Small decorating changes can pack a punch. Here are four ways to transform your home without doing much at all.
There is at least one reason to sweat the small stuff: In small space design, there can be a big payoff. Maybe it's an ill-matching coffee table or a barren hallway, and fixes to both will make your space feel more pulled together. So do it! If we've learned anything here on ShelterPop, it's that sometimes it's the little things that hold back a room, like overdone blinds, dated artwork, or poor feng shui. But don't fret. There are lots of simple changes you can make to a space to transform it. Here are four to get you started.
Idea #1. Give your home a foyer.
When I took a digital shot of my living room to show a designer at Pottery Barn in Westport, Connecticut, she spotted a big problem: I didn't have a foyer. (See shot below.)
The designer suggested that I move the console table away from the wall and put it behind my sofa, add a runner, some hooks, and voila, no one would be confused again about where to put their coats and bags. (Pic below.)
Never before has something so simple and inexpensive changed the way my home functions. Now when guests and family come into the house, they know exactly what to do, where to put things, and the flow of the space effortlessly leads them into the living room. No more aimless loitering in the middle of the room. Thanks to this small change, the space is welcoming and cozy -- all because I moved a table two feet to the left of the wall.
Idea #2: Paint an accent wall.
Susan Graziano, a publicist living in Manhattan, changed her life by painting one wall of her studio apartment a deep blue; she left the other walls a bright white. She chose the accent wall stategically. The blue went on a wall that has a picture window and a to-die-for-view of the Chrysler Building. Now it wows guests as soon as they step into her apartment, and it makes her space feel more spacious -- the depth of field is deeper when the eye is drawn outward through the window.
Idea #3: Faux to fabulous Oriental rugs.
Lynn Rossini, an interior designer in Avon, Connecticut, knows a few things about how to trick the eye, and she used this quick, easy, and inexpensive trick to transform rooms in her modest sized home: She places different sizes and shapes of inexpensive faux-Oriental carpets around the house over her wood and tile floors. From round to square to rectangle, it looks as though she has invested heavily in a collection of Oriental carpets, and together they pull the rooms together to create flow.
"No one knows the difference," she says about the not-so-genuine rugs. "They are durable, and they protect my floors."
Where does Lynn buy her rugs? She frequents HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx, and Big Lots Stores for the best deals on better-looking and larger faux-Oriental rugs for her home. With three kids, including an active toddler, fake just makes more sense in her house.
Idea #4: Create a pass-through.
This trick is perhaps the most expensive and involved, but it changed the life of my neighbor, Diane. All she wanted was bright light in every room of her house, but her small kitchen was anything but. When it was remodeled a few years ago, she insisted that the space be designed around a pass-through that would allow light to enter the kitchen through the living room. The unanticipated dividend? When you walk into the cozy ranch style home, the house immediately appears larger because the pass-through creates that necessary depth of vision.
There is at least one reason to sweat the small stuff: In small space design, there can be a big payoff. Maybe it's an ill-matching coffee table or a barren hallway, and fixes to both will make your space feel more pulled together. So do it! If we've learned anything here on ShelterPop, it's that sometimes it's the little things that hold back a room, like overdone blinds, dated artwork, or poor feng shui. But don't fret. There are lots of simple changes you can make to a space to transform it. Here are four to get you started.
Idea #1. Give your home a foyer.
When I took a digital shot of my living room to show a designer at Pottery Barn in Westport, Connecticut, she spotted a big problem: I didn't have a foyer. (See shot below.)
The writer's foyerless living room before advice from a designer. Photo: Marilyn Syarto
The designer suggested that I move the console table away from the wall and put it behind my sofa, add a runner, some hooks, and voila, no one would be confused again about where to put their coats and bags. (Pic below.)
Never before has something so simple and inexpensive changed the way my home functions. Now when guests and family come into the house, they know exactly what to do, where to put things, and the flow of the space effortlessly leads them into the living room. No more aimless loitering in the middle of the room. Thanks to this small change, the space is welcoming and cozy -- all because I moved a table two feet to the left of the wall.
After moving the console table away from the wall and adding hooks and a runner, the space, though not as spacious as before, makes sense to everyone who comes into the writer's home. Photo: Marilyn Syarto
Idea #2: Paint an accent wall.
Susan Graziano, a publicist living in Manhattan, changed her life by painting one wall of her studio apartment a deep blue; she left the other walls a bright white. She chose the accent wall stategically. The blue went on a wall that has a picture window and a to-die-for-view of the Chrysler Building. Now it wows guests as soon as they step into her apartment, and it makes her space feel more spacious -- the depth of field is deeper when the eye is drawn outward through the window.
Idea #3: Faux to fabulous Oriental rugs.
Lynn Rossini, an interior designer in Avon, Connecticut, knows a few things about how to trick the eye, and she used this quick, easy, and inexpensive trick to transform rooms in her modest sized home: She places different sizes and shapes of inexpensive faux-Oriental carpets around the house over her wood and tile floors. From round to square to rectangle, it looks as though she has invested heavily in a collection of Oriental carpets, and together they pull the rooms together to create flow.
"No one knows the difference," she says about the not-so-genuine rugs. "They are durable, and they protect my floors."
Where does Lynn buy her rugs? She frequents HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx, and Big Lots Stores for the best deals on better-looking and larger faux-Oriental rugs for her home. With three kids, including an active toddler, fake just makes more sense in her house.
Idea #4: Create a pass-through.
This trick is perhaps the most expensive and involved, but it changed the life of my neighbor, Diane. All she wanted was bright light in every room of her house, but her small kitchen was anything but. When it was remodeled a few years ago, she insisted that the space be designed around a pass-through that would allow light to enter the kitchen through the living room. The unanticipated dividend? When you walk into the cozy ranch style home, the house immediately appears larger because the pass-through creates that necessary depth of vision.
Though most people would frown upon losing so much wall space in a small kitchen, this homeowner insisted on creating a pass through to let light in to the room. The result is a kitchen that appears much larger than it is. Photo: Marilyn Syarto
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