How to incorporate function into small spaces. In the following article are photos and tips for creating useful space saving solutions for maximizing a Small Space. Scotts Contracting is available for the construction of your next project.
Design Tricks For Small Spaces
Make the most of limited square footage with these nine maneuvers.
House sizes are shrinking in these frugal times, and builders are working with tighter constraints when it comes to building envelopes, lot sizes, and budgets. But with a little ingenuity and discipline, a small home can feel plenty roomy and every bit as lovely as a larger one. Here are some tips for making the best of a small situation.
Credit: Courtesy EcoBuilders
Go for pocket doors.
A pocket or wall-mounted sliding door can yield 10 square feet of usable space that would otherwise by taken up by clearance on a swinging door. These nifty little space-savers can be particularly handy for closing off kitchen pantries, storage closets, computer niches, or even entire rooms, such as the powder room in this house by EcoBuilders in Asheville, N.C. And, with a little creativity, a pocket door also can serve as a design element that adds character.
Credit: Ed Hall
Improve circulation.
Hallways tend to eat up precious square footage and can make a small house feel cramped. The good news is you probably don't need them, seeing as how today's casual lifestyles are conducive to open floor plans with fewer interior walls. When communal zones such as the kitchen, dining, and living area flow together, narrow passageways are unnecessary. This 1,282-square-foot starter cottage by SRG Homes in Jacksonville, Fla. shows how it's done.
Credit: Erla Dogg Ingjaldsdottir
Build secret hideaways.
Rule number one in making a wee space feel larger? Reduce visual clutter. Think about how to exploit wall cavities and other nooks and crannies to create clever hiding spots for things such as trash, recycling, canned goods, linens, and seating. This sleek kitchen island by Minarc--made from recycled tires and wrapped in orange Corian--includes tuck-away bar stools that disappear into the unit when not in use.
Credit: Courtesy NMS Properties
Aim high.
You can do a lot with a tiny footprint if you think vertical. The mini-lofts of Olympic Studios are only 375 square feet each, but they feel pretty spacious, thanks to 17-foot ceilings and clerestory metal sash windows. Masterminded by Killefer Flammang Architects, they're basically a stacked version of the efficiency apartment: communal spaces below with a sleeping loft above. This unique configuration allowed the developer to increase density and hit an affordable price point that appealed to young professionals and students at nearby Santa Monica College. The 165-unit project was built in two phases and was completely leased within seven months.
Credit: Casey Woods Photography
Create memory points.
Don't have the budget or linear feet for a blow-out wine cellar or monumental picture window? Don't fret. The great thing about small spaces is that little touches can go a long way--particularly quirky little gems that fall at eye level, such as antique drawer pulls, a banister of reclaimed wood, or an artsy door knocker. Urban Jobe Architecture added a touch of whimsy to this kids' shower alcove in Austin, Texas, with an assortment of Hakatai glass mosaic tiles.
Credit: Timothy Clites
Say no to claustrophobia.
There are ways to delineate functional areas in a small plan without resorting to closed-up drywall. This clever, double-sided partition makes the most of a spatially challenged bathroom and dressing area in a historic 1850s brick row home. Designed by Barnes Vanze Architects, the freestanding wall sports a vanity sink on one side and a chest of drawers on the other. Its cherry wood cabinets and juniper slab prove that luxury can happen on a small scale.
Credit: Peter Wu
Worship the sun.
Natural daylighting can have a transformative effect in the tiniest and most awkward of spaces. Skylights do the trick in this renovated attic, which was previously unusable and now serves as a serene home office. Architect Todd Ray of Studio 27 Architecture kept the row home's original pine beams and oak floors, offsetting their rusticated look with bamboo wall panels, frosted glass, and stainless steel.
Design: The Green Company
Credit: Brian Vanden Brink
Formal living rooms and dining rooms are dust collectors that more and more buyers seem willing to forgo in the new era of efficiency. Single-use rooms are giving way to flexible realms that do double or triple duty. Consider the kitchen island that facilitates food prep, casual dining, homework, and happy hour. Or the study that morphs into a painting studio or sleeping porch--like this New England charmer by the Green Company.
Bring the outside in.
Credit: Jack Gardner
Architect Darrell Russell's custom-built Florida home is a tidy 1,000 square feet, but it doesn't skimp on views. The big windows were a splurge, yes, but look what they deliver: sight lines that extend far outside the house and into the lush landscape. The result is a small envelope that costs less to air-condition and maintain, but offers the feeling of openness and light.
Jenny Sullivan is a senior editor covering architecture and design for BUILDER.
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Scott's Contracting
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