Some of us don’t live in gigantic house like some rich folk do. In fact, a lot of us are living in small houses or tiny apartments and make do with it because we don’t have enough in our salaries to afford mansions and mansion-like houses. Instead, we make do with what we have.
But how do you deal with a tiny living room, though? How do you make it seem less stifling than it actually is?
I’ll tell you what.
You open it up to other rooms
You don’t really need all those walls. Clear up the walls separating your living room from your kitchen or dining area and merge them together. You’ll find that it makes the area a little less suffocating now that you can see the other room without the walls. If the house or apartment allows you to, break down the doors and walls separating these rooms and keep a third of the wall for a make-shift counter that separates the kitchen from the living room. It not just makes the area look bigger, it IS bigger.
You use built-in furniture and shelves
You get more walking space if you push the furniture INSIDE the walls. Once again, if the house or apartment allows you to make adjustments like these, have it customised to make built-in sofas or shelves. It might not give you freedom to arrange in the future, but you get to cultivate more space because of it.
You get creative with furniture, design and lighting
The idea here is to be smart and creative about where you place your stuff. Put the furniture in places that doesn’t crowd the area. Can you walk around it? Will you bump into stuff if you walk in a hurry? How about when you clean? Is it going to be a hassle?
Aside from furniture arrangement, your lighting ought to be enhanced too. Brighter lighting make the living room look bigger and cleaner. You don’t need to buy expensive lighting and fixtures to make the room brighter. You can achieve a brighter room with just the natural light from the windows. Make sure that there is nothing blocking said windows and that you use curtains that don’t darken the place. Just let the sun shine in, yeah?
You paint like a fellow intellectual
It isn’t just about pretty colours and what your favourite one is. It’s about how it’s going to look once everything is painted in and how the shades will affect the mood of the room. You’re going to want light colours for this. I suggest pastel colours. You don’t have to go full pink, of course. Just baby blues and lavenders will be fine. Neutral shades like white and grey are also ideal for a minimalist approach. Be careful in how you mix them together though. Don’t paint ALL walls the same colour, but don’t get overenthusiastic and paint each wall in different colours either. The many colours will distract your eyes and make the room seem stifled.
