- Functional Furniture: You should invest in furniture pieces that offer storage or multifunctionality in your designs. For example, cedars with hidden compartments or beds with built-in drawers. With these choices, you can create special storage-storage areas for objects that can create crowds and confusion in the area.
- Customized Placements: Shelves, cabinets, and corners specially created to fit specific areas can help you create focal points in the existing space. You can place pieces of you that reflect you and will make your design unique in these focal points.
- Take Advantage of Vertical Spaces: To take advantage of the often overlooked vertical space, you can incorporate shelves or suspended warehouses that run from the ceiling to the floor into your design. These areas can serve both as customized areas that we mentioned in the previous article and as functional furniture.
- Compact and Foldable: Furniture that can be reduced in size and stored when not in use, such as folding, portable furniture, or folding dining tables, can be your best friend in space optimization. Be sure to integrate these choices into your design.
- Sliding Doors: You can replace traditional doors with sliding doors to save space and add a stylish, modern touch. Sliding doors, which have been highly preferred especially recently, and have replaced traditional doors, are one of the most effective solutions for gaining space in spaces that are small in square meters.
- Dual-Purpose Rooms: In your design, you can place areas that serve a dual purpose, such as a home office that turns into a guest bedroom with a sofa bed. Thus, by solving more than one function in one area, you increase the variation in use in the design, and this feature will increase the quality of your living spaces by another level.
- Floating Luminaires: The installation of in-space luminaires on the walls creates the illusion of more floor space, making the floor look emptier and larger. This is one of the most effective illusions in creating space saving.
- Translucent Dividers: To maintain clarity when defining separate areas, you can use movable glass or translucent dividers instead of blind walls. Thus, you can increase and decrease the space according to your intended use, and increase the in-space light distribution with transparent surfaces.
- Custom Room Dividers: Design room dividers that serve as both functional separators and decorative items. These can be a bookcase or a canvas on which you can show special works of art.
- Lower Storage Areas: Use the areas under the stairs, beds, or sofas for hidden storage compartments! Especially in the under-stairs designs, you can get a stylish result by designing furniture specialized for these areas.
- Adaptive Furniture: Be sure to use adaptive or modular furniture in your designs, which can be rearranged or resized to meet different needs for space optimization.
- Reflective Surfaces: Strategically integrate mirrored or glossy surfaces to reflect light and create the illusion of depth within the space. Why should you try to create the illusion of depth? In designs with this feature, you can reflect to the user that the space is layered, discoverable, and has different levels of occupancy. Such designs usually create a feeling that the space is wider for the user. This is also a vantage point for a design aimed at space optimization.
- Technology: Think of items such as TVs or retractable projector screens that double as an in-space decoration item. When we examine the place of technology in our lives, it would be a backward design not to add these elements to interior architectural designs. That's why includes technology that can be hidden when not in use in space-optimized designs.
- Ceiling Storage: Install ceiling racks or suspended storage systems in kitchens or garages to free up floor space. Especially in industrial styles where roof carriers are used visibly, special design ceiling storage solutions are used in the kitchen, living room, and private work areas to store unwanted objects around in a more aesthetic way.
- Integrated Lighting: Use lighting fixtures integrated into furniture or architecture to save space and add ambiance. On work desks, flying shelves, special reading chairs, etc. the lighting additions used can add a very luxurious and high-quality atmosphere to your design.
- Double-Tone Colors: Try double and, if possible, contrasting-tone colors on walls or furniture to create depth and visual interest. These color combinations can create a layered design. In addition, since some color tones will hit the user's eye first, you can also control the in-area user circulation networks in addition to the aesthetic contribution. For example, by selecting darker colors for the focal points where you want the user to go first.
- Foldable workstations: Foldable desks or workstations are the number one space optimization solutions for compact spaces such as kitchens or small home offices.
- Outdoor Extensions: With convertible patio or balcony furniture, it can be used by extending the living areas to the outside, and you can effectively expand the space. Especially in temperate climates where balconies are frequently used, you should not think of balcony furniture as items that only serve that area. These areas can be designed for users as peaceful areas where special guests are entertained, social events take place or they can be used for relaxation.
In general, if we need to round up, space optimization is a multi-faceted effort that requires creative solutions and thoughtful design. The tips we shared above can serve as a guide to unlocking the full potential of any space and transforming it into a harmonious blend of functionality and style. By applying these strategies, a harmonious balance between functionality and aesthetics can be achieved while deconstructing spaces to suit specific needs. These approaches can transform any interior into a productive and inviting environment adapted to individual preferences and lifestyles. Are you looking for expert guidance to optimize your space? You can prepare a personalized plan for your living spaces by contacting Ankara Riva Interior Architecture. We are reshaping your living spaces with our professional design and application teams in the field. You can check out our other blogs to learn about many more topics in the field of design.