Think that less than 200 square feet feels small?
THINK AGAIN.


The following six rooms (all 200 square feet or less!) prove one thing: With the right strategies, a modest space becomes more than enough. Here are lots of great tips, straight from the experts, for working with what you already have.

Subtle shades of neutral colors create a soothing palette that visually opens up the room, floor to ceiling.

Get Vertical

200 square feet

Barker Kappelle Construction LLC partner Phillip Barker says there are “all sorts of things homeowners can do” to take a small space from basic to beautiful, “and there’s no need to spend a great amount to do it.” Take his own top-story condo (left), for instance. Barker jazzed up the bland space by simply raising the 8-foot ceiling to the roofline. To his surprise, there was even an existing window above the previous ceiling. Utilizing the living room’s vertical space instantly opened up and enlivened the feel of the entire condo. Barker also added lighting above the soffit on the opposite side of the room. The light reflects upward, highlighting the high ceiling and providing low-glare, soft light. “At night, it creates a really nice effect,” he says.

Furniture’s Movable Feast

200 square feet

Photo by Linny Morris This wooden table (right), the largest piece of furniture in the room, doesn’t feel bulky because of its “organic” shape, Jackson says. Ample space underneath (where the cubes can be stored when needed) also ensures that it doesn’t weigh down the feel  of the room.

One criterion for Pacific Home interior designer Jamie Jackson’s condo living room? “Everything has to function in more than one way,” Jackson says. Decorative cubes serve as storage, seating or even tabletops. An eclectic array of lightweight tables and large pillows move around the center of the room to accommodate guests for impromptu dinners or for just hanging out. Jackson purposely kept the window coverings minimal and the color palette neutral to reflect sunlight. Finally, a computer nook at the edge of the room and built-in bookshelves, which cover a structural column, maximize functionality, storage and display space.

Seamlessly Connected Kitchen

52 square feet

Photo by Augie Salbosa

Even a studio kitchen can be a super-efficient cooking space, with the right design. So when Rick Cowan, CKD, of Archipelago Hawaii, refined island designs, designed a new kitchen for an avid cooking couple, he thought out every detail. Cowan shifted the appliances around and continued the soapstone countertop to create a peninsula-shaped dining area as part of the kitchen. Because the area beneath the peninsula is open, the kitchen retains its open feel.

The full-height backsplash maintains visual continuity and tapers into a jagged shape to mimic the profile of Diamond Head, while the mirrored wall separating the space from the sleeping area brings in a bit of the ocean view from beyond. Cowan chose richly hued cabinets with efficient storage (such as magic corner cabinets), which complement the warm, wood floor. Glass and stainless-steel accents make it sparkle.

Light Entertainment

120 square feet

Photo by Ryan Siphers

Basements aren’t typically known for feeling spacious, but when one homeowner came to Randall Omoto, of Homeowners Design Center, that’s exactly what he was looking for: more visual space and a place for an entertainment system. Omoto designed a light-color media unit to take up the length of the room’s wide wall and added elegant cove lighting to give the space a much more expansive feel. PMI Builders made his designs a reality.

When the homeowner saw his redesigned room for the first time, he couldn’t believe it was the same space. “He actually had to go into to the garage to make sure we didn’t steal space from it to make the room bigger,” Omoto says, laughing.

A Hallway with a View

60 square feet

Photo by David Franzen

This formerly dark and narrow hallway is now light and bright, thanks to simple design changes by Brooks & Brooks Inc. “The hallway was previously enclosed with no windows,” designer Linnea Brooks explains, “but it faced the pool and the ocean.” For Brooks, it was a no-brainer to add windows and expand the unused space by 2 feet under the eave, making room for what is now a dual-function window-seat area. The small, yet sun-filled, airy hallway provides both seating and storage—the top lifts up to store extra cushions and blankets.

A Double-Duty Room

90 square feet

Photo by Hal Lum Keeping the flooring the same throughout several different spaces connects them for an overall sense of flow.

An extra bedroom—in a town home where space is at a premium—isn’t always functional if it’s not being used every day. To maximize its use and open up the feel of the adjacent living room, Decorative Arts Hawaii interior designer Patti Bruce and contractor Tim Braden, of PLS Builders, turned a spare bedroom into a multipurpose room with space for additional seating and office work, while still accommodating guest sleeping.
They first removed the room’s double-door entrance and closet doors and painted the spaces, both walls and ceilings, the same shade of dovetail gray. Once the closet was wired for electricity, it became the perfect place for a desk and computer. Wall-mounted cabinets and storage units are functional, but keep the space light so they don’t clutter the floor plan. Furnishings from INspiration, including the ottoman (with a Bruce-designed custom cover, center) and the sofa, both convert for sleeping when guests stay the night.

Fits Just Right

Well-chosen furniture pieces and accessories can make a small space feel more open.

Low-profile rattan nesting baskets, $39.99–$52.50, from SoHa, easily fit in a number of places, like under a coffee table, and can be stored inside one another when not in use.

Accent pieces of small stature, such as this petite, wasabi-green round table, $39.96, from City Mill, fit where larger pieces won’t.

Strategically fill a nook or cranny with a corner unit, $247, from Red Bamboo.

This unique, antique cabinet, $525, from Bali Boo, breaks up space in tight corners and offers room for storing and displaying your prized possessions.

Perfect for a Bedside Table

The crystal base of this cut-corner rectangular lamp by Visual Comfort, $699.50, from C. S. Wo., clearly keeps visual clutter to minimum.