Small City Spaces

If you have a house that is quite aged and has some history, chances are that under all that vinyl or carpet is a nice set of wooden floors boards. You can have them re-finished by a contractor or get to do them a section at a time on your weekend off’s. If they look too damaged to give you a lovely floor, there are always a lot of those laminated floor panels that come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. They are simply placed over the existing flooring with glue and they usually have interlocking edges that prevents them from separating up due to weather. Laminated wooden floors are also quite durable and will withstand years of water and sun as long as they are cleaned and treated well.

New technology has allowed new tiles or other materials to be affixed to tiles without the need for removing the old ones, and if you don’t mind a couple of centimeters lost space, placing tiles on top is a good alternative to having to tear out the whole floor. Slippery floors can also be made safe with surface modifiers that modify the characteristics of tiles making them darned tacky rather than slippery even when wet. This would be a good idea on pathways that are exposed to the weather and on porches and kitchen floors where oil and liquid spills can be disastrous causing injury.

Small space and not enough storage, use pedestal raised beds with hidden storage bins underneath. It hides the normal clutter and frees up the walls taking away the small look. Choose wall mounted consumer goods such as televisions and audio systems that take up less space allowing more room to move in a cramped space. Tiny space for parties, use the patio which you can lay out smartly with less furnishings. And do invite just enough people that would fit in your place; better be happy with a few than frustrated with twenty. Use modular kitchen units with shelving above and below to store all those groceries and cooking stuff. Use doors to store covers for pots and pans to allow you to stack them inside one another. A wall mounted stow-away table works well in small kitchens to make it dual purpose. You can organize your bills and cook in the same space when not in use by folding up the unneeded table.

Want to make a space wider that it really is, paint color in horizontal lines across the rooms that fools the eyes to go around the room making it seem larger. A painted mural on the wall hanging artwork and a spread of luxurious fabric on the bed makes your small space luxurious and interesting for guests. Plant lover? Use hanging baskets and multiple cornet units to house those green thumb curiosities. Use gauze as shade from the harsh sun and to break up the small walls also use multi function units to maximize available space. Want privacy yet don’t want a wall which would eat space, use pull-up blinds or ones that you can swing into one side for an easy divider.

Tough thick fabrics can be used for just about anything, use them as dividers with eyelets and bungee chords. When you need privacy pull from the wall and make it taught with the bungee. Privacy but natural light can be attained with a light colored fabric for your curtains on a window; the light gets in but keeps those peering eyes out. Use diffused lighting fixtures that allows light to bounce around the space rather than direct lighting. In a small space the bouncing around of the light is not only interesting but spacious looking. Light though good is quite harsh in a small space so be creative. Seen those nesting tables that fit one under the other, they work nice and gives you a lot of counter space when you need them but stores easy. Beds that can be used as a sofa are best, or have an open-framed daybed which looks like a couch but take off the pillows and other stuff at night for a good night’s slumber.

Use stark and contrasting colors to allow light to play around, and use natural light whenever possible. Use mirrors you place wisely to bounce light from space to space. Use your imagination when thinking of dividers such as pull up blinds or roman blinds you hang from the ceiling. let them down at night for privacy from the door. The space behind the door can be turned into a storage area with widely available door organizers you hang from them. Or get some peg hangers you can arrange in intricate designs which are actually for hanging stuff of different sizes. Love bags, use the closet door by sticking in some hooks but get your bags and arrange them so they fit the space exactly. You have an interesting wall covering and an organizer for your bags in one swoop. Fold-down show racks that swing open for access are great. They store your shoes vertically and open at an angle for access. You also get a nice display counter.

Want to add life to a drab space, consider coloring the walls with vibrant colors and getting your furniture in white. They will stand out and work quite well. Use long hallways as decor central, hang pictures and other stuff from them to distract people from the smallness of the space. The perspective also makes the room look bigger. Use small frames in the beginning and larger ones at the back for a perspective that looks as if they are all the same sizes. Don’t want to bother with sizes, arrange them in an irregular pattern but e sure they complement each other, say one wall with pictures of your family while the other with art. Place wall hung display units at the end of hallways to break up long halls.