How to make the most of small spaces
A shortage of floor space should not be a limit to your imagination when furnishing your home. Whether it is a compact living area or a small alcove in a room, it is possible to find the perfect pieces of furniture to furnish your home at Cousins Furniture.
Bespoke storage solutions, multifunctional pieces, compact furniture, and styling techniques are all ways of making the most of even the smallest of spaces.
Small in size, big on design
Making your room cosy and calming with no wasted space is an important aspect of furnishing a small living space without it looking or feeling cluttered. Compact pieces, such as a sofa or dining set, can be the focal point of any interior without overwhelming the space. Utilising a myriad of storage solutions will also allow you to fill alcoves and recesses without taking up valuable floor space.
The thought of buying a sofa or dining set for a smaller living area, that is in size or is awkwardly shaped, can be intimidating but there are several ways that you can make the process more straightforward. Choosing a sofa with more petite proportions, such as slim arms, will ensure that your sofa will be in keeping with the scale of your living room. Sofas with low backs and low arms will help create the impression that your ceilings are higher than they are and instil clean lines into your décor.
Sofas with beautifully turned wooden legs or with contemporary metallic legs are ideal because they raise the sofa off the floor and allow you to see more of the space creating a sense of openness. Attractive detailing such as curves and buttons add decadence to the design of any sofa regardless of size.
Made-to-measure sofas are an alternative solution - you just need to provide us with the measurements, and our knowledgeable salespeople will be able to provide you with any professional advice needed. Our Cousins Bespoke Studios are ideal for solving any seating dilemma.
Our enormous selection of dining tables, in classic and contemporary styles, also come in a range of sizes and finishes. Requiring smaller dimensions does not mean you have to hold back on quality or style. Circular tables with hand-finished marble and granite tabletops are still extremely functional, allowing chairs to slide easily under them to maximise space when they are not in use. Tables with the option of drop leaves or extension leaves, which can be stored internally, are also useful when you have guests but still need the extra space for everyday living. Glass top dining tables and occasional furniture also help to create the illusion of space.
Elegant storage solutions
Using your living area wisely is imperative and applying the best storage solutions to keep your room tidy will maintain the feeling of spaciousness.
Tall, slimline open shelving units and hanging wall units are excellent ways of providing storage with a minimal footprint.
Sideboards and display units all come in a variety of sizes that will further enhance your storage options.
Keeping your living space as pared back as possible whilst also highlighting your style, we have a selection of display units that will co-ordinate with any style from modern and contemporary through to more traditional.
Wardrobes and space-saving storage options for your bedroom, such as sofa beds or guest beds, are all available to view in our showrooms. We have a wide range of wardrobes that can meet your specific needs. We can also integrate accessories, like a fold-out interior mirror, internal drawer units and pull-out trouser holders without affecting your floor space. Perfectly proportioned chests and nightstands will add stylish final additions to any bedroom interior, whilst also being extremely functional.
Incorporating extra storage through adding drawers to your new bed or buying an ottoman bed are all excellent ways of making the most of what space you do have. Under-bed storage will allow you to hide away larger items such as luggage and bedding without taking up invaluable space in your home.
Refining your space
Adding intricate details into your décor and using alternative items of furniture can create the illusion of space and allow you to make a statement in any room.
There are several ways of designing any space to create it the way you want it, no matter the size. Adding mirrors is the most recognisable method of introducing light and space into smaller areas. Tall leaner mirrors will introduce a sense of height and airiness, as will any large wall mirrors. Placing mirrors onto a wall opposite a source of natural light can help to bounce the light around a room.
Lighting is another useful tool to create the impression of light and space. Floor lamps and wall lights with smaller shades, or even lights without shades can introduce mood lighting and open the darkest of alcoves or nooks instantly making any room look larger.
Large rugs can deceive your mind into thinking that the border of the rug is the edge of the room. They all help in grounding all your pieces of furniture together by not visually breaking up the floor space. Another technique of tricking the mind into enlarging the dimensions of a smaller space and creating balance is by introducing tall artwork, thereby drawing your eye naturally upwards.
Used against a backdrop of neutral furniture, bright and patterned accessories such as scatter cushions, throws, rugs and artwork can introduce a focal point into any smaller room without being overwhelming.
Swapping a coffee table for a side table or nest of tables offers versatility and can save on space. Choosing coffee tables with shelfs or drawers, as well as innovative lift top systems will also help to this affect.
Using round ottomans or footstools as extra seating when needed may also be an important consideration. What about storage footstools to help keep an everyday living space uncluttered? It can also act as a substitute coffee table!
If you need to sit five people, and if your wall space permits, go for a square corner group or a 3 seater + 2 seater sofa, rather than a conventional 3 seater suite. You’ll save on needless space wasted by arms – a 3 seater and 2 seater has four arms, a corner group has just one or two arms, compared to a 3 seater suite which has 6 arms!
Think that a corner group will be too big? We have bespoke L-shaped corner groups that can be customised to your size and comfort requirements.
Using our knowledge
If you are styling and furnishing a smaller room it can feel that you must take out of the equation all the items that won’t fit into your room first. By speaking to one of our expert salespeople, we want to make the process that much easier for you by recommending the pieces that will be suitable and to instil some ideas that you may not have considered before.
Remember, we have beneficial experience of having spoken with thousands of customers with a similar challenge, to which we’ve provided many solutions.
