What to Look for In Furniture for Modestly-Sized Homes: According to recent surveys, more modest-sized homes are in. A study from tech real-estate marketplace Zillow found that this is especially true among newer houses, where there has been a nearly 10% increase in the construction of single-family homes.
This refers to abodes where there are three bedrooms or less. At the same time, a report from 2023 states that the average townhome has square footage under 2,000. This trend aligns with Gitnux surveys, wherein 86% of US respondents said they’d like to live in a smaller home, mainly for affordability reasons.
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Regardless of your reason, if you’re also one of the growing numbers of Americans living in a modestly sized home, you’ll have to admit that besides all the pros, there are also some cons.
Chief among these is the space limitation that often makes furnishing tricky. Thankfully, there are clever and easy ways to work around this without sacrificing space or style.
Read on to learn more about what you should look for in your smaller home’s furniture:
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Opt for modular furniture
Modular furniture refers to items with separate pieces you can move freely. This ensures maximum versatility, which is crucial in a smaller space. One of the best modular furniture you can invest in is a couch since most people will find themselves hanging out in the living room.
Modular couches feature several movable pieces in different sizes to personalize the configuration for your unique preferences.
The Alana Linen 3-Piece from the Living Spaces sectional sofa catalog lets you combine pieces to create one large sofa or pull all the pieces apart to create multiple seating areas with an additional ottoman seat you can move to another space as needed.
With this in the living room, you can easily transform a small space for different needs, like into a guest room or a makeshift media den, without needing to add any other space-eating items.
Look for subtle storage solutions
Clutter is a huge issue for small houses, which is why many people espouse the minimalist trend for modest spaces. However, not everyone likes the more pared-down look and lifestyle of minimalism.
In these cases, the best way to retain your style while still being tidy is through innovative storage solutions built into your furniture. Apart from helping you “camouflage” your less aesthetic bits and bobs, having dedicated storage space can help make maintaining a clean home easier. As mentioned in a previous article by Isabella, a nice, clean house can help make you healthier and happier, too.
A great room to use such a storage solution is in the bedroom, where you don’t want it to be busy.
Beds like Wayfair’s Kewarra and Antioch are great examples of frames to consider, as they have headboard shelving and underbed drawers, respectively. This way, you can store your nighttime essentials like skin care, blankets, and the like without cluttering your bedroom.
Choose vertical items
Every inch counts in a small house, so you shouldn’t overlook your home’s vertical space. Lots of people think they have to leave this overhead space bare to create the illusion of more room, but it’s all about the proportions. For example, instead of struggling to find a spot for your bulk office table lamp, why not go for a wall sconce?
Some designs, such as the Flared Glass Plug-in on Pottery Barn, even have special articulated features to redirect this light around as necessary without taking up floor space. Another example of this is wall shelving. Rather than using up limited square footage on things like a console, buffet, or cupboard, opt for floating shelves instead.
To illustrate, IKEA has floating shelves that are popularly used for this purpose, given that they’re slim but sturdy. Models like the MOSSLANDA even have a ledge that can be used to hold decor and more functional items like kitchenware.
