Room (Photo credit: Wikipedia)No doubt one of the biggest challenges with many homeowners, is how to get maximum space from a small room. Empty-nesters, and those downsizing are often overwhelmed with the task of trying to house all of their belongings and decor into a condensed area. With limited square footage, you have to literally think outside the box, and up the sides of the box, if you will. When we look at any space and what it offers we tend took at the limitations of the actual square footage, however, by simply looking "up" we may realize that the next available space may be at eye level.
Making the vertical leap
The walls of a small room tend to be the most under used areas for actual storage, however, they actually have the most potential. If you think about it, if you have a room with 8 foot high ceilings, and a room of average size, say 12' X 12" you will see that each windowless wall offers 96 square feet of possibilities. Now if you figure on installing shelving, you will have to subtract for the amount the shelves extend into the space but still if you have more than one wall that can add up.
Ways to make storage beautiful
Master bedroom with built-in shelving, George D. Oakley House, 2110 Kakela Place, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, on the National Register of Historic Places (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Shelving, hangers, hooks, all serve a valuable purpose in a small space. However, they don't always look attractive. This is where you must be creative. and get a decorative element that serves double duty. Decorative baskets may be your best friend for shelving that is needed for storage. Shelving that can run up your wall and extend corner to corner offer you maximum space storage, but not necessarily attractive storage. Consider giving shelving character by painting and adding decorative trim work like molding to the edges. It will give your shelves a finished built in look, and with the addition of lovely baskets that can hide your books, extra blankets, etc. you can have extra space on the floor and this gives you and your home a more spacious feel.
Opening up the floor
Empty living room/dining room in an apartment in a 1920s apartment house, Los Angeles, California. The exposed brick wall is recent. The flooring is also recently added. A Murphy bed was once behind the door on the left, but now the narrow space is used for shelving. I posterized this image in Adobe Photoshop Elements. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Once you are trained to look to your walls for extra storage potential you will love the idea that your floor space is clutter free. If you are planning on selling a small home, with small rooms, buyers than can see a lot of floor space will actually feel like your home is bigger than it is and when it comes to selling a home, you are selling it by the square foot. The more the buyer can see, the more you're likely to sell.
