Colin and Justin: Live small, think big

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Your space may be small, but, carefully arranged, it can still feel big on drama

Spatial elasticity and the art of decorative illusion: with imagination, almost anything is possible – dark rooms can be lightened, narrow spaces widened and even the tiniest rooms made to feel bigger. Here’s the decorative skinny, to fatten up your space…

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Demarcation

With multi-purpose rooms, keep functions clearly defined. Try using furniture (open shelving, for instance) to delineate space and, if you can, create zones within zones.

It’s also good to establish ‘visual barriers’ to demarcate areas: a low sideboard, for example, with lamps either side, looks great as a ‘fence’ between zones, as do decorative screens, fabric panels or even sculptural plants.

One for all

Unifying design identity in a multi-task room creates harmony. Specify complementary colours, and furnish using pieces with visual connectivity.

A dining table and a coffee table, for example (while positioned in different zones) will ‘connect’ if constructed from matching timber.

Similarly, a study area feature wall could be all you require to perfectly ‘bond’ with the same tone, this time executed as upholstery in a connecting lounge.

Be flexible

Use ‘intelligent’ pieces such as sofas that unfold to become beds, coffee tables that raise to become dining tables or upholstered ottomans – with removable tops – that double as toy boxes or extra seating.

If locating an office in your bedroom, consider making part of your closet a dedicated work-station rather than simply sticking a desk at the bottom of your bed.

Hire a carpenter to build a pull-down shelf that can be neatly dropped, as required, to create a work nook or sewing corner. Tip: be discreet; avoid obvious office lighting in favour of a softer, more homely approach.

Our top 8 small space solutions

1. Ottomans: seating, storage or coffee table all in one.
2. Drop-down coffee/rise-up dining tables: two distinct purposes from one piece.
3. Kitchen storage bench: cookbooks and baking trays, for example, can be discreetly housed within kitchen seating.
4. Sofa or wall beds: a guest suite in minutes, no spare room required.
5. Extendable dining tables: entertaining/office space at the flex of a leaf.
6. End tables with drawers or shelves: a stylish way to introduce extra surfaces and extra storage.
7. Armoires: use as a home office, media centre or closet. Particularly good for bedroom offices; pin sleeves on the inside of doors to store documents and files.
8. Stackable chairs: need we say more?

Double-duty hallways

Passageways, typically, tend to be small and lacking in purpose, so we might employ double-duty furniture (with good storage) to bring space alive as an office/hallway hybrid.

Rather than try and make small, poorly-lit spaces feel brighter, use ‘find a fault, make a feature’ logic to suffuse ‘atmosphere’.

In the project featured today, the wallpaper is certainly black but, thanks to the sparkly grout lines, it’s far from depressing. The addition of inexpensive nickel upholstery pins on each seam adds further metallic detailing and a quirky edge, to boot.

To add function, we specified a console that’s small enough not to obstruct the hallway, but large enough to double as a desk, with a secondary shelf to conceal a laptop when not in use.

Givenchy-style boxes, found in Winners, house cables and office paraphernalia, and whilst admittedly black, they appear brighter than they actually are due to a high gloss lacquered finish.

To promote flexibility, we employed an ottoman with wheels which can be rolled elsewhere (for extra seating) when guests arrive. And, when the lid is flipped, there’s storage below.

A tri-tier circular table takes up the same footprint as a single-surface option, yet provides a triple zone for storage and accessories.

To further enhance, we used a short pile rug as ‘floor art’: in compromised real estate, we often think horizontally.

Finally, to add sparkle and bounce light, we specified glass and shiny finishes. The chunky crystal candlesticks, for example, and the statement ‘shield’ artwork, suffuse a stoic feel, the richness achieved suggesting space is more generous than it actually is.

From little acorns, metaphorically speaking, designer oak trees grow, huh? Okay, so your space may be small, but, carefully arranged, it can still feel big on drama.

Watch for Colin and Justin on Citytv’s Breakfast Television. Find the Colin
and Justin Collection in stores across Canada. Visit www.colinandjustin.tv