Good things can come in small packages.
Like the 10-by-13-foot dining room in an 18th-century Maytown home that was stylishly remodeled by Sarah and Kimberly Emlet, sisters-in-law and co-owners of Haven Made in Lancaster.
Or the room that Sarah Wolfe, owner of Sarah Wolfe Design in Lancaster, recently put together with her daughter, who is studying in Arizona and chose the smallest room in a house to get the best rental deal.
“Small spaces can actually be much more impactful than a larger space,” says Wolfe. “The pieces you fit into a small space need to have a purpose and a function, which actually makes the overall design aesthetic feel much more cohesive.”
This is good news for Lancaster County residents for several reasons, considering the increasing availability of housing.
For example, High Real Estate is currently working on the largest residential project ever approved in East Lampeter Township. 600 apartments are planned in four five-story buildings. And Apartments.com currently lists more than 1,000 apartments for rent in the county.
Some apartments are of course quite spacious. Other? Not so much. The same applies to many houses and terraced houses in the district. With this in mind, we have put together 10 tips for small spaces.
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Don't push it.
Better Homes & Gardens published an article this week titled “Avoid These Little Mistakes in the Living Room.” Here's one: “Although your first instinct might be to push furniture as close to the wall as possible to create more space in the center of the room, designers actually advise against it,” the article says.
“Keep the furniture slightly away from the walls to create a more open look,” designer Amanda Leigh of House of Rolison told BH&G.
Be careful with the couch.
A common mistake Wolfe sees in small spaces is placing a sofa that is too large. “It's better to get a small sofa and then add accent chairs or other seating options that give you options without overwhelming your space,” she says.
Sure, some companies only trade in bulk. But increasingly that is not the case. She points to West Elm, which has a search feature for small spaces on its website.
“I think brands are becoming increasingly aware that not everyone needs a 110-inch sofa,” she says.
Wolfe purchased just a portion of an area at the West Elm Outlet for $130 and used it to stage some rooms. It would be too obvious to use just part of a cut with straight edges, she says. Not so with this one.
“And because it has a curve, it fits better in a corner or works at an angle where a straight sofa can't,” she says. “So there’s a strange trick to using an overhead door and saving money at the same time.”
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Keep it consistent.
“Many people believe that a darker color will make your room appear smaller,” says Wolfe. And advice for small spaces often includes using light colors. But Dark can work if used correctly, she says. This means keeping the color theme.
“When you break up a room with different colors, sometimes it actually seems chaotic and smaller,” she says. “Just going into the dark isn't a bad idea. But pick one and go with it.”
Sarah Wolfe used this rug to define a workspace in the small room her college-age daughter rents in Arizona.
Define iT
Rugs can help define a room even in the smallest of spaces. Keyword: Wolfe used it for her daughter's room to create a small work area next to the bed. The mother-daughter duo found this rug at a thrift store. Trekking furniture from Pennsylvania to Arizona was not an option.
“So in about three days we bought everything, put everything together, found the rugs, the decorations and all that,” she says. “We were able to make it look pretty on a budget and with a little time constraints.”
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Think about it.
When you're not using lamps for reading, for example, aim them so they cast light on your walls or toward the ceiling, suggests designer Chelsey Brown in her book “Shut The Front Door: Make Any Space Feel Bigger, Brighter and More Beautiful Without Going Broke.” This works particularly well if the walls are white or light neutral.
“The ceiling becomes a 'reflector'…distributing light and allowing it to bounce off walls and surfaces,” Brown writes.
Be clear.
If this appeals to you, consider acrylic or plexiglass furniture.
“Because the materials are clear, they don't slow down the eyes and always make a smaller space appear larger and less cluttered,” writes Brown.
It's not just in modern apartments that there is a lack of space. In this before-and-after photo, Sarah and Kimberly Emlet—sister-in-law and co-owner of Haven Made in Lancaster—remodeled this 10×13 dining room in an 18th-century Maytown home by going bold with the wallpaper and lighting, painting the chair rail and lower portions of the wall white to expand the space, and using minimal window treatments to let in more light.
Be brave.
This is one of the tips that the Emlets put together in an email.
“Choosing one or two things in a small space to create wow factor but leaving the rest of the room more visually minimalist is a great tactic for small spaces,” they say, adding that this technique worked in the Maytown dining room. “With this beautiful wallpaper and light fixture, we approached it in a way that doesn’t take up space.”
Consider your surroundings.
“Your primary living spaces should have a similar color palette and style,” say the Emlets. “Using the same wall color (and flooring, if possible) in multiple areas of your home will make those rooms feel more connected and spacious.”
Keep it covered.
The Emlets say they often see people making their rugs too small.
“The size of your rug can actually show how much floor space you actually have,” they say.
Let there be light.
A small room that is not well lit will look small, say the sisters-in-law. Choosing the right window decoration is a challenge. In Maytown's dining room, they opted for minimal window treatments to let in plenty of sunshine.
“In other rooms, the solution might be to hang curtains high and wide to make the windows appear as large as possible,” they say.
