When you are planning to design and decorate a small rental space, you need to follow some basic decorating rules. You want to make sure that the furniture matches the scale of the rooms and keep the color palette light. When trying to get the most out of every inch of a small space, be sure not to make decorating choices that will have the opposite effect. Here are some small space mistakes that you should try to avoid when you design and decorate a small rental space.

Too much storage

Avoid having too many things that will need to be stored. When you design a small space for your future tenants to reside in,  having storage options is a good idea to keep the place organized and uncluttered. However, if you provide too many boxes and baskets as storage, it can ultimately trip up your design and visually make a room feel smaller.

Create storage solution areas and ways for your future tenants to stash things away under furniture, so they aren’t visible.

Wrong sized pieces

Choose furniture pieces that can easily be fitted to the scale of the room. Avoid having an overstuffed couch, as it can make the room feel cramped. Also, don’t use too many small furniture items, as that can have the same effect. Rather than having several smaller pieces, in some cases, one larger and appropriately scaled furniture piece will give the room a more spacious feel. Choose a nice sized anchor piece and intermix it with smaller scale furniture to make the room feel bigger.

Not enough lighting in a room

The absence of enough lighting in a room,  can easily make a space feel smaller. Light has the ability to illuminate every inch of the room, however dark corners can make a room feel smaller than it already is. It’s essential to use accent lighting to illuminate every inch of a small space in order to feel as though you are in a bigger space.

Being total wallflowers

Placing all the furniture against the walls of a small room might feel like the right solution, but it doesn’t always work. It can create strange layouts and leave limited design options. Move the couches away from walls to allow for narrow tables and for better socializing. The center of the room may feel a little smaller, but you’ll gain much better design points.

Dark colors can make a room feel smaller

You probably can agree that light colors make a room feel bigger and dark colors can make a room feel smaller. But the way a small space feels is perhaps more about texture and less about color. Color alone can be choppy, especially when viewed with the rest of the room. Instead, use monochrome color in your home and utilize texture as your main design. Textiles and woodwork can bring character to a small room.

Too much decor

Too much of a good thing can often be a mistake in interior design.  Don’t decorate every inch of a small space. Leaving some tables bare or a couch without throw pillows might not seem like the right choice, but it gives the eye a break. That break can create the illusion of a bigger space. This is an easy solution to one of the most common small space design mistakes.

Not seeing potential

This is the easiest small space mistake in a room. Small rooms are often relegated to be unused corners of the home. But by employing the right design, every area in your home can be functional – if not palatial. Consider the potential in small rooms. What you consider small might be a cozy place to unwind or a great place to enjoy your morning coffee.

We may not be able to make our homes big enough for a basketball game, but every nook can be thoughtfully designed to make a space look and feel bigger. Enjoy the good life by avoiding the small space mistakes that make your home feel more compact than it is, and you’ll find that size doesn’t matter.

Thousand Hills Realty is Branson's premier property management company. Call us today at (417) 337-8081 if you would like to discuss our property management services and how we can help you make the most of your long term rental properties.