/or framing.
Inject Interest with Color and Patterns
Using colors and patterns provides eye candy and really draws you into a space. Painted floors, playful wallpapers, artwork, and soft fabrics help to bring the room to life and establish the personality of its owner.
Do you find satisfaction in living with less? How have your made your life simpler this year?
July 20, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Great post! I cannot stand clutter, so I have a tendency to purge often. I find that it makes me appreciate the things I have much more!
July 20, 2010 at 12:59 pm
I can't stand clutter either. The problem is I have so much of it:-)
Anywho, great post!
July 20, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I do believe with good design a much smaller home can work just fine. I look around at my house and if only I could move sf from one area to another and eliminate sf from other areas, the home would function even better while being slightly smaller. And dual purpose areas and furniture, very smart!
Janell
July 20, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I've found that you need to be mercenary when it comes to purging. It's hard to take the personal out of it, but you must close your eyes and do it. Clutter really is stressful. And….what I wouldn't give for that closet, and a personal organizer to go with it.
July 20, 2010 at 3:23 pm
This was a very great post and it's so very true – we are so attached to our stuff and "less is certainly more"!
XOXO
Kiki
July 20, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Yes this just happened to us. The huge house we were renting for 2yrs is no more. The landlord lost his other property and had to move back in the house we were living in. We had to move pretty quickly too. We went from a 6 bedroom to a 2 bedroom, not fun! I'm trying to make due but it's very hard and tight quarters now.
July 20, 2010 at 3:30 pm
@Tami, I'm sure it's a hard adjustment but you will definitely be spending more quality time with each other even if it is by default!
July 20, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Very good post, I really loved the magazine article about smaller spaces since we live in a small 1950's house (the norm for the era) Since we bought a small house we really have had to buy smart when buying items and get rid of stuff we no longer need. I also used certain paint colors to make our space feel larger, we also plan on re-staining on our hardwoods deep walnut, to ground our home and make it appear larger.
July 20, 2010 at 3:34 pm
@Mrs. Chic: Your family has done amazing things with your home. I love to see what projects you have up your sleeve!
July 20, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Erika, great tips. I have a 2 bedroom condo; editing and purging is continuous, as I am always making changes!!
Karena
Art by Karena
July 20, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Love your post! Small or Big is what you make of it…
July 20, 2010 at 6:45 pm
All really great points- I think could do better with the organization if I had a closet like that one- I am obsessed with that whole house- its like decor porn times 100
July 20, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Great tips. I agree less is more even in a larger space. Try as I might to edit,edit,edit sometimes I need a little inspiration like this post to get me organized, again.
Thanks.
July 21, 2010 at 1:18 am
Beautiful pictures….great post. I actually just read that magazine front to back on the beach this weekend…I fell in love with the purple nyc space…how about her red closet?
Anyway, can i have the first photo as my office? Love all the pictures you shared.
Hope you are enjoying your summer!
Heather
July 21, 2010 at 1:48 am
Waiting for my turn!!
-Nesby
July 21, 2010 at 1:22 pm
These really are wonderful tips. I agree, a lot of us have too much furniture for our small spaces! And organization is key…my apt. is very, very, very, very t-i-n-y.
July 21, 2010 at 1:23 pm
like really tiny.
July 21, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Yes small is the new big…!! I recently downsized and I did it by choice. I figured out what I wanted quickly, by keeping only what I love and it was super simple. I donated tons of furniture and now I feel more relaxed and have more money! Great post
July 22, 2010 at 7:49 pm
love it, love it, love it!
xo,
cristin
July 22, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Thank you Erika for all the great advice you share with us on your blog! I love reading your blog posts =D
July 22, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Thanks everyone for your feedback. So glad to be able to provide you with some useful info! Happy Decorating!