Small House Hacks To Stop Your Home Driving You Crazy

Living in a small house can drive you crazy, and the current situation has only strengthened the spotlight on your property’s inadequacies. Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as putting your house up for sale and moving into a new home. If it were, you’d have done it years ago, yet monetary and family issues have stopped you from expanding.

Therefore, it’s essential to come to terms with what you have and love your home regardless. As well as reducing your stress, a house should be a castle where you can relax and take the edge off after a hard day. Fretting over storage space isn’t going to help. On the other hand, you can’t prevent yourself from getting frustrated when someone is in the bathroom, making you late for work.

There has to be a compromise, a middle ground where your property’s lack of floor space isn’t a massive deal. Thankfully, there is, but there is no magic cure. The following are hacks that will let you cope better; however, you should see them as sure things.

In the long-term, you may need to take a leap and move to a new home. Until then, here are seven tips you should try.

Fix Faults

All properties encounter wear and tear. Unfortunately, leaving faults untreated will have hugely negative impacts. Aside from harming the atmosphere in the home, many problems leave you unable to use parts of the home. Unfortunately,this only makes the home feel smaller and will send stress levels through the roof.

Talking of the roof, calling a roofing contractor is essential if you currently have leaks or related issues. Otherwise, affected rooms could become dangerous and off-limits due to mold or dripping water. Worse still, the knowledge that the damage will only worsen over time and spread to other rooms means you must act now.

Smaller faults like broken power outlets must be treated too. Failure to do this will mean you continue to live with limited possibilities. 

Get Organized

Not to point fingers, but the main reason small houses feel smaller is a lack of organization. If you look around and see messy, cluttered interiors, you’re guilty of not investing in your home’s decor. After all, you have limited floor and storage space, so the last thing you want to do is take up room with unwanted items and appliances.

At this point, you’re waiting for the dreaded “do some spring cleaning” advice. Whether you do five minutes or thirty, there is nothing as boring or monotonous as tidying up. With that in mind, you could throw unnecessary stuff in the trash instead. Although binning your things sounds over the top, it prevents you from hoarding the items that add nothing to your house.

Utilizing hard-to-reach or vertical space is the next thing on the list. Once you have shelves in high places, you can store your belongings out of the way so that they aren’t visible. The reason you must get items off the floor in a small house is that they are in your eye line.

If you can clean little and often, that’s great. However, if that sounds like the worst way to spend an afternoon, you can use these organization ideas that focus on saving space.

Downsize Furniture

Lots of homeowners invest in the oversized furniture trend because you love a focal point and a statement piece. However, even if you don’t have many items in your home, big furniture will only appear cluttered and untidy. Large pieces do sometimes work in space-challenged layouts, but they can look suffocating, too.

Take the sofa. You can’t have a living room without one, or so you think. Rather than a traditional couch, you can swap it out for a settee. If you didn’t know the difference before, it’s because they are incredibly similar style-wise. From a size perspective, a settee is smaller. Therefore, you still get a blend of style and functionality while creating extra space.

For those who can’t bear to give up their classic sofa, try and replace it with a sleeker version. Even if the measurements are the same, an elongated couch won’t seem as bulky or substantial. Next on the list is the stuff that only has a single purpose. Multipurpose storage solutions are vital in a small home as they provide more flexibility.

The most notorious include everything from a bathroom mirror and cabinet combo to a coffee table chest and a bed fitted with drawers. There are plenty of options at your disposal without sacrificing design for practicality.

Decorate With Shiny Surfaces

The great thing about shiny surfaces is that they reflect light effectively. As a result, you can use mirrors to bounce the sun’s rays or ambient lighting around the room to open up the dark areas. Also, you can decorate with them strategically by focusing the mirrors on the room’s most attractive features to take away from the elements you don’t enjoy.

But, you’ve got to be careful. Hanging mirrors from every inch of wall space isn’t a solution as your house will resemble a local fair instead of a humble abode. So, when you’ve put up too many mirrors - two walls are plenty - you should switch to reflective surfaces. Metal is great due to its glossy finish that makes interiors feel very minimal. Of course, minimalism is precisely what you want when you’re running out of floor space!

The light fixtures are fantastic places to begin, as are the walls - you can paint them a metallic color. Avoid swapping wood for metal as your home will look industrial. Remember that this trick doesn’t work without plenty of light, so don’t forget to open your curtains and let the UV inside.

If you find this difficult, you can switch curtains with thick fabric for blinds that allow you to control how much sunlight enters a room without losing privacy.

Section Off Rooms With Rugs

Houses look small when everything flows into one. Yes, you do want the decor to be fluid, but you need to strike a balance. Rugs do this brilliantly by creating compartments that add volume. Think of them as sections that you can see straight away as soon as you walk in, meaning the area as a whole looks bigger.

The best way to decorate with rugs is to opt for a large statement piece over a plethora of little mats. Not only do lots of small rugs appear messy, but the borders overlap and negate the effect you’re trying to create. A focal point will create definitive sections that are undeniable. A great tip, if you have space, is to place the rug at least twelve inches from the walls to avoid overcrowding.

Mats are fantastic for mixing different techniques to double down on your property’s style, too. Do you find it hard to add light to your decor? In that case, choose a neutral shade, such as white or cream. Then, your interiors will instantly appear brighter and airier.

If all the above isn’t enough, rugs add texture because the fabric is often thick and shaggy. They’re a no-brainer!

Pixabay - CC0 Licence

Extend The Space

Moving is out of the question, but extending your home could be on the cards. After all, you generally don’t need permission if you choose wisely and keep it inside. Bathrooms are usual suspects regarding renovations for this reason, as well as the fact they’re small. But, there is plenty of potential in the space if you get the design right.

Bathroom design isn’t a piece of cake, so you will need a contractor if you lack the necessary skills. However, there are lots of affordable and reputable contractors on the market - you merely need to do extensive research. Other eligible rooms include the attic, basement, and spare bedroom. They may be tough to convert, but they will enhance your property and increase its value.

If these features aren’t the problem, you can extend outwards. The key to a home extension is to create comprehensive plans that will eliminate any doubt in your local authority’s mind. Plus, you must speak to your neighbors so that you don’t blindside them with builders and loud banging.

A savvy move is to explain how much you plan to gain from the extension and how they can do the same thing. They can follow the leader and make money, as long as they agree to be reasonable.

Get Out

Most of these tips have focused on the stuff you can do to extend space or make your home feel bigger. Yet, it’s important to note that you may have tried these pointers in the past without the desired results. In this case, you’re probably climbing the walls with anxiety. The good news is that there is a simple solution - get out more.

By keeping busy and staying active, you won’t need to spend as much time around the house. The direct side-effect of this is that the stuff that generally bugs you won’t annoy you as much. Why? It’s because you’ll forget about it very quickly when you’re running errands, at the park with the kids, or meeting friends for lunch.

Plus, absence does make the heart grow fonder. Spending some time away from your home will give you perspective when you return. Instead of the elements being frustrating, they could be full of character and make you fall in love with your house all over again.

The COVID-19 pandemic means this is hard to do at the moment. Still, there are opportunities to go shopping and to exercise, so you should grab them with both hands every day.

Stop your house from driving you crazy by removing clutter, downsizing your appliances, and decorating with mirrors and rugs. If that fails, make an effort to get out of the house so that you remember why you love it when you return.