Creating more space in your home
By Amanda Scali
It's common to hear people saying "there's never enough space" in their homes as families grow and more things are collected.
Usually, people consider needing to move to a larger home, but there are alternatives which, when done well, will give you a fantastic amount of new, usable space that you hardly knew existed!
We've thrown together our top 5 tips and tricks to make more usable space in your home, or at least make the space feel bigger.
Install sliding doors instead of the traditional swing doors
Sliding doors take up far less space than swing doors and can smarten up the look of your home. They also help keep wall lines fresh and straight, which also helps make the rooms feel that much more significant.
Paint your walls with neutral colours, and limit the use of dark colours inside the home
Light colours give an airy, open feeling to any room, particularly when they’re freshly painted, and they can contribute to a beautiful feeling of wellbeing for you and your family.
Mount your TV on the wall instead of on a TV cabinet
This may seem quite simplistic, but you’ll be amazed how much space you get back once you move that big, heavy tv stand out and get that tv mounted up on the wall. If you can, we’d also recommend running the wiring up inside the wall cavity to eliminate those unsightly wires hanging from the tv.
Install a skylight
In the same way that light colours create that feeling of space, natural light enters the home. Imagine that feeling of being outside when you're inside, and you'll see why a skylight is a great addition.
Install drawers and cupboards in that dead space underneath staircases
Staircases serve their purpose well and create a great vertical use of the space in the room. They also create a structure that you can add underneath and bring more storage space into the home.
This can work to de-clutter somewhere else in the house too. You can get creative here and make a beautiful display feature under the stairs and make it practical at the same time.
There are so many ways you can create new, usable space in your “seemingly” shrinking home as the family grows. Sometimes it just takes a little thinking outside of the box!