If you have a smaller space, you may be faced with the challenge of wanting to make it look aesthetically pleasing without making it look cluttered. There are many benefits to having tiny homes, studio apartments, or smaller living spaces — if you have a tiny home, you likely have no mortgage, lower energy costs, and easier maintenance. Living in a studio can be a cozy, comfortable feeling, and its location may be situated nearby the amenities you need. While there are a few common decoration mistakes that people often make with smaller spaces, but they’re easy to avoid once you’re aware of them.
Using Dark Colors
It’s unlikely that you’re painting your walls black, but using darker colors as a general rule tends to fool the eye into making the room look smaller. This isn’t just limited to your paint, but to your decor, rugs, and window dressings as well. If your space is small, whites and neutrals are your best bet. Of course, thinking about whites, greys, and beiges may have you thinking “boring,” but it doesn’t have to be. Accent your neutrals with wall art that has a bright pop, or a throw that adds a splash of color. If you were decorating a larger room that you wanted to make appear smaller, the opposite would be true — you would look for deep navy colors and maroons to tighten up the feel of the room.
Too Much Furniture
Whether you’ve recently downsized from a larger space into a smaller one, or this is your first apartment and your parents have bequeathed you with multiple sets of hand-me-downs, you simply may just have too much furniture in the room. As you’re setting up a room, think about the natural flow of the room and how friends, family, and guests would walk through the space should you be entertaining. If you visualize a traffic jam, you have too much furniture. For smaller spaces, keep it simple. The less furniture you have, the larger your home will look. Opt for multipurpose furniture that also doubles as storage solutions, such as storage ottomans, beds with included storage, and coffee tables with storage included. Also, rental furniture is ideal for a more modern aesthetic that fits your style and an uncluttered look.
Heavy Blackout Curtains
Blackout curtains do precisely what they are advertised to do — block out the sun. Similar to using dark colors, blocking out the sun is what you don’t want to do if you have a small space. Let as much sunshine in as possible to open up the space, brighten the room and add a cheerful look. If you have neighbors close by and need nighttime privacy, particularly in the bedroom and bathroom, opt for dual curtains that have a sheer front and a thicker panel in the back so you can still enjoy the sunshine during the day. The more natural sunlight you can let in, the better.
Area Rug Mistakes
Area rug mistakes are one of the most common decoration faux pas, and not just when it comes to small spaces. Because your space is smaller, you may instead want to opt for a mix of smaller rugs that are placed throughout the rooms of the house, particularly the living room. When it comes to the living room especially, stick with one area rug. Otherwise, this makes the floor look much too busy and can actually make your space look smaller. An area rug should touch all of your furniture slightly, but it should not touch the walls. Having the rug in the middle of the room without it touching furniture or having too many rugs results in chopped-up floors.
Dim Lighting
You can’t let the sunshine in on dreary days or at nighttime, so during those times, you have to rely on your home’s lighting. Bright is important — but not too bright. You don’t want to feel as if you’re at the dentist’s office. The tone of the light is important as well. The best way to accomplish the best tone of lighting without it being overpowering is to have different types of light sources throughout. Most homes and apartments are equipped with overhead lighting, but you can complement this with wall sconce lighting, floor lamps with adjustable heads, table lamps (which are perfect if you have a reading nook), and desk lamps. This way, you’re also focusing the right amount of light onto the right place when you need it. Relying on overhead lighting alone can not only lead to eye strain, it can be too dim and can make your home look much smaller than it is.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration in a new sofa, dining room suite, or multi-functional furniture to help redecorate a smaller space, CORT Furniture Rental can help. Not only can we help with furniture, but we can assist with lighting and decor as well. Our expert team of professionals and designers is here to help you reimagine your vision. The CORT process is designed to be as easy and painless for you as possible. We will handle as much or as little as you want with our CORT Commitment™ in mind. A CORT representative will contact you to confirm your order and delivery date. Soon after, our prompt and professional delivery team will deliver and set up your entire furniture package. Later, when your lease is up, you can renew it on a month-to-month basis with no increase in fees or you can schedule your items for pick up.
