Space management is a crucial skill to master for both small apartments and large bungalow owners. Depending on how much stuff you keep at home, it’s only a matter of time before the once-so-spacious home becomes a tiny space. Kids come in, relatives beckon to stay, and friends can’t stop popping in anytime they want to stay over for a few days.
With all these random and planned-for space encroachments, you must prepare to make the most of the available space. If you’re unsure where and how to start, here are six practical ways to get started.
Convert Your Attic into a Living Room
If you have an attic, you can easily convert the extra space into a furnished living room to accommodate an additional family member or visitor. But before you start, you must confirm if the available space is enough for use as an extra room. Many states’ building codes demand that for an attic to be used as a living room, it must:
- At least cover 70 square feet of floor space so homeowners can avoid risky layouts
- Have at least half of the existing floor space covering 7.5 feet of the ceiling height so occupants can easily stand upright while in their
- Cover at least 7 feet in any direction
Once you’re sure of the space up there, you can now work on your attic’s accessibility and customization. Whether it’s a removable ladder or a permanent staircase, you can work out a perfect access plan to make it easily reachable. On the inside, ensure you insulate your attic to improve warmth and save money on energy bills. You could do this with the help of an established attic insulation company so the effects can run far into the future.
Use Vertical Space
All the vertical spaces in your home are going to waste if you’re not already using them as storage options for light and medium-heavy items. Not only do these wall shelves create more storage, they also work as a beautiful display of your colorful, favorite items. You can have them installed from floor to ceiling in all relevant rooms, especially when you have a lot of items to store.
In instances where you don’t need a lot of extra vertical space, you can install stylish shelves to help boost your living room’s design. You can keep some favorite books, flowers and other choice items that lay around scattered everywhere in your room.
Invest in Multifunctional Furniture
Also known as storage furniture, multifunctional furniture is ideal for storing personal items that you don’t occasionally use. The most common type of this kind of furniture blends chairs, tables, and sometimes beds that can be folded and unfolded in a limited space to meet the specific need for the moment.
Besides conserving space, these pieces of furniture also come with storage units beneath them for additional space. You can always have some drawers under your dressing table or an adjustable kitchen table that you can customize to accommodate different numbers of people.
Add Storage Units Under Your Bathtub
Just like with multifunctional furniture, you can equally install a customized bathtub that has storage units under it. This is a great idea if you have a tiny bathroom with no space for installing separate bathroom shelves. The best way to do this is by lifting your tub a bit and installing a few drawers beneath it. You can customize it to fit your design style and add as many drawers as the available space can hold.
Go for Drawers Over Cupboards in the Kitchen
Cupboards are good for vintage kitchen ideas, but they are deep, wide, and sometimes high for the average kitchen user. You’ll always have to go deep into the cupboard searching for a specific spoon set or mugs, only to realize they’re not there and for you to start the search afresh. Taking out everything just to look for a single item can be a lot of work and a significant reason to consider alternative options like kitchen drawers.
Drawers are easy to organize and access as they are mostly installed at reachable heights and depths. You can easily allocate each drawer to specific utensils like pans, knives, cups, and plates.
Use the Outdoor Space Wisely
When the space inside is becoming smaller by the day, you have every reason to extend the outdoor space and use it optimally. You could use this available space as storage by installing some outdoor boxes or building a small shed where you can keep some furniture. You could also use this space as your gym area, where you can also store your equipment and gym gear to create more space inside.
Keeping your home organized to minimize space wastage is an art every homeowner should learn and perfect. Even the biggest-looking homes eventually run out of functional space when carelessly arranged, with clutter thrown everywhere in the vicinity. If you’re just getting started with your new place, it’s best to implement these tips at the earliest time possible.
