Living in a small home has its advantages and its disadvantages. First and foremost, it meets with what you can afford but that does not mean that you cannot have a beautiful home - one that you love. For anyone living in a small home, there are plenty of ways to make the most of the space.
How can a homeowner find more storage space and make their home feel bigger than it is? Home-Dzine shares that there is one invaluable space-saving hack that offers an ingenious way to increase storage space in a small home, increase the amount of valuable floor space and make a small home look and feel bigger and it is an easy and affordable do-it-yourself solution.
Floor-to-ceiling storage
Similar to your built-in cupboards in a bedroom, floor-to-ceiling storage can be designed and modified to fit into any room in a small home to provide plenty of storage - more than you will ever need. Floor-to-ceiling cupboards can be made to fit into any space with a depth ranging from 20 cm up to 55 cm - depending on what you want to store in the cupboards. Take the built-in cupboards in your bedroom for example. These have a depth of between 50 cm to 60 cm - or just enough to accommodate clothes hangers on a rail.
Floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards for a bathroom
Floor-to-ceiling cupboards are just as useful in a bathroom as in any other room in the home. While the cupboards shown here are fitted between wall studs on a bathroom wall, the design would be just as useful if mounted on any empty wall in a bathroom with the purpose to provide much-needed storage without taking up too much floor space.
Floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards for a bedroom
Making use of the space at the head of a bed makes the most sense since this space is normally unused and takes up hardly any additional floor space other than what is required at either side of the bed. In this area, you can install floor-to-ceiling cupboards with a combination of open shelves and cupboards with doors for a wide range of storage requirements.
Floor-to-ceiling storage cupboards for a living or family room
Imagine having a place to store your books, CDs, magazines, toys and games. For a floor-to-ceiling storage solution, all you need is an empty wall to install the cupboards. And floor-to-ceiling cabinets don't have to be just for storage in a living room or family room as they can also be designed to serve as display cabinets as well, enhancing the aesthetics of these rooms.
READ: Kitchen upgrades that will increase your home value
In previously published article Eugène Jordaan, Principal at Leapfrog Moreleta Park, advised that a few savvy adjustments, creative considerations and smart planning can make the kitchen the most loved space in the home:
Prep and plan
As with most home renovations, the available budget tends to dictate the scope of the project.
“Start by listing everything you would like to change, determine the cost of the line items on the wish list, and then work backwards from there, dividing the list into the essential must-dos and the nice-to-haves,” recommends Jordaan.
If you’re worried about overcapitalising, speak to a trusted property advisor who will be able to share useful insights with you about what sort of value your improvements will add to your property in the medium to long run.
When planning your new kitchen, bear in mind that practicality is key in a kitchen. Think about how you use the space and how the flow, organisation and aesthetic could make it a more pleasant place to work and play.
“Too often you see kitchens where the coffee things are on the side opposite to where the kettle is. By simply moving it closer you’re enhancing the space in a subtle, but very important way,” says Jordaan.
If your budget is limited and you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, it would be wise to not make any major structural changes, such as moving the plumbing and breaking walls, but to rather focus on improvements that refresh the look and feel.
Social circle
Gone are the days where the kitchen was a secret compartment that led off from the dining room.
Kitchens today are hubs of social activity, and need to be designed to match both our social and culinary needs.
If this is true of your kitchen (and lifestyle), plan and renovate accordingly. This could mean adding a centre island, if space allows, or lengthening the counter to allow for more people to sit at it. “It may also simply mean moving the appliances that you don’t use every day to make room for more social activities around the counter,” adds Jordaan.
Counter offers
Speaking of counters, if your budget doesn’t allow for a massive aesthetic overhaul but you’re desperate to update the look, consider just replacing the countertops. “The countertops are the first thing that catches our eye in the kitchen and tends to dominate the look and feel of the space,” says Jordaan. If the cupboards and fittings are in good condition, simply replacing the countertops with something more contemporary could make a world of difference, without costing the earth.
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