Tight Spaces, Big Ideas

Cozy Without The Clutter

It can be a puzzle figuring out how to display all your necessities alongside your knick-knacks in a home with a smaller square footage. That’s no reason to put your favorite heirloom pieces in storage! Selecting the right organization bins and utilizing your vertical space creates a cozy, intimate home without making you feel lost in the clutter. It’s 2020, baby! We’ve got dual-purpose items to save space without sacrificing your look. Take a look at some of these space-saving tips to keep your home orderly and comfortable.

Everything With Dual Purpose

I love how much easier it is to find furniture pieces with a multipurpose design. Combining two ideas into one gorgeous space-conscious function is brilliant. Start with items that can have more than one purpose. I’m an easy sucker for anything IKEA and this Wifi speaker/table lamp is an awesome idea.

Cute, modern lamp? Check. Compact in size for simple displaying capability? Check. Also plays my favorite beats? You know it.

Your accent tables, TV stands and bureaus, and coffee tables have fantastic potential to be multipurpose. Choose an entertainment center with plenty of additional pockets or shelving for storage. I know sleek, slender pieces are still a big trend, but a medium-to-large entertainment center can really do wonders for helping define your space in an open floor plan. This large floating center from Bed Bath & Beyond has LED recessed lights and a top shelf.

You can mount your TV or leave it on the stand! And the best part? There is plenty of room underneath for additional storage and all your personal touches. I think a pet bed could fit perfectly in that space for all the pet Moms and Dads out there.

Multipurpose is more than just extra storage or built-in tech, too! Keep it simple with small items and think outside the box. Instead of investing in a series of air fresheners, wax melts, and motion-activated sprays to keep my home smelling fresh, I give extra love and attention to a quaint herb garden. Not only is it charming and pretty simple to maintain, but our home is also naturally scented with mint, lavender, and lemon thyme. Plus, the added benefit of some fresh herbs on hand when cooking! You can find herbs at nearly any garden center or your local nursery, too. Working in a more modest space requires a little bit of creativity.

Hidden Compartments Everywhere

This is an admittedly cool way to stay organized. It’s all the stealth of a special agent while living like a suburban mom. Or maybe that’s just a way to make Adult Responsibilities and Chores™ feel less boring. Secret compartments are cool at any stage of life, right? What girl doesn’t lose her mind in a dress with pockets? I am particularly fond of hidden medicine cabinets in bathrooms. Those big, clunky mirrors of before have been reworked into slim and modern masters. Concealed Cabinet carries a recessed mirror cabinet to neatly tuck away your small bathroom items without sacrificing room in your linen closest. They also come as paintings and pictures. The versatility is wild.

Adding magnet strips inside gives some extra room, too. You can quickly store all manner of accessories. Personally, I like how the recessed cabinet stops prying eyes from digging into your personal items. Who would think to yank your mirror off the wall? And since it comes in a range of styles beyond just a mirror, a Concealed Cabinet product works in more than just a bathroom.

Another great option is to take those fake drawers we always end up with on counters and vanities and turn them into real drawers! A hidden hinge and carefully measured cut of wood make new space where you simply had the illusion before. Remodelaholic has great how-to for anyone bold enough to DIY their way to some new hidden compartments.

My absolute favorite storage option is under the bed. Your mattress takes up so much space as is. You may as well get some good organization from it, too! Under-storage is a perfect way to multipurpose your bedroom. It all comes back together! There is the classic panel bed with drawers from Ashley Furniture. This rustic wood bed is gorgeous for a hundred reasons, not least of all for how much extra space you have to keep your things tidy. With this style, you can probably skip on a dresser if you have decent closet space!

For something more modern and funky, I’m strongly considering upgrading to this Cubby Cabinet Platform Bed from the Pottery Barn. It’s a very sleek, unique way to skip out on accent tables and clean off your desk space. It is a nice change to see a very low or very high frame compared to the typical bed heights, too. The added change can refresh a room in big ways.

For tight spaces or anyone looking for something truly outside the norm, you can pick up a lifting bed with storage underneath! Rockler offers this end-opening bedlift with a twist! I love how this bed is a modern adaptation of the old school Murphey Bed dropdowns. This bed style gives much more storage space with the full length and width of the mattress.

No, there aren’t the conveniently placed drawers to separate your items. But all this room means you can safely store your much larger possessions. That’s great news for musicians, artists, hobby-lovers, and more!

Take Advantage of Dead Space

You don’t think of the space above your doors. You forget about the sides of your cabinets and islands. Your entries and exits are either barren or chaotic. Dead space is all over your home begging for your attention. I am a huge fan of using the space over your doors. It is especially useful in hobby rooms, guest bedroom, and kids rooms. Slim shelves, wide shelves, something in between. You can make a truly cute shelf with a little extra décor. Check out this adorable, simple door shelf Poppytalk made over a weekend. That leaves room for rolled towels in a bathroom! Art projects and Legos in a kid’s room. Hanging plants in a dining room. You can add a similar shelf in your garage, too! An opportunity to put up your holiday items in the garage leaves room for your side projects (or your cars).

Pinterest is a great resource for dream home ideas. If you aren’t comfortable with a DIY project, home remodelers and builders will be thrilled for a chance to work on something new.

Vertical space is available all over the home. Hanging your pots and pans can tie into your charming farmhouse-style design or be a shiny addition to your modern home. Everyone is familiar with a pot rack hanging above a kitchen island or a kitchen sink. Convenient to quickly grab your next skillet. But I adore this wall-mounted pot rack to hang in those small spaces in a kitchen or nook.

These are industrial and rustic and just a little off the norm. Stagger a few of this around your kitchen (or bathroom!) and leave your cabinet space for your occasional use appliances! Really, anywhere on your walls, above doors, or under tables that you can transform into extra storage will make a notable difference in how cluttered your small-to-medium home remains. And you have the added bonus of interesting talking points with friends jealous of how clean and charming your home is. Definitely a perk.

Shift your attention to what you are currently working with instead of trying to add more bins, more filing cabinets, more door hanging shoe organizers, more, more, more. It can be overwhelming trying to maximize space when you are already maxed out on different products to add to your collection. Next time you are struggling to find room for more, take a look at rearranging and breaking outside of the classic idea of storage. It will be a refreshing change and an exciting challenge to rethink how you operate. These tips will jumpstart your process into managing all that “more."

Here at Nelson Design Group, we are always ready to make your dream home a reality. If we don’t have the plan that is right for you, we’ll make one. We are experts in our field and have been doing this for over 30 years. Give us a call today and we will be glad to help.

Benefits of Nelson Design Group

If you are looking at building a house, check out our Building Your Dream Home blog series. This series walks you through step by step on how to build a house and is updated regularly.

• Building Your Dream Home: Concept and Design
• Building Your Dream Home: Loans and Permits
• Building Your Dream Home: Site Prep and Grading

If you haven’t found a builder yet, we have a Find-a-Builder tool right here on our website. These are builders from around the country that we have vetted just for you! They are skilled in their professions and do a great job.

Nelson Design Group has over 1,800 house plans for you to choose from. If you’re unsure about finding what you need, give us a call at (870) 931-5777. Our representatives are always happy to help.

If you are a builder looking to buy plans, sign up for our Builder’s Program. We offer discounts you won’t be able to find anywhere else.

We also have resources that are just for you like access to our Master Planned Communities and Marketing Services.