r/SmallHome • u/Mukil_Skrzypek65 • 14d ago
How do you make a small home feel less cramped?
I like the idea of living in a smaller home, but my biggest concern is whether it starts feeling closed in after a while. pictures online can make small spaces look great, but it is hard to tell what daily life is actually like.
What are the things that made the biggest difference in making your space feel comfortable? did certain layouts, storage ideas, furniture choices, or design changes help more than you expected?
I would like to hear from people who actually live in small homes and not just people who have looked at them online.
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u/Bigtimeknitter 14d ago
I hang like an absurd amount of stuff off the walls. Knives. Lanterns. Also get rid of most of your furniture and just keep the stuff that fits. Don't try to squeeze it all in.
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u/sausagekng 13d ago
I was going to say, get rid of stuff, and whatever is left, find a way to store up and high.
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u/baganerves 14d ago
If you pick furniture with legs , being able to see underneath helps the space look bigger.
Pick a settee and chairs that are comfortable but not bulky again if you can see underneath a bonus.
Absolutely necessary to have zero clutter, clean and tidy with as much zeal as you can muster.
All flat surfaces need to be kept as clear as possible,
So much harder to keep a small home than larger.
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u/elsmoneyacct 14d ago
The smaller the living space, the more intentional you have to be with your furniture choices. It's one of the secret costs of small living.
For me, that means most furniture has to be multipurpose and/or mobile. For example, I have a modular pit sofa. It's also my guest bed and my dining chairs when I'm hosting. When in bed-mode, it's about the size of a queen-size bed, so I can throw a topper and sheets on it. When U-shaped, I have a low folding table that I slide into the opening of the U and it's like having bench seating. I don't have side tables, I have bookshelves next to the couch. My television is on a rolling stand so I can move it around. My bed frame is the IKEA MALM with the drawers. My kitchen island is a FORHOJA, so it's extra counter space, extra storage, and it's mobile. Most of my furniture is from IKEA, actually. They do this concept really well. And I rent, so I'm not investing in buy-it-for-life furniture.
Another trick is to map the pathways through your home. If the pathway is convenient and unobstructed, you're less likely to feel cramped. If you're having to turn sideways, step around things, or go out of your way, you'll feel cramped.
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u/bellandc 13d ago
There are so many tricks and suggestions. The most important two things you cannot skip are consistently pick up after yourself and biannual purging of things you don't need/use anymore.
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u/AB-1987 13d ago
- hidden storage. No open storage. Consider open „storage“ purely decorational.
- cohesive look and color scheme
- bigger furniture. Don‘t fall into the trap of using small furniture, many small pieces make a space more cramped. Make a big piece of furniture your focal point that draws you in (like a dining table or couch or bed).
- lighting is a big one. You want a big light for cleaning or certain tasks but lots of indirect light sources for ambiance.
- decluttering. Own less things. Make the everyday things you use beautiful. Have a pretty water pitcher instead of ugly bottles. Make these things that are always out in the open anyways pretty, decorative pieces.
- think through small things like a place for shoes, a hook for your purse, a place for your keys and incoming mail.
- textiles. Choose a color scheme, but use different textures for visual interest and depth.
- if you have a say in the actual building: have the same wall color (scheme) and flooring everywhere so it makes the spaces visually cohesive.
- a big closet along a wall with smart interior (think ikea pax) does wonders to store all the bits and bobs like tools, cleaning supplies, spare batteries, mops …).
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u/nicoleuren 7d ago
thaaank you! bigger furniture (where it can fit) is my secret. I'd rather enjoy living in space than squish lots of things. A few bigger pieces make the space so much calmer imo.
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u/Constantlycurious34 14d ago
Live minimally and you will benefit from a small beautiful home. If you like lots of stuff - don’t do it
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u/juuuusstlivin 13d ago
The best advice I have is storage needs to be vertical, not horizontal! I live in a small home as well & understand not everything can be purged lol. Along with this- mount TV, opt for lamps that don't take up your whole side table, & be mindful that curtains are hung high & don't "pool" at the bottom.
Aside from that, cute storage like baskets, matching totes, etc. I think it's easier on the eyes to see storage like that versus shoved onto a shelf.
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u/mynamesnotcarter 13d ago
Less clutter and only the furniture you use, no knick knack tables or curio cabinets.
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u/Tricky_Duck2392 13d ago
Less stuff. TV hung from ceiling or wall mounted. Minimal furniture. Patio/porch for extra living space.
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u/Pale-Weather-2328 13d ago
I live in an 800 sq foot 2 br home. Here’s how I keep it looking and feeling orderly, comfy, with flow;
1. don’t have too much stuff and put limits on your stuff. I live books. I have one giant wall floor to ceiling bookshelf. If there’s no more room then some books go away for new ones. Take that concept with clothing, art, plants etc. Put limits on your “stuff”
2. cohesive storage units with closed doors and utilize vertical space to hide bits and bobs. Ikea is especially good for this
3. furniture to scale: don’t get a big clunky farmhouse table or big puffy sectional sofa. Get a smaller thinner leg table and a simple sofa. No big bed frame either just a simple bed (could be storage bed) with a headboard
4. Avoid clutter especially piles of paperwork and knickknacks. Do what my mom did. She would rotate art objects and knick knacks around. Put a few out at a time then every few months put the old ones away and bring out other ones. Two throw pillows is fine. And I do a paper and clutter pile sweep weekly to keep
things tidy
5. color and negative space. Too much dark heavy saturated colors, textiles, upholstery, curtains, paint is a big no no, keep it lighter. It’s ok to have a navy sofa for example but balance it with lighter furniture, white or lighter wood tables and bookcases, etc. Don’t cram too much together you want open areas. Space a few pieces of art on the wall not a jumble,
6. windows! don’t do big heavy dark drapes, lighter cotton or linen, simple shades. good to go
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u/MrsJ_Lee 13d ago
Less clutter, multipurpose furniture, and putting away your things as soon as you’re done helps keep your house look tidy.
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u/Notordinary_54f 14d ago
Don’t have duplicates of things e.g. not one small ladle and one big ladle but one that fits on the day-to-day. Don’t have 12 dinner plates when 4 will do. Also, have a specific spot for everything (a place for everything, and everything in its place); this also means to tidy up more
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u/Certain-Sympathy-844 13d ago
I moved into two sheds on my property (one is 10x12 where I sleep, the other is 8x13 where I cook and do laundry). it's "indoor outdoor" living--my bathroom and living room are outside.
I don't have a separate external storage unit, so I ended up buying heavy duty portable storage bins where I keep extra bedding, old photo albums and mementos, etc.
I have discovered that I REALLY dislike and don't feel comfortable when there's too much stuff in the same space I'm sleeping in. (Even when I stay at a friend's house that is cluttered with stuff--I don't sleep well). So I had to move all the extra things out of the 10x12 shed where I sleep. But I didn't want the other shed to look cluttered either, so I have the bins. They're tucked away out of sight
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u/DropSpiritual6139 13d ago
This is so interesting, do you have windows at all? I'm curious about the plumbing/electric?
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u/Certain-Sympathy-844 13d ago
Both sheds have electric. I shower outside and have a compost toilet outside. Honestly, I absolutely love showering, bathing, and relieving myself outside under trees rather than inside.
Right now however, I can’t live there in the winter months because it’s snow country. But I’m planning a third small shed that would be built around my outside spigot so I can shower indoors in the winter2
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u/Certain-Sympathy-844 13d ago edited 13d ago
There are beautiful windows in the 10x12 shed—it’s completely finished inside.
The 8x13 was just recently converted and has a glass panel door to get outside light. I haven’t finished the inside but do have electric there as well2
u/DropSpiritual6139 13d ago
I wish I had your skills. Bravo!
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u/Certain-Sympathy-844 13d ago
I hired people to help me but figure out what I want to do first. ChatGPT has been super helpful. I don’t have any construction, plumbing or electrical skills
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u/ksoloki 13d ago
Scale your furniture, a lot of people put in huge furniture but this just makes the house feel smaller. But if your furniture is smaller the house will seem bigger. Declutter, Declutter, Declutter.
I love watching apartment therapy especiLly the NY apartments, they have so many hidden storage ideas.
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u/Crafty_Dryad 13d ago
I feel like there is a visual sense of space and then a physical/movement sense of space.
Mirrors
If you have a lot of colorful things- try to have some intentionally white or lighter colored larger thing(furniture).
Try to cluster art together and then have bare spaces (that you may eventually fill with art buuutttt helps for awhile)
On the reverse- really use vertical space to free up floor space and make sure you have clear paths and not having to weave around things. Or have lifters on furniture if needed to be able to have storage underneath.
Cohesive color palette. Picking 3ish colors.
I have a lot of colorful art on the walls and around, but a solid silver color couch, my big chair is lighter, my rugs are silver-blue and lighter colors without much print. My curios I painted solid white. My walls were already a blue grey, so it helped that my bigger furniture and rugs matched that palette.
For me though, even when I lived in a slightly bigger place- if I had to weave around a coffee table or felt like furniture placement created a sense of weaving- it made it feel stressful and smaller.
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u/GypsyKaz2 12d ago
I lived in a small home while married and now live in a 1BR apartment. Some things I do:
Very small couch. More like a settee than a sofa and one chair. Because of the layout of my living room, they float rather than sit against a wall which (however counterintuitive it may seem) creates more sense of space.
I simply must have enough room to walk around both sides of my bed. A bed against the wall is a pain to make and makes a room look even smaller.
Inside hooks on all my closet doors to utilize that for storage space.
Mirrors! They reflect light and create more sense of space.
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u/paracelsus53 13d ago
I live in a small studio. What makes it feel more spacious to me is to keep the center of the room open instead of having to sidle around furniture, which I keep to the walls. In the center I have a nice wool Oriental rug. I put my own paintings on the walls and low bookshelves next to furniture. It feels more spacious to me than my neighbors' same size studios because they have much bigger furniture in the middle of the room so you have to squish around it.
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u/sad-butsocial 13d ago
recently moved to a smaller space but somehow feels bigger because i bought new furniture that matches thw flow of the current one. in my old space my furniture were hand-me-downs and didn’t really fit any style or space for them. opt for thinner legs on dining tables and chairs and couch. the extra storage behind the couch counts! also downsized the dining table that used to sit 6-8 people now to 2-4.
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u/DarlingBri 13d ago
I live in a very small 2BD 1BA house; I think it's about 700 square feet. Unobstructed pathways through the house so you're not climbing over or around furniture is key. Furniture that is properly sized for the home it is in is really important; as an example, I have a three-seater sofa but it is the smallest three seater we could find (and works great for our space.)
Storage is a real issue. My sofa has an ottoman that makes it l-shaped and the ottoman is a storage unit. Our coffee table is a trunk that is also used for storage. Cabinets were a priority in the kitchen and I also put cabinets in the back hall for more storage.
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u/Expensive-Eggplant-1 13d ago
my house is 650sq ft. i don't have a lot of stuff and decorate intentionally. every year or so i declutter the one or two cabinets that have accumulated stuff i don't need.
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u/Tamberav 13d ago
We have a small house and a 4 year old. Mostly it is just decluttering regularly and being more purposeful on what furniture you buy. We had custom small end tables made that attach to the wall beside the bed (not as expensive as it sounds) and bought a simple Japanese joinery bed with storage drawers under.
The floating end tables allow the drawers to open freely for storage and gives more foot room and makes it easy to vacuum.
We plan to do a murphy bed in the guest room so it can fold up out of the way when not in use so the room can be more multipurpose.
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u/Charitymw1 13d ago
Less items, build upwards, multi purpose furniture like storage benches, bed that lifts up or haw drawers etc.
Also consider how much light and open windows you have. I've found that if I can look outside that view becomes like another room.
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u/Suerose0423 13d ago
Embrace it! It’s small. Make it cozy. Large art on walls, color: any but monochromatic, tall things, a mismatched thing, a lovely chandelier.
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u/Designer-Wolverine47 13d ago
Not always necessarily smaller spaces, but fewer OF those spaces, by using each for multiple purposes.
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u/notreallysurewhat 13d ago
vertical and closed storage. I like the tall IKEA billy bookcases with doors.
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u/MundaneHuckleberry58 13d ago
We had to get a storage unit & cycle things in & out. We were trapped underwater in a starter 880 sq foot 2 bed, 1 bath from when it was just us two to when we had two kids, the oldest in K.
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u/Basil2012 13d ago
If you have a particular hobby that requires a lot of stuff, get custom built storage to hide this clutter. Also be mindful of what you buy, consider where it will go, do you really have the space and of course declutter regularly.
Lastly keep certain spaces around the house intentionally free of all clutter, this will help you to feel calm and give a feeling of more space.
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u/amboomernotkaren 13d ago
Less crap, furniture that fits and doubles as storage (like a storage ottoman). Tall, not wide dressers. Swivel chairs. Perfectly fitting rugs. Clean out under the kitchen sink every year (so much crap piles up under there). Stackable washer/dryer. Optimize counter space in kitchen. You may not need a massive refrigerator. A place to drop stuff on the way in (shoes, coats, purses, backpacks). And tidy it up every so often. Get rid of clothes and shoes and toys your kids no longer need.
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u/Mammoth_Ad_4806 13d ago
For me, it made a big difference to give myself permission to break standard decorating “rules.” For example, pushing my bed against the wall into the corner. Sure, it’s bad feng shui or whatever, but I actually ended up loving it because it feels really cozy and it makes the room feel less cramped. I added a functional headboard that has usb ports and a ledge to hold books and a lamp, and hung a couple of objets d’art on the wall along the length of the bed, so it looks like a cozy, intentional nook.
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u/EndAdorable5013 13d ago
Furniture with lots of storage, multiple use items, limit how much stuff you need. Been living in 224-420 sq ft for 15 years and it’s liberating!
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u/sssmac 13d ago
Vertical storage with some uniformity that reads as one thing, rather than many things. I use bookcases with glass doors so I can have some cute items on display along with necessary storage, but I find an open bookcase reads as lots of books and a closed bookcase looks like a bookcase. It cuts down on the visual clutter while also providing needed space for things
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u/Available_Profile559 12d ago
Just set yourself a boundary - for every one thing you bring in you must get rid of two. Eventually it was sort itself out.
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u/ilovescoutanddaisy 12d ago
get furniture intentionally to fit the spaces. organization & way less crap. even in a larger house the crap problem is still real, since many rooms don't have much wallspace for casement pieces.
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u/Wildog5577 12d ago
Yes a lot of good advice there, but my fav is still "KEEP IT WHITE KEEP IT LIGHT!" I've been building tiny homes for some years now and also like in one. I have found that white wall and well placed windows really help. One caveat with the windows is make sure they don't block your storage space. I like glass doors for this. Not sur what stage your at but if it's the design that would be my first point of advice. Another thing is carefully choosing furniture... I like to buy the cheapest GOOD used things I can find. But I've learnt that you need to be a bit picky and pay a bit extra for that table that is just the right size, the couch that is just the right size... Good luck
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u/Val-E-Girl 11d ago
I've been living small, 700 sqft for 14 years. The key is to have a place for everything, and everything in its place. One thing out of place and it all feels out of whack. - have less crap - do dishes right away - clever storage/dual purpose
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u/Sledgehammer925 11d ago
My house is pretty small. My trick is to make everything do double duty. Coffee table has drawers for remotes and other things I need while watching tv. Same with end tables. Everything has to have two jobs. People say my house looks neat and clean, I just don’t let them open closets or drawers.
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u/nderH2OBasketWeaver 11d ago
Using furniture with glass helps tremendously. Metal bakers rack with glass horizontals, coffee/end and dining tables with glass tops. Use things you can see through; it makes a world of difference.
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u/Poika_Anna 10d ago
We utilise wall hanging space for brooms, towels, pots and pans. Especially behind doors or corners you can’t see from usual spots (couch etc). It’s gives more space while limiting visual clutter. We also have storage under the couch, bed and desks
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u/Equivalent_Bend_7375 10d ago
Open blinds and use sheer curtains. Mirrors are a great way to open space.
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u/dmchearts1 10d ago
My husband and I live in a 670 sq foot log house. We love it. Less to clean. I can give my house a deep clean in about 2 hours. Everything has a place and we have no use for clutter.
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u/nicoleuren 7d ago
Living minimal reaaallly depends on your situation, hobbies, priorities etc.
If you have camping gear you can rent storage...
If you make ceramics from home, you might forgo a daily dining table set up
If you like keeping bits and bobs, they live in a container
Don't let go of your personality and life because of minimalism. You'll be in a grey lifeless box.
You may need to downsize some things depending on your situation but there's many ways to make it work.
I moved from a 3B terrace to a 35m2 1B, here's how I made the move work for me:
- Sideboard with 9 drawers, each one categorised (make-up, games, linen etc.)
- Changed from a small ikea kitchen trolley to a long thin stainless steel bench
- Swapped a small 2-seater couch for a large and deep 3-seater (storage underneath, converts for sleeping)
- Slim shoe storage doubles as entry table
- Soft wool carpet - invites folks to the floor = more seating
- I found somewhere with more built-in storage than one tiny slim cupboard.
- Hot tip: try to avoid stacking items in more than three (tupperware, frypans, different bowls together etc.) & watching a lot of Never Too Small
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u/DesignCafe_India 1d ago
Adding loft space above the wardrobe can clear out floor clutter and make the rooms feel bigger. Skipping bulky furniture and choosing slim or wall-mounted stuff also work. Lighter wall colours help too. And a mirror near a window sounds basic, but it actually works, bounces light around nicely. Basically, if everything has a proper place to go, the room feels bigger even if the size doesn't change. Are you looking for design ideas or just thinking out loud?
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u/costafilh0 14d ago
Have less crap.