04051 Living in Small Spaces
Small rooms or dwellings discipline the mind, large ones weaken it. - Leonardo Da Vinci
Five reasons small living spaces are better.
- Cheaper
- Smaller eco-footprint
- Faster to clean up
- Everything is close at hand
- Cozy
Three difficulties of small spaces
- They must be carefully planned or they quickly into chaos.
2. If multiple people live in a small space, you need careful negotiations about the use of you living spaces, to resolve issues like television and music noise, visitors, overnight guests, etc. As you identify issues, negotiate acceptable solutions among those living in the space.
3. You may need a downsizing process in order to move into a small space. Existing possessions may be too numerous — or too large — to fit into a small space.
The Big Picture on Small Spaces or How to live large in a small space.
You can’t own everything. Even if you had a large house — where would you put it? If you are going to live in a smaller space, you must winnow your possessions down to a smaller amount. You can give things away, sell them, ask others to keep them for you, and donate them to thrift stores. Some may be recycled. Other than objects of beauty and emotional value, if you haven’t used something in a year, ask yourself if you really need to keep it. Digitize your music, paperwork, and books. Use the public library instead of buying books — or if you like buying books, resell them or give them away after reading them.
Know your priorities for your dwelling. What spaces are most important to you? If cooking is important, allocate more space for cooking and eating. If you don’t cook much, dedicate less space to the kitchen area. If you work at home or are a student, your home office takes on a greater importance. If you like to entertain, your living room (entertainment space) should be maximized.
Neat habits help. A large mess in a large space is much less noticeable than a small mess in a small space. In the small space, the small mess takes on the characteristics of a large mess. Clutter is the bane of small-space living. Don’t use the floor as a closet! You need a place for everything and everything in its place.
Use all of your spaces, especially those that you typically ignore. Go vertical, to your ceiling, even if that means getting a small ladder/step-stool to reach the top shelves. Use spaces underneath furniture and fixtures (under your bed, under the couch, under tables, under counters, etc.). Use your ceiling!
Stack functions. Look for multifunction furniture, like an ottoman that contains storage, a wall picture that becomes a table, a counter that can be a desk or a kitchen prep area. Move things around to configure spaces for different functions.
- Blindry — window shade that is also a laundry rack
- http://www.treehugger.com/interior-design/blindry-doubles-window-blind-and-laundry-rack.html
Picture transforms into a dining table http://www.treehugger.com/eco-friendly-furniture/wooden-wall-picture-expands-dining-table-colombian-design.html
Work room arrangements out on paper before moving in. Make a drawing to scale of your space and use cardboard cutouts for your furniture and the apartment’s elements so you can move things around and try different configurations.
Small Space Toolbox.
A hodgepodge collection of bits and pieces relating to managing life in a small space.
Don’t use swinging doors on cabinets or rooms. Go with sliding doors or curtains on rods.
Build into the walls to create nooks, shelves, drawers, cabinets. The traditional Murphy bed, which these days comes in an amazing number of configurations, including one that lowers from the ceiling (!), has long been a feature of small space living. If you work with a limited budget, use shelving instead of built ins. Use curtains to hide contents and to minimize the dust buildup on the items on the shelves.
Carefully organize the entrance area. Outfit it with hooks, hangers, and/or shelves for coats, books, briefcase, shoulder bags, mail, keys, etc.
Use ceilings and high spaces. Create clothes racks with chains or pipes and hardware on the ceiling or walls. For a natural look, suspend an attractive branch of wood you found somewhere, either au natural or painted a festive color, and hang clothes on it.
Hanging gardens
Dish rack above sink
http://www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/kitchen-space-saver-dish-drying-closet-above-sink.html
Bounce some light off the walls to create an illusion of spaciousness. Each room needs at least three light sources. This is more important than you think, especially in small rooms.
Put some mirrors on the ceiling and on the walls.
You’ll find different recommendations for what works for colors. Some decorators advise light colors, punctuated by bold notes. Others say go with bold colors on the walls. One common theme is to not be afraid of drama in your decoration themes. If you like it, why not do it? It’s your space. Make it comfortable and attractive for you.
Vertical stripes on the walls make the ceilings seem higher. Horizontal stripes wrapping around the walls make the room seem more spacious.
Bring seating furniture into the center of the room away from the walls. Angle it at a diagonal to the long axis of the room.
Use furniture of appropriate scale for the size of the dwelling.
Hooks and cup hangers on the walls are useful. Maybe don’t put them “everywhere.” Do put “lots” of them around the rooms for convenient use.
Wall mounted shelves work nicely. Mount boxes or milk crates to walls, or stack them on the floor going up as high as they are stable. Fasten them to the walls to increase stability. Stacked milk crates are functional and even trendy in some circles.
Use closet space efficiently. This means adding more horizontal storage (shelves) and keeping clothes folded rather than hanging everything on a rod.
Use baskets and boxes to contain clutter. This works better than most people think, especially with small items that accumulate around your desk.
Use project boxes with the necessaries for occasional activities that can be stored when not in use.
Raise your bed so you can store things underneath it. How? Bricks or cinder blocks under each leg work.
Large pictures work well as decorations. .
Don’t install a clothes dryer or a washing machine. Wash clothes at a laundromat within walking distance and air dry your clothes in your apartment. Do the laundry every week to minimize the amount of laundry done at any one time. Or you can have an in-house washing machine if you must and you have the space. If you want to care for the planet, care for people, and have a care for the future, you will air dry your clothing. There are small portable washers that hook to your sink. The ecological advantage of a laundromat is that the washers are more efficient (energy and water use) than most home washing machines.
Techniques to reconfigure spaces for different purposes
Put furniture on rollers for easy cleaning and so you can move the furniture around to configure differently purposed spaces in your living area. You should be able to find rollers/casters with locks so that the rolling function can be disabled when you don’t want the furniture to move.
Use movable screens or walls to create new configurations. Organize furniture into mini-rooms.
A “Pop-up room” uses items in storage to reconfigure a space for a different purpose. Some of these items may be “flat packed” furniture and dividers that fold out for use. For example, click on this link to see a pop-up play room for kids.
Kitchen Issues:
Make sure you have an efficient, uncluttered work triangle of sink, stove, refrigerator.
Use a pot rack and peg board in your kitchen to hang stuff up so it doesn’t clutter counter tops or fill up cabinets and shelves.
Locate a small refrigerator underneath a counter, or use the top of a chest refrigerator as a counter. One advantage of this is that since you open and close the chest refrigerator several times a day, the top (which is the lid of the chest refrigerator) will not get permanently cluttered with stuff.
Don’t install a dishwasher. It takes up space, contains embodied energy, increases the operating energy of your space, and all of that increases your carbon, energy, and general ecological footprints. Just wash the dishes by hand. Automatic dishwashers do not care for people, care for the planet, nor do they have a care for the future.
Don’t install a garbage disposal. This is another money, material, and energy waster.
Equipment for a minimum kitchen without an actual stove:
Microwave oven
Toaster oven
Crockpot
One or two burner hot plate or cooktops.
Pressure cooker
Small refrigerator
One cup coffee drip filter (if you are a coffee drinker) or a coffee maker if this is a multiple person household.
If you want to be able to cook a large ham or a turkey, get a tabletop roaster oven.