Your home… with living:room

In the first of the Elephant in the Room series, I talked about common problems to watch out for with home extensions. This week, I’m looking at the problem of lack of space – it’s the No. 1 reason given by homeowners for moving or extending but often the real problem lies in the type of space we have and how we use it.

When it comes right down to it – how much is enough?

There’s a famous quote by architect Mies Van Der Rohe – ‘Less Is More’ – I take this to mean there is a richness and a quality in simplicity. It’s a mantra that can be applied to your home, how you dress, even how you live your life. A former boss of mine was fond of quoting it in reverse – ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’ – and in a way this version is more revealing and says more about how we live our lives today.

It always makes me think about how, whenever I got a pay rise in the good old days, it didn’t put more money in my pocket because I’d automatically adapt my lifestyle to suit the new level of wealth, however small that increase might be! The same principle applies to our homes – the more space we have, the more we adapt to fill the space, creating a ‘need’ for even more space!

Simplicity is about making choices – it’s as much about what we don’t have, as what we do. In the good times, we don’t have to choose and so we indulge, we accumulate, we expand. In doing so, we lose the ability to evaluate between one choice and another.

When we experience constraints in life – and who isn’t feeling the pinch, at the moment – our choices are reduced and we prioritise those things that are fundamental to our well-being or our values. In many ways it is a positive experience – by stripping the excess away we put greater focus and value on what remains.

Less becomes more.

Fewer available choices re-tunes our ability to decide what is of most value to us but more importantly, it teaches us to tackle our problems from a more creative point of view.

I’m seeing a lot more ingenuity in how people design and / or use their homes at the moment and, in particular, how they tackle the problem of making more out of less space.

Take this apartment in the Marais district of Paris, where 2 adults, 2 children and a dog live in a home measuring only 40sqm..

Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

When Apartment Therapy published this article, it sparked a raging debate amongst readers about whether it is possible, legal, moral for a family to live in such a small space and even if it was cruel to the children, the dog or both!

For me there are three key criteria that contribute to the success of this home:

1. The owners recognise that some activities require space to function properly and others can do without – so the living area is a large multi use room and other rooms become small and functional.
2. The integrated storage means that everything has a place and by building it right up to the ceiling the space is used efficiently – see below how creative they’ve been in using every available inch.
3. The apartment is located in one of the most sought after areas of Paris with excellent amenities and, presumably, the owner’s work environments, all within walking distance.

Courtesy Apartment Therapy

The owners have clearly made informed choices (and sacrifices) in opting for this type of home but they haven’t sacrificed style, quality or creativity.

The Paris apartment has lots of ideas for making the most of a small space and this is another favourite project – The Remainder House in British Columbia by Openspace Architecture – where big value has been leveraged out of a small home.

Courtesy Openspace Architecture

Have you ever walked into a room or a house and there was something about it that was instantly appealing? Some spaces just feel right and often it has nothing to do with the size of the room but the quality of natural light. A small room with good natural lighting is much more pleasant to be in than a large room with poor light.

Although the footprint of The Remainder House is modest (under 110sqm) it achieves the sensation of space by doing something rather clever – it borrows it from the outside. Instead of creating a large living room, for example, it has a cosy living space with full height windows that blur the boundary between inside and out – the outdoor space then becomes part of the indoors without the expense of building additional floor area!

Courtesy Openspace Architecture

In this case, the dramatic forest landscape adds significantly to the experience of using the living room but there is no reason why this idea wouldn’t work in an urban or suburban house project, creating a dynamic connection between house and garden.

So here are some things to consider if you feel you need more space in your home:

• De-cluttering – a simple way to create space is simply to get rid of the things you don’t need. Think charity shop, Freecycle or earn a few extra pennies by selling items on E-bay or taking them to designer exchange outlets;
• Storage Space – by creating dedicated storage space for your possessions you can prevent them from cluttering up rooms. Don’t forget to use all the space available – recesses, space under stairs, high level storage options etc.
• Natural Light – is there enough light in the room and can you create more? The ideal is to have light coming from 2 directions, eg. 2 different walls or a wall and the roof. If it is a main living area, look at creating the illusion of more space by using full-height glazing to connect the room with the garden.

For more ideas on making the most of your home, take a look at our article on Home Potential in the new issue of ‘Decorate & Improve Your Home’ Magazine.

Did you find this article useful? Do you have any pet peeves about housing design? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this subject or any other home improvement issues you’d like to know more about.