Best Use of Space

Whether you’re in an apartment, combining households or have just moved into your dream home with a family room the size of a bowling alley, home serves as a refuge from the woes and stresses of the day, stores our loot, reflects who we are and can define who we become. For thousands of years different cultures from Asia to Rome have recognized the link between our physical space and our psyches. Feng Shui is the study of that relationship and offers practical tools for creating an environment that embraces you in comfort, functionality and psychological fit.

While living in the ‘burbs can offer larger spaces and privacy, most of us are still concerned with storage and with arranging spaces that accommodate the conflicting needs of toddlers, teenagers, parents and sometimes - grandparents! Having more room engenders the belief that we can keep everything and before ya’ know it, we’re out-of-room! It might be time to divest of a few thneeds (things nobody needs for those of you unfamiliar with Dr. Seuss’s, The Lorax); look at more efficient storage; design multiple use rooms and get organized.

If you’ve reached that stage, there are some practical steps you can take to drastically change both the feel and the function of your home, without re-decorating, remodeling or throwing anybody out. No matter how much or little room you have, the following ideas will add functional square-footage to you current space and will probably make you feel like you’ve redecorated without dipping into the 401K.

As a Feng Shui consultant and Professional Organizer, I work a lot with folks who are shifting gears, down sizing or up grading and there’s usually a lot of under-utilized space waiting in the wings. I’ve been intrigued by how to trick small spaces into functioning like larger ones since I read The Provident Planner twenty-plus years ago. Creating rooms that support divergent functions is a very cost effective method of “adding” square footage! For example, a Murphy bed can turn a room into a study by day, a media room in the evenings and a cozy bedroom at night. For the uninitiated, a Murphy Bed is a gizmo that functions as a bed - complete with bed-side tables, lighting, and room for art work - in the down position, and folds against the wall mimicking a sleek wall unit when not in use. They range from about $250 to $1500 and you can even get one for Fido.

If that seems radical, proper furniture arrangement can make a world of difference! One idea that translates to any space is to stage furniture in a “U” or “L” pattern so that it feels like you’re walking into open arms. Interestingly, placing a couch on an angle to the corner does NOT make the room feel smaller. Corners are wasted anyway, so - if you place a sofa table with lamps and a plant behind an angled sofa, you’ve made better use of dead space and provided lighting and ambience, while creating a room that actually feels roomier. A $5.00 can-light tucked in at the base of a palm tree splashes leaf patterned light across the ceiling adding drama and interest.

Visually join all of the pieces of the grouping with an area rug to create a zone that feels welcoming and cohesive, even if it’s floating in a larger area. Make sure each piece connects with rug, and play with angles instead of having everything squared. Slanting it toward the larger part of the room or entry visually pulls people in while relating it to other areas.

In an effort to define areas in open floor plans, folks will often arrange couches in a way that feels unwelcoming and chops up the room. As a general rule, don’t arrange a couch so that the back is turned to either the entry door or shared dining. In addition to making the area feel closed off, it suggests to visitors that this is private territory – so don’t intrude. The “open arms” positioning avoids this pitfall, makes better use of the room, encourages communication and makes for great parties.

The idea works equally well with desks, which people have a tendency to push against a wall resulting in your feeling stuck when working there. Positioning the desk to view the room inspires creativity, productivity and possibility thinking. Computer cables tied together can be camouflaged with a plant, adding life-energy. Remember, the goal is to create a more functional, aesthetically pleasing space, not just a more vacant one. Leaving a room empty in the middle, which is what happens when you line up all the furniture along the walls, can make it feel cold and formal – the antithesis of “home.”

Now that you’ve pushed around some furniture, think vertical to improve storage! In bathroom cabinets, people tend to use only the bottom 6”to 8”. Using stackable, see-through drawers can quadruple storage, while keeping things neat, visible, and accessible. Stashing personal care products in attractive baskets yields a cleaner look and works to create “territory” when kids (or spouses) share a bathroom. Adding shelves is inexpensive fix that can even make room for your car in the garage! Heavy-duty vinyl shelving is easy to assemble and some brands hold about a thousand pounds.

Increase pantry capacity by using double-decker turntables and stackable bins for mixes, snacks and items that don’t stack well. Improve workspace by creating compact groupings of like items – tricking the eye into seeing one item (the group) instead of lots of odds-and-ends. If you still need room, try pegboard, which is NOT just for garages anymore. Spray paint a section using a complementary color (high gloss prevents scraping and marking) and use it to store or display everything from pot and pans to memorabilia. Make it fun!

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