Furniture for Small Spaces: Storage Magic!

Beryn Hammil

In my last article Secret’s to Decorating Small Spaces, I shared some tips on how to look at the floor plan of the smaller space you’re considering.  It’s important to give some thought to how the space will support your lifestyle. Another significant aspect for you to consider is…storage.

by Beryn Hammil
SF Bay Area Interior Designer

As you can imagine,  condo or apartment living  presents a storage challenge. Fortunately, furniture manufacturers have considered this lifestyle change as they design new lines. People, who are downsizing, as well as young apartment dwellers, are the beneficiary of this change in design direction

Furniture that Works Magic as Storage

Almost every piece of furniture has the potential to give you a place in which to store stuff. Ottomans have tops that lift off to provide storage inside the cube. Some even have tops that become serving trays! Beds have drawers built into the framing underneath the mattress as a place to store either clothing or seldom used items. Media cabinets have lifts built into them so the flat screen TV doesn’t have to be visible if you don’t want it to be seen 24/7.

Remember the piano bench whose seat lifts up to store sheet music? Well, now there’s even a chaise whose seat lifts up to provide storage underneath it too!

Small dwelling denizens have much to choose from when it comes to practical furniture. 

Sleep options are endless: we’re all familiar with sofas that convert to beds and wall units that tilt down to become beds (the Murphy bed). Both have been around for decades. Now there are club chairs that convert to single beds, sofas that convert to bunk beds, and narrow window seats that pull out to become full size beds.

Furniture too can be as flexible as kids’ Transformer toys: console tables expand into dining tables, coffee tables lift to become dining tables, small cabinets open to reveal beds, and mirrors magically become wall-mounted flat screen TVs.

If it can be imagined, it probably exists. And if it doesn’t already exist, there’s someone out there who can make it for you.

This variety of options makes a smaller home seem as if it has more space in which to live, and without all the hassle of a larger house.

To downsize one’s living space is now the “cool” thing to do, no matter what your age. And with all these clever ways to make a smaller space more practical, even people who don’t need to downsize are choosing to live smaller. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but whatever your motivation, it’s something you can embrace with both arms.

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Tags: family, highlight, Home, interior design, Real Estate

Category: Interior Design