Living in a small space needn't mean restricting your furniture choices to simply what fits. There is a wide array of furniture available to suit your lifestyle, providing storage that suits your budget and aesthetic preferences as well as the size and style of your home.

Zoning your home

The first step to maximising your space is to zone your home, giving each space a real purpose and helping you to decide what furniture you need in it. By clearly defining the zones in your home, you will be better able to set it out in a way that supports your lifestyle.

While bedrooms, bathrooms and the kitchen are easily defined, it can be more challenging, particularly with open plan spaces, to create a delineation between the living and dining spaces, and in this instance, you can either use decor or furniture to provide that distinction.

By arranging furniture carefully around a focal point and allowing a walkway between zones, it is possible to create a sense of space and purpose that will help your home to flow more easily. For example, placing the back of the sofa towards the dining table makes it obvious that the dining area and soft seating are in separate zones.

If the size of a room dictates that it must be multifunctional, you can still zone it using folding or modular furniture that can be extended when in use and stored away when no longer required, for example using a stylish sofa bed in a studio apartment that doubles as a bed at the end of the day rather than trying to fit in both a sofa and a separate bed.

Choosing furniture that fits your space

All too often, people choose the smallest piece of furniture they can for a compact space, thinking that this will help the room feel larger, but in fact, the opposite is often true, with the furniture being too small to provide the utility you need from it and therefore without suitable storage, clutter begins to accumulate, making the space feel crowded and untidy.

It is better to invest in bright lighting, clever decor and mirrors to maximise the feeling of space within a room while choosing furniture that actually fulfils its purpose. A desk, for example, may feel an unnecessary extravagance when space is at a premium, but it will allow you to create a distinct working area within your home rather than expecting your dining table to become multipurpose, as this rarely works in practice. You can also add shelving or wall-mounted storage cabinets above the desk to make optimum use of all of the available space in the room.

Use all of the space available

When it comes to storage, don't be limited by floorspace. Remember your room is three dimensional and you can use tall or wall-mounted high level storage to create a tidy ordered haven while still maximising the space that is available.

Display units are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes to suit all room sizes, and when positioned against the back wall of a room give the impression of being built-in, helping to provide ample storage and display space without being overwhelming.

Another great way of maximising the space is by using under-furniture storage to securely store items which are not required every day. For example, under-bed drawers are the perfect place to store space bedding, towels and out of season clothing, taking up no extra space but creating no clutter.

Some furniture is multipurpose, for example, coffee tables with hidden storage which are the ideal solution for small rooms where the occupants enjoy puzzles, gaming, listening to music or reading, all requiring the use of bulky items that would usually take up a lot of room but that can instead be easily hidden within the furniture in the room they will be used in.

Materials matter in small spaces

While it is always nice to stick to your design preferences when furnishing your home, there are some instances where compromising on appearance can deliver an illusion of space. Although glass topped furniture tends to be favoured by those with a preference for modern, minimalist style, rather than those who adore rustic features and bold colours, glass allows light to penetrate and reflect, tricking the mind into feeling that the furniture takes up less space than it actually does. When space really is at a premium, opting for glass-topped furniture rather than solid wood can be a wise move.

If you are embarking upon a home overhaul and are looking for furniture to complement your small space, please explore the comprehensive range at eFurn. With a little imagination, your home will surely be the envy of the neighbourhood.