Tips & Trends
A Real Life Project - Thinking big about small spaces

Part of our series featuring real-life Decor & U clients and projects

Kasey Edwards is a successful author, mum to a delightful two year old and a very busy person overall! With so much going on, Kasey’s inner-city lifestyle is perfect for both her and her family. There are parks and playgrounds close by and the library, shops and cafes are all within walking distance. With the city just a quick tram ride away, it’s an ideal place to live. Also, as Kasey doesn’t need to rely entirely on a car to get about or to keep in touch with friends and colleagues she is significantly reducing both her own and her family’s carbon footprint.

But with a typically smaller sized inner-city home, now full of books and in need of some modernization, it was time to take stock. The decision to stay put wasn’t difficult. After all, the location was perfect. How to maximize their home’s potential for modern family living was the question.

This isn’t an unusual dilemma. Many of our clients are keen to minimise their eco-footprint by choosing to live in smaller spaces that are cheaper to build, renovate, heat and clean and which are also closer to their workplace and all the leisure facilities they’ve come to enjoy. And being able to walk or cycle to the shops is an added benefit for health as well as the environment.

Although we think the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages, living in a small space is not without its challenges, and space-planning and organisation is critical. After all, chaotic surroundings where it’s a struggle to find the door-keys or a missing shoe every morning do not enhance anyone’s quality of life! The best results come with forethought and careful design – particularly around the issue of storage. (For some great storage ideas, see the next article below).
On this project we worked with Kasey to design and install storage solutions that were not only functional and responsive to her lifestyle needs, but which also looked attractive and suited the style of her home perfectly. The finished product included an efficient kitchen space with lots of cupboards, a bathroom that now does double duty as a functional laundry, and streamlined yet accessible bookcases and shelving throughout the living areas.

As with all our projects, the most important indication of our success is our client’s satisfaction - so we were delighted to receive this very positive feedback from Kasey:

Kate from Decor & U turned my bathroom from something you’d expect to see in a share-house gone wrong to the best room in the house. She somehow managed to squeeze a bath, bench, washer/dryer and shelving into a space not much bigger than a walk-in wardrobe, without making it look crowded. After doing such a great job I asked her to replace the cupboards in my kitchen and put bookshelves in my lounge room. Each time, Kate managed the process from start to finish. It was stress free (for me at least) and affordable. Her attention to detail is matched only by her exceptional taste.

Kasey Edwards is the author of Thirty Something and Over it; Thirty Something and the Clock is Ticking and the picture books OMG! THAT’S NOT MY HUSBAND and OMG! THAT’S NOT MY CHILD
You can find out more about Kasey Edwards and her work at www.kaseyedwards.com

Storage Ideas

Storage is a crucial component of every home and particularly so when living in a smaller space.
No doubt you’ve heard this advice many times, but it really is true that the first step to effective storage is to reduce the number of items to be stored to what is actually needed.  So, be ruthless and discard whatever you no longer need.   Make the commitment, and set aside a day to get rid of anything that doesn’t work, you don’t use, don’t like or that doesn’t fit anymore. 

It’s a wonderful feeling when you’ve finally removed the clutter from you life.  And you can help others by donating items (that still work) to charity, or by giving them to friends and family.  If you’re really energetic and motivated  you could even organize a garage sale and make a profit from your cast-offs!

Once you’ve whittled down the number of articles to be managed, you can start planning the best storage solutions for your needs.   Built-in storage is usually a good option as it keeps excess items off the floor and reduces visual bulk which is important in a small space.  When you start thinking about it you’ll soon realize that there are numerous opportunities to customize your storage options. 

The kitchen is an obvious starting point – so perhaps consider constructing overhead cupboards that go all the way to the ceiling and then use clever kitchen accessories such as drawer dividers, pull-out shelving, wire racks and lazy susan’s for maximum use of the available space.  Specialist suppliers such as Blum and Hafele have lots of cutting-edge products, and Ikea has a great range of affordable solutions too.

A handy pull-out storage system

In the living room you can frame doorways with either sleek or country-style cupboards (such as those pictured below).  You can also easily fit-out a fireplace alcoves with shelving in any of a variety of different styles to suit your decor.   Another option is to allocate an entire wall to a bookcase which runs from the floor to the ceiling. 

          
Invest in wardrobe inserts such as racks, rails and shoe tidies to use in the bedroom,  and line closet shelves with wicker baskets, lidded boxes or other containers to store smaller items.  Visit retail outlets such as Ikea and Howard’s Storage for more ideas.

If you have stairs you can install cupboards underneath, or place drawers within the stair treads themselves.

       
These are just a few ideas to get you started.  And we’d love to hear about any clever storage solutions you’ve come up with , so please email kate@decoru.com.au if you have any  innovative ideas you’d like to share.

Small Space Living

These days, size is not everything and fewer people aspire to own a large house just for the sake of it.
For some, the attraction of living close to work is a key factor in choosing  a smaller home and one of the reasons that inner-city apartment living is increasingly popular.  The rise of one and two person households, along with a growing number of single-parent families has further encouraged this trend.  
Driven by rising prices,  busy lifestyles and environmental considerations,  more and more people are seeking the convenience and cost-effectiveness that a smaller sized abode can offer – less cleaning, less maintenance, cheaper electricity and gas bills, lower council rates – these are just a few of the benefits.
However, for all their advantages, small homes can also present some challenges, and compromises must inevitably be made. 

Here’s our list of tips to help maximize small space living:
1. Choose your colour scheme carefully.  As dark colours absorb light and make spaces appear smaller it may be better to go with a neutral colour palette to help create a more spacious, flowing effect.  Try off-whites, creams,  beiges, light blues and light greys.  Paint the ceiling a vivid white so that the rooms seem taller.  This is especially useful if you have a standard 2.4m high ceiling

2. In a small space, abrupt changes of decor can undermine a sense of unity.  This is another good reason to maintain consistent underlying neutral colours throughout, as they will help to hold the overall scheme together

3. Flooring can also be a powerful unifier.  It is one of the largest surface areas in the home, so either extending the same flooring throughout or choosing materials that are tonally similar is an excellent space-enhancing strategy

4. Plan storage carefully, and have lots of it.  It’s a good idea to  keep items off the floors and use built-in storage as much as possible

5. Open-plan layouts generally use space well and are more flexible than individual rooms

6. Incorporate mirrors and reflective surfaces to maximize natural light and make  rooms seem larger

7. Choose appropriate artificial lighting that includes specific task lighting.  This is especially important over kitchen benches,  next to bathroom vanities and for activities such as reading, studying ,  sewing and craft

8. To reduce glare and produce different lighting ambiences, use dimmers on central lighting fixtures, especially in bedrooms and living rooms

9. Select finishes (such as wall tiles) that are similar in tone and use them consistently throughout your home to create a sense of flow and harmony

10. If you need to buy new furniture, consider items that are flexible and multi-purpose such as sofa beds, coffee-tables with built in storage compartments, extendable or fold-down dining tables and stackable chairs

11. Select window treatments to maximize views and natural light, and bring the outdoors in as much as possible

12. Minimize architectural details such as ornate cornices and architraves and choose low-profile or shadow-gapped options wherever possible (your designer can explain more about these options)

13. If you have a larger budget to play with, you could consider converting under-used areas, such as attics or lofts, into extra living or storage areas

14. And perhaps most importantly of all, don’t be swayed by other people’s expectations of what a home should include.  If you focus on creating a home that suits your design preferences and lifestyle needs you are bound to achieve a result that works perfectly for you!

Tips Archive

Spring 2011 - Kitchen Design Ideas
Winter 2011 - Art and Colour Ideas
Summer 2008 - 2009
Winter 2009