Most homes don’t make the most of the space that’s actually on offer in them. There are many reasons for that, but it’s something that you should look to address inside your home if you haven’t done so already. It’s easier than you think, and you shouldn’t need any motivation for taking these steps because you will come out the other end with a more effective and functional home. Who doesn’t want that?
So, what should you do to start making better use of the space your home can boast? There are many options out there, and we’re going to have a closer look at some of them today. There are typical mistakes that get made, and we’ll start by helping you to correct those mistakes and change the way in which your space is used on a daily basis. Read on now if you want to start on the road to a better home.
Ensure Your Room Layouts Are Flexible
First of all, you need to think about the layout of the furniture in each of your home’s rooms. Ideally, the layout should be as flexible as it can be because this will allow you to make changes as soon as you realise something is not quite working for you. Don’t put things in place that are hard to change. It will simply limit your options going forward and potentially create more work for yourself further down the line. Keep this in mind.
When Looking for Storage Space, Look Up
This is something that you should make the most of in your kitchen. If you have a breakfast bar in your kitchen, or even countertops where you prepare food, you should look for a space where you can hang items that you don’t really have anywhere else to store. You can hang pots and pans on metal racks. It’s such a simple trick, and not many people think to use it. It can also make your cooking easier because everything you need when preparing food will be within reach.
If You Need to Decorate with Small Items and Ornaments, Use Shelves
Shelves are so underrated these days, and you should definitely put more of them in place if you want to decorate your space with ornaments and things of that nature. It will mean that you don’t have to use so many tables in your home, and that will allow a more open and spacious environment. That’s got to be a good thing. Shelves can store so many little items, and they don’t take up any floor space at all. That’s their major advantage, and you should be sure to make the most of it as soon as you possibly can.
Store Your Clothes Out in the Open
This might sound like quite a strange idea, but it’s one that could really pay off for you. By getting rid of your big bulky wardrobe, you’ll free up a lot of space. And then you can store your clothes on rails out in the open. It immediately makes your bedroom feel much bigger. If you get creative with how you store and display your clothes, it won’t even have to look messy, so don’t rule out this idea even if it sounds a little strange. Think of how much larger your room will be without your wardrobe in there.
Pick Dual-Function Furniture
Furniture doesn’t have to have only one purpose and function in your home. By choosing furniture items that have multiple functions, you will be able to make far better use of the space available to you. This could be a coffee table that lifts up and offers you storage space inside. Or it might be a bed that also has drawers underneath. Those are just two of the most common and most obvious options, but there are many other adventurous and creative types of dual-function furniture out there, too. So, have a look and see what you can find.
Replace Your Awkward Sofa with a Corner Sofa
The sofa you have in your living room is probably one of the most important furniture items you have. You’ll use it every day, and that’s why you need to make sure that it’s the right one. If it’s not, you will waste your space badly, and that’s not what you want. Corner sofas are perfect when you’re looking to make the most of your space because they can be lined up with the precise shape of your room. Leather corner sofas are easy to find, and they can be affordable options too. So, you should make the most of them.
Divide Up Rooms Cleverly
You can make homes feel more useful and more multi-functional when you divide up the space you have available to you. This can be done in very clear and direct ways. For example, you can find dividers that literally shut off a space in the room. You could then use one corner for reading, making it separate from the rest of the room. You don’t have to be that direct about it, though. Simply having areas of your room that are used for different things will mean that you end up making better use of all the space.
Tackle Your Hoarding Habit Ruthlessly
If you’re the kind of person who very easily hoards things in your home, this is something that you definitely need to tackle. If you don’t take a ruthless approach to this kind of thing, you will never be able to make proper use of your home and the space it has to offer. That might sound drastic, but it’s also true. Try to take a more rational approach to the things you keep and the things you don’t. By never throwing things away, you will be achieving nothing and reaping no reward, while also taking up space in your home.
Make Your Loft Your Only Storage Room
Your loft offers you plenty of space in which you can store the things that you don’t really want or need in your home. This affords you a real chance to change how you store things in your home if you’re not currently making much use of it. You can then use that as your only mass storage area in your home. Many people have an old office or a spare room that ends up getting used as a dumping space for the stuff that you don’t really want but don’t want to throw away either. Instead, that stuff should be taken up to your loft.
Your Garage Should Have a Function
It’s not just your indoor space that you have to be thinking about, either. You should definitely think about your garage if you have one. This is a huge space, and it so often goes to waste. That really shouldn’t be the case, so give some thought to it if you haven’t in a long time. By making sure that your garage has a real and thought-through function, no matter what that function is, you will start getting some use out of your garage. That way, it won’t just be a dusty, dirty old space that you very rarely venture out to.
Be sure to put some of the things you’ve learned here into action in your own home. That way, you will have more space, and your rooms won’t feel like they’re closing in on you anymore. That’s something anyone can appreciate, so get to work as soon as you can.
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13 Comments
Excellent way of getting you thinking about space! I seem to clean up and declutter. Think YES I’ve done well here and then a month later, I’ve hoarded even more rubbish and I’m back to square 1! Ugh!
Great ideas. We are just about to move so will use these tips
I have used every single inch of spare space in my house – would love a corner sofa though
We have a tiny home and feel it’s so cramped especially with our little newborn addition. Somebody gear tips though- especially the corner sofa ! X
These are great tips, we have a big lounge but it doesn’t feel big as it is so cluttered. I think I need to implement some of these tips x
Great post! We converted our garage last year and have plans to convert out attic next too!
Great tips there are definitely ways we could maximise space in our home. I’m definitely terrible at hoarding and am trying to have a good clear out before Christmas.
I wish that I had a loft so that I could put all my junk there instead of keeping it in my room. I like the idea of replacing an awkward sofa with a corner sofa x
Great advice. When we moved house last Christmas we got our whole attic boarded and it has made such a difference to have so much space to store stuff!
This is a good question! I think most of our wasted space is in the conservatory especially in the cold months! It always ends up a dumping ground 🙁
Some great ideas here, thank you will have a rethink about our layouts!
Great post this. We’ve got a loft but it wasn’t until a few years ago that we decided to make it the ONLY storage room in our house!
This is the post for me! We don’t utilise the space in our house very well at all, though we do store our daughter’s clothes ‘in the open’ and it works really well 🙂