Five Tips for Maximizing Space in an Apartment
When people refer to “space” what they are almost always referring to is “empty space”. Even very physically large spaces can feel claustrophobic and cluttered if the design is done in a particular way, or if there are a lot of colour and shape clashes, and even very small spaces can feel relaxing and inviting if they are designed well enough. Today we are going to give five tips for maximizing space in an apartment.
1.) Minimize any clashing
Clashing is the word use to describe the noisy effect of two elements of design that really do not go together well. An example of this would be a bright red wall and a bright yellow carpet – this kind of mix will make you feel like the room is screaming at you. Clashing can occur in much subtler forms as well, so before using two different types of shape, or two or three different colours, hold them together to see if the lack of space feeling in the room is being created by clashing that is going on.
2.) Neutralize any space hogging elements in the room
Space hogging is done when an item of furniture or even a colour or wall hanging is taking up more than its fair share of space. An example of this is a TV that has wires dangling all around it, disabling the space that surrounds it. Common culprits are badly positioned tables, lamps, chairs and oversized items that are making the room feel fuller than it actually is.
3.) Check your lines
A feeling of space has a lot to do with lines in a room. If you look at your living room for example, and look at the empty space in it, you should be able to draw an imaginary line around that space. Draw imaginary lines over all of the empty space and see if you can align those shapes to make a single, complete shape. By aligning your furniture in this way, you create more space as the eye will now register once complete space instead of lots of little cluttered ones. This is also a good way of identifying “dead” space.
4.) Highlight space
Sometimes, there is lots of empty space in your property that is being neglected or badly used that is why, even when you add an item to a room (in he form of shelves for example) you feel that there is more space, even though you have added rather than subtracted from the room. When there is not enough furniture in a room, there can be a vacuum and so all of the items in the room will collect in one area in a pile, or distribute all around, so that there is no way to know where the space is. Keep space as space, and add storage, or other items as necessary to make sure you have the space that you have and that it is not being wasted.
5.) Use lighting
Sometimes, the lack of space can be attributed to poor lighting in a room. Light makes a feeling of space because it adds continuity to the appearance of a room. Too dark, too bright or just dowdy lighting will shrink a room by creating shadows, so that shadows fill the space instead of space. Address your lighting for solutions.
