10 Seriously cool small space hacks!

One of the most interesting trends in real estate these days is the move towards smaller floor plans. In fact, buyers are opting for location and amenities over bigger square footage, and builders are responding in kind. From the Tiny House Movement to seriously cool but small urban dwellings, our living spaces have less square footage these days than ten years ago.

Of course, that may be nothing new for people who live in older homes already, as many homes built in the 1940s through 1960s – especially here in Sacramento – are big on charm but a little pinched on square footage.

But none of that means you have to sacrifice utility, convenience or even fun, as there are plenty of creative ways to make great use of the space you already have. Here are our first 10 seriously cool small space hacks, and look for more in parts two and three of this blog.

Mirrors

You may not be able to double the size of your room cheaply and easily, but adding a mirror makes any room look far larger than its true size, creating the perception of more space while also reflecting natural light. You can angle a mirror towards a window or focal point like a fireplace, dining table or large plant to give the room more depth.

Mirrors don’t just have to hang in your living room, either, as they can cover kitchen backsplashes, whole walls, spaces up to the ceiling, entire sides of narrow hallways, or creatively used as decorations, all making your home look bigger.

Storage between the studs

Back in the 1940s and 50s, homes were built much smaller so storage space was at a premium. For that reason, they often had narrow spaces built into the walls just between the studs that housed the ironing board. When you needed it, you simply brought it down into place and then put it back up when done. If you’re in a small house now, just think of the possibilities for additional storage space by utilizing the areas in between your studs!

Back-of-the-couch table

I bet you have at least one sizable sofa in your house, and chances are you have couches and oversized chairs. But behind each and every one of them right now sits…wasted space. Make good use of it with a narrow table that can hold drinks, food, lights, books, or even add stools for a coffee bar type sitting area for sofas with their backs to the room.

Boring stairwell turned cool nook

Staircases are necessary (unless you have an elevator!) but they sure do take up a lot of space. But you can maximize the area under your landing by opening it up and making a cute little reading nook, attach a small door for a doggie hangout, or just an additional space for storage. If the back of your landing is exposed, you can make lockers or cubbies between the studs and add a bench for an instant mudroom.

Under-bed shelving

Do you have a twin, queen or even king–sized bed? How many beds are in your house? That’s a whole lot of wasted space in small homes, but you can make efficient use of it with built-in drawers and shelving. They make specially sized racks for under beds that easily roll out or, at the very least, you can use plastic storage bins to hide shoes and out of season clothing.

Shelving across a window

When you want to hang shelves or dress up small rooms, you’re limited to the wall space around your windows. But whether it’s a diminutive bedroom or cramped kitchen, there’s a great way to include your window areas into “living space.” Just add floating shelves across the span of the window for a great effect. Clear glass or rustic wood shelves work great for this, and you’ll be wondering why people haven’t done this for decades.

Keep a cohesive color scheme

Is your kitchen painted off-white, your living room tan, and your hallway a nice sage green, with multi-colored furniture and decorations to mix it up even more? When someone sees all of these different paints and shades, it instantly chops up the house and makes it appear much smaller. Instead, try painting all the walls and even trim the same color, with the same tone for furniture. It may seem a little “vanilla,” but keeping the same cohesive color will actually make your space appear way larger. You’ll want to stick with an off-white or very light shade for this effect, but any color that you do put in these rooms will really pop.

Magnetic racks

Small kitchens may be short on counter space and cabinets, but one thing they all have is unused wall space. So to make good use of those empty backsplashes or even wall areas, mount magnetic strips and then you can line up your knives, big spoons and other utensils, or even pots and pans.

Rolling kitchen island

So you don’t have room for a center island or breakfast bar in your kitchen but you REALLY want one? There’s an easy solution – just pick up a nice rolling kitchen “island” that can be easily kept in the corner and brought out for parties, big dinners, or whenever else it’s convenient. They make them all different sizes and heights, with bar stools to match, and with butcher block or even granite tops.

This isn’t your grandma's Murphy bed

Beds take up a lot of space, dominating most studio apartments, dorm rooms, and lofts, and cramped bedrooms. But what’s old is new with the resurgence of Murphy beds, which are made a lot sturdier, easier to install and more creative than models from yesteryear. Just by folding your bed back up into the wall, your spare bedroom can now be a place to sleep for guests AND a workout room or office.

‘Tiny House = Big Life’ is the mantra behind the Tiny House Movement. Could you do it?

How much of your house do you use regularly?

If you’re like most people, you sleep in the bed in your master bedroom, stand in front of the closet for a few moments every day, but don’t use the rest of that room much at all. Of course you use the bathroom, but you probably use the same bathroom most of the time even though your house may have 2, 3, or even 4 baths. The kitchen is probably the most universally used room in the house, and I know there is a favorite spot on your favorite couch in front of the TV that you inhabit as often as possible for much-needed down time. Other than, that, how much do you really use the rest of the square footage and rooms in your home?

Yet you wake up way too early every morning, sit in traffic on your long commute, work way to many hours, shake your head at how much is taken out of your check every payday, commute back home, and still stress about bills and money. But you do get to come home to your beautiful home every day to recharge your batteries and remind yourself that you do it all for your family – the most important thing in your life.

Now let me paint you another picture. What if we kept that most important thing (the family!) but this time you’d get to spend all the time you wanted with them; you’d get to see every baseball game, ever dance recital, and enjoy every moment and milestone of their childhoods. You’d also have to work a whole lot less. In fact, you could probably just work part time or from home or run your own business if you wanted. You could take your time, do what you wanted more, relax more, enjoy nature, get in better shape, laugh more, stress less, live with purpose, and pursue more of your hobbies, interests, and passions outside of work.

All of that would all be possible of course because your bills would be cut down dramatically – easily in half or way more. Does that sound enticing?

Oh, but there is a catch. Instead of living in your current big house (which we established you only used a few areas of a few rooms anyway) you’d have to live in a tiny space, designed to provide everything you needed with no excess. That means you’d probably have to (or want to!) get rid of a good amount of the stuff and material possessions you’ve been accumulating over the decades. That’s a small price to pay, right? So are you in?

Welcome to the Tiny House Movement, where people are downsizing to diminutive dwellings in exchange for the freedom, chance to reprioritize their lives, and financial flexibility it provides. In fact, you can turn on your TV (which is way too big since half the time you just watch on your iPad or phone anyway) and see plenty of reality television shows about folks who are choosing to live the Tiny House lifestyle all over the globe.

This can definitely be described as the pendulum swinging back in the other direction since Americans, in particular, are known for big homes, big lawns, big cars, wide open spaces, and the social acceptance of abundance. (The average size of a new home built in 2014 was 2,453 square feet, up from 1,660 square feet in 1973, and only 8% of Americans live in homes smaller than 1,400 square feet.)

But more people are realizing the overwhelming benefits to leaving all of that behind in favor for a tiny house – and the lifestyle it affords. In fact, the mantra for the Tiny House Movement may very well be “Tiny House = Big Life.”

The most apt similarity I can come up with is how people were choosing cute, colorful, and tiny Volkswagen Beetles to drive when others paraded their gas-guzzling and brand new Hummers and other SUVs.

Make no mistake, this is no novelty. The Tiny House Movement is definitely an attractive lifestyle choice in the U.S. at this time because people are finding it harder and harder to make sense of their over-worked, over-stressed, budget-imbalanced lives – yet alone keep with the Jones’s. Right now, 76% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck with little or no safety net, on the brink of falling off a financial cliff if they lost their job, had a medical disability, or some other setback.

In fact, the number one reasons Millenials are not buying homes (they have a severely disproportionally lower home ownership rate compared with past generations) is that they usually are trying to navigate the working world saddled with record student loans – now about one trillion dollars for our nation.

They have also absorbed some of the painful lessons their parents learned through the real estate crash, mortgage meltdown, and Great Recession.

Some, like Baby Boomers, retirees, and seniors, are opting to downsize their lives significantly to account for the burdens of healthcare costs, home maintenance, and their changing lifestyles.

Others opt to live in a tiny house for a hybrid of their own reasons, including the lightened environmental impact, getting closer to nature, saving money, the mobility and freedom some tiny homes provide, the chance to live simply and get back to basics, to focus on their art, their health, and to achieve self-actualization in their lives far past non-stop work.

So what are Tiny Homes all about?

There is no strict definition, although tiny homes are usually anywhere between 100 and 300 square feet – about the size of a room or great room in a regular home. That’s about where the uniformity stops, as tiny homes are as huge on personalization, charm, and uniqueness as they are small on square footage. Many owners opt to build their tiny homes themselves, or enlist semi-custom pods, cabins, kits, etc. that they can finish off themselves. Many owners use repurposed and antique building and design elements to seamlessly integrate into their new surroundings.

But almost all of them utilize space brilliantly, maximizing every nook and cranny for storage, multi-function use, and comfort – just like RVs. There are a lot of similarities with recreational vehicles that can house the whole family, though tiny homes often make it permanent (though there are tiny vacation homes).

Some tiny homes are affixed to a plot of land the homeowner purchased, while others sit on rented land, eco-friendly tiny home communities, RV parks, or even sit on wheels or trailers so they can be moved to new locations easily.

And even though most tiny house residents own their home outright – or pay a fraction of the rent, maintenance, and expenses they did in a conventional dwelling - it’s definitely not perfect. There are still considerations for utilities (on or off the grid?), building and municipal codes still need to be followed, storage is and sometimes finding a suitable and available property for their tiny home can be a huge hassle.

But despite the challenges, tiny homes are less about giving up square footage and more about creating space in their lives, which they can fill with whatever they choose – family, memories, nature, and the chance to finally take a deep breath.

Looks for part two of this blog where we highlight some of the coolest, funkiest, and most eclectic tiny homes, and interesting statistics on the Tiny Home Movement and their owners.