Are you looking for a small house interior? Then you’ve landed at the right place. When you live in a small house or apartment, fitting in everything you need is difficult. Trying to fit everything and make it look good is an even more significant challenge, but that’s what makes small space design so fun: Coming up with clever solutions to those obstacles makes it all the more rewarding.
Luckily for you, we Mehraaz group, have a few small space tricks up our sleeves, with hacks ranging from hanging beds to hidden Storage, tricks of the eye, and more. Whether you live in a studio apartment or want to get more out of a tiny room in a small house, these small space design ideas will make it feel so much larger while maintaining style.
Ideas For Small House Interior:
1. Enjoy Chic Storage:
Walk-in closet ideas can undoubtedly be stylish, and living in a small house needn’t mean missing out on the chic way to organize clothes, store shoes, and bags.
But how to introduce it? Take inspiration from Philipp Nagel, director at Neatsmith. ‘We are creating more mini walk-ins than ever before. These are created within alcove spaces. While they look like a fitted closet from the outside when the doors are open, they reveal a space you can step inside, often with double clothes rails and drawers illuminated beautifully by LEDs.’
2. Choose a Floor Mirror:
That decorating with mirrors can visually expand space is well known, but when using them in styling a small house, try sizing up.
‘The most effective of all is an oversized mirror as it will inevitably make your room feel larger,’ says Jon Sharpe, a chief creative officer of LuxDeco’s Interior Design Studio.
‘Try a floor-length mirror behind a piece of furniture (it needs to be roughly the same width, or it will look like it’s just been placed there to be out of the way rather than being a considered design choice) if your space is limited.’
3. Hanging plants:
Hanging plants from the ceiling means adding lush greenery to your home without occupying any surface space. This is the home of Brisbane-based photographer and ceramicist Nicolette Johnson, whose beautiful home was featured in Design Sponge.
4. Edit Yourself:
You can display some things. After all, nothing makes a room feel smaller than clutter.
5. Incorporate Good Lighting:
Good lighting will make or break any room–big or small. Make sure to install good lighting in smaller, cramped spaces like a bathroom with a tiny window, as shown in this gorgeous space.
6. Build a Partial Glass Wall:
Tear down walls, enlarge windows, or swap solid doors for glass to open up views and connect adjacent spaces.
7. Forgo Bulky Pieces:
Though the under-the-sink Storage can be great, larger vanities with many drawers and cabinets can look oversized and awkward in small spaces. In this bathroom designed by Studio DB, the dainty marble vanity has plenty of surfaces space and the extra towel tracks and hooks take care of the storage needs.
8. Build Up:
Exploit the often under-utilized space between furniture tops and a room’s ceiling with hanging or high-mounted elements. Take bookcases and cabinets up. It’ll make the room feel higher.
9. Go Big in a Small Space:
It’s easy to overlook a room when it’s super tiny, mainly because there isn’t enough useable space for décor. But it’s possible and well worth it to elevate and personalize these little rooms. Take this powder room in Ailana Michelle Ralph’s home. For example, the small room packs a lot of punch with a light blush pink wall color and a surrounding gallery of eclectic artwork.
10. Use Bigger (But Fewer) Furnishings:
It may seem counterintuitive, but outfitting a small space with just a few large-scale pieces (rather than a mishmash of pint-size furniture) can make it feel grander. Resist the urge to push all of your furniture up against the walls. If you create space behind the furniture, it makes the room look more expansive than it is.
11. Use Strategic Seating:
Opt for extra seating that can fold up and be super compact so you can store it away while the guests aren’t over. A stool like this one in a living room designed by Hecker Guthrie is perfect.
12. Get a Wall Desk:
Think you have no room for an office? Think again. A wall desk takes up much less room, and you can mount shelves above it for even more storage space. Designer Tariq Dixon transformed an unused corner by installing a wall-mounted desk.
13. Use All Available Surface Space:
Even a windowsill can provide extra storage space for décor, lighting, and other essentials when there’s no room for an extra table.
14. Create Zones:
In interior designer Max Sinsteden’s studio, he made his sleep zone feel separate from the rest of the room by hanging a super high curtain and then suspending a floating painting to break it off even more. “I hate seeing a bed from the front door, so I added a curtain to partition that space. When you close it, you honestly feel like you’re in a Parisian hotel,” he tells us. This means you can entertain without feeling like everyone’s hanging out in your bedroom. “A small space doesn’t hamper me from inviting 50 people over.”
15. Customize Storage:
Bespoke built-ins, storage nooks, and furniture tailored to your needs can utilize every sliver of space. You don’t lose nearly as valuable square footage when they’re part of the walls. And extra Storage under a bench helps, too.
16. Convert a Closet:
Designer David Kaihoi used brilliant storage solutions to make his New York City apartment work harder, including creating this compact laundry “room” in his closet. That way, he can close the door on these eyesore appliances when he’s not doing laundry.
17. Keep It Neutral:
Calm, even-toned rooms fool the eye into thinking they’re more spacious than they are. Make sure to add a variety of textures to keep the space from falling flat.
18. Think About the Scale:
If your kitchen doesn’t have an island and you don’t have a living room that’s separate from the kitchen, don’t give up on making it functional. Opt for a tall wooden table that can provide some extra counter space for cooking and as a two-top dining table. Use this one in a kitchen by Corinne Mathern Studio as your blueprint.
19. Make Every Piece Count:
Choose furnishings that offer maximum functionality in minimal square footage. For example, opt for a desk with a small side chair instead of an end bench. You can use it for work, getting ready, and more.
20. Use Mirrors:
It’s the oldest design trick in the book: Mirrors will make your space feel larger, lighter, and airier. And a fun convex one like this adds a lot of personality without taking up a ton of space.
21. Take Advantage of Architectural Quirks:
Every single inch counts in a small house, so you are sure to take full advantage of architectural quirks. This way, they’ll become your favorite thing about the space. That radiator by your window? Invest in a pretty radiator cover and customize a cushion so you can use it as a window nook to read and relax in. (And you’ll be able to forgo the bulky couch that’ll take up half the studio!) Pile on the pillows and add a pendant light for tasks, as Jae Joo did here.
22. Do Double Duty:
Pieces serving multiple purposes are key: Find a table that can function as a desk and dining table, get a deep sofa that can double as a guest bed, or buy cubes that serve as a coffee table and bonus seats when guests are over.
23. Hide Your TV:(Small House Interior)
Hide it! Whether inside a credenza or disguised as artwork, this design trick is perfect for anyone whose living room is always their family room, dining room, and more.
24. Mount Your TV:
A media console is the most prominent space in a small living room. Mount your TV on the wall or above a fireplace, and you’ll regain the necessary floor space.
25. Express Yourself Everywhere:
Yes, even on the fridge. No, especially your fridge and other bulky appliances. Since there’s limited space for extras and less room to pile in all your favorite items, you’ll need to beautify everything. Here, Anthony Dunning turned a regular old refrigerator into a design opportunity by dressing it up in removable wallpaper.
26. Maximize Shelving:
In this Manhattan apartment, Cece Barfield Thompson corralled the owner’s books and accessories into one room, where built-in shelves with gallery lights make the items look deliberate. The best part? This library doubles as a dining room in the small apartment.
27. Use a Day Bed:(Small House Interior)
Add a day bed and watch your bedroom double in size. This could also be handy in your living room if you don’t have a designated guest room.
28. Shrink Your Dining Table:
Small round tables are for more than just breakfast nooks. Ditch the giant dining table and give yourself some extra space by opting for a small, round dining table, as Emily Henderson did here.
29. Hang a Swing:
Since it doesn’t take up any literal floor space, a swinging seat gives the appearance of a much more open room. For proof, look at the daybed Tiffany Brooks hung in this room at the Kips Bay Palm Beach show house.
30. Hide the Utilities:(Small House Interior)
For the restaurant at The Cornell Inn, Toledo Geller used drapery to cleverly conceal pipes and HVAC, creating an elegant canopy while avoiding visual chaos.
31. Think Vertically:
By hanging subway tile vertically rather than the more common horizontal hang, designer Eneia White makes this modestly-sized bathroom feel taller and more streamlined. A tight palette of black, white, and blush prevent it from feeling cluttered.
32. Be Resourceful: (Small House Interior)
When space is limited, and you don’t want to shop for new, bulky furniture, use a chair as a side table and install wall sconces to save surface space. Like this pale turquoise hue, cheerful color is also a good idea to set a happy mood in a tiny room.
33. Add a Gallery Wall:
Though it may sound counterintuitive, covering a wall floor-to-ceiling can make a small space feel larger. In Rudy Saunders’s apartment, an assortment of framed works (plus an over scaled watch clock!) draws the eye, making the 375-square-foot studio feel more expansive.
34. Opt for Pocket Doors:(Small House Interior)
Pocket doors with glass windows allow shared light to flow throughout the space while creating separation. And even better, they slide right into the wall when not being used, taking up much less space than swinging doors.
35. Incorporate Reflective Materials:
Opt for white lacquered walls and glossy tiles, as designer Brian Patrick Flynn did here. The high-shine materials are reflective and generate the same maximizing effect that a mirror will, bouncing light and making for a general airier space.
