Let me first say that I don’t consider our future home small…at 1135 square feet inside, and additional 360 outside with the studio and guest quarters, I think we have more space than we probably even need; however, many would disagree with me. The average size of a new home in the U.S. is 2300 square feet, and that is huge compared to other countries:
image above from Apartment Therapy (calculated square footage added by me)
Inspired by the graphical representation above and this article in the Houston Chronicle about 500+ square foot homes in our area , I started thinking about ways to maximize square footage. If you live in a smaller home, you sometimes have to get creative with the space, especially if your rooms are carved out in old-fashioned ways. An easy example is using a room as an office with a pull-out couch bed for guests, which is what we have done in our little old house for years.
The images below are far more innovative, using space functionally and beautifully.
image from Long Beach Real Estate
The area under a staircase is almost always wasted space, so why not make it storage with each stair being a pull-out drawer? Below it looks like a bed nook was built under a staircase and surrounded by shelves…perfect.
image from Pinterest
image from Remodelista
I’ve written about wanting a Murphy bed in our house (like the awesome one below that is combined with a desk), but the picture above is kind of the opposite of a Murphy. Instead of pulling it down, you pull the bed out like a drawer.
image from Resource Furniture
image from This Next
Above is a nice way to combine seating and shelving (two things I never have enough of), and then there’s the kitchen below…it’s an all-in-one unit with just about everything you need.
image from Dornob
Nice solutions