DIY Home Improvement

Who wouldn’t want to come home to an airy, spacious living space? Clearly, everyone would want to live some place that gives them a lot of breathing room, but the sheer number of the global population as well as the recent increase in property rates has forced a lot of people to live in shoebox apartments or house.

Still, this is but a small obstacle that can be overcome with a little bit of creativity. If you’re willing to put in a bit of effort, a few tweaks here and there can free up a significant amount of space in your home that just might surprise you.

The following are just some of the simple yet clever ways that can allow you to maximize a small living space:

1. Install additional light fixtures in the ceiling above the darker parts of your house or apartment. Flooding your home with light can make it look a lot more spacious and airy.
2. Repaint your walls with a brighter neutral color, such as white or beige. Not only will this color scheme work with pretty much any design theme, but it also tricks the eye into seeing a much bigger space than there is. Conversely, avoid using dark colors like maroon or black for your walls as they can make the room look smaller.
3. Install small shelves above the doorways. That space is hardly ever utilized, but it’s great for storing fancy, breakable knick-knacks that you want to keep in view (but of reach of children or pets). Simply measure the area in question, and then purchase an appropriately-sized shelf from the nearest home improvement store.
4. When purchasing furniture, choose pieces that serve more than one purpose. Coffee tables with drawers, for instance, are ideal for storing bits and bobs like remote controllers, pens, or fireplace matches so that they don’t pile up into clutter and make your space look smaller than it is. You can even use low bookcases or shelves as coffee tables as an alternative. Corner bookshelves are also great for maximizing tiny nooks and for providing additional organization and storage.
5. Install the same kind of flooring in one room to promote visual continuity. Using different kinds of tiles or flooring tends to divide a space into smaller quadrants, so use the same color and style for your tiles so that the eye can perceive the space as one big, continuous block.
6. Go for a monochrome scheme with one other vibrant color to serve as the accent. Apart from creating a more unified look for the room, a monochromatic scheme can also make rooms look longer and wider.
7. When setting out the furniture, place them carefully so that they don’t block any windows and doors. This way, your view to the outside world remains unobstructed, preventing your rooms from appearing to be claustrophobic.

Much of the improvements listed above don’t require you to shell out much, but should you need to purchase anything to carry out the said projects, you can be sure to find them at .