By: STEVE LUSK
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WHEN carefully planned and executed, small spaces feel good and return higher per-square-foot value. Whether you live in a small house you’re going to remodel or moving to a smaller place, think and plan with four words in mind: inviting, open, bright and efficient. Toward that end, here are tips to help you make the most of your small room or house: Front yard. Start by getting rid of overgrown trees and shrubbery that make the house look small. The entry should invite visitors. Design your entry with proper scale, materials, lighting, full-light French door (with obscure glass) and side windows that suggest harmony beyond. Rear yard. Design a patio with a wood patio trellis/sun shade structure, landscaped gardens, a fountain or barbecue feature area adjacent to the kitchen that adds recreation and outside dining and entertainment space. Flowing, multipurpose rooms. Design space or remodel existing space to combine living and family room and eliminate dining rooms. Incorporate other design ideas that follow for space definition, openness and light. Skylights. Kitchens and bathrooms will stay bright and fresh with operable skylights. Frame the plenum (light shaft) with flares to give the ceiling opening a larger light frame extending down from the skylight. An added benefit is passive ventilation and free natural light to put on your best face. Recessed lighting. Recessed lighting is clean looking with long-lasting design advantages. Installation is not a difficult job for your remodeler and, when finished, it makes a dramatic mood change and appearance. Closet organizers and built-ins. You’ll be amazed at the amount of stuff your closets will hold if you hire a design/build closet organizer company to assess your needs and build in drawers, shelves and clothes hanging areas. Floor coverings. Limit floor covering choices to one light color carpet for all carpeted areas. Allow the floor plan to flow without changing flooring materials from carpet to tile to wood as you travel through the house. Think light (colorwise) and keep it simple to achieve the look. Wall colors and materials. Ask an expert for help to coordinate your color choices and textures. Smooth wall surfaces or very light trowel "knock down" texture with an off-white latex paint color work well. If you must change colors, they should be monochromatic. Steve Lusk is a certified graduate remodeler and owner of Lusk Building & Remodeling Co. in San Diego, Calif. |