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in Culture podcast starts by asking three questions, who, how, why?
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that are feeling your feed.
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You're listening to Life Kid from NPR.
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You want to float furniture? Do you want to float it?
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Girl?
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No?
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No, no, because what is that? Even like that is
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going to look so weird in my place?
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Apparently?
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No.
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I mean it's an optical illusion that you actually have
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a little more square footage. If everything's not up against
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the wall. You can do it like three to five inches.
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It's not like you put in the center of your
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living room. If you go to an open house where
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they've staged it, you'll notice that they never put all
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of the furniture up against the wall. They always do
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it like just a lit It gives you the feeling
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of more space.
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All right, Reporter Andy Tagle coming in straight away with
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the tips. I'm Mary el Sagata and today on life
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Kit we're talking about how to make a small space
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feel bigger apparently, and I would say counterintuitively, leaving space
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between your furniture and the wall is one way to
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do that. We'll see, maybe I'll try it. I will say,
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I'm in one of those moments with my apartment right
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now where I'm looking around and I'm like, it's time
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to change everything. Oh yeah, even though I think it's cute,
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you know, like it's time for a new paint color,
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it's time for a new couch or whatever. But I
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think part of that is, as my life has changed,
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I want to use this space for different things, and
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especially in a small space, one room does have to
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perform multiple functions, and then you have to think about,
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like what is my priority here.
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I have a word for you. The word is zoning,
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and the idea is that you could have though even
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if you have just one space, if you have an
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open floor plan, zoning just means like you can zone
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off different areas of the open floor pat There's no
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reason why you can't have a dining room and a
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living room and a kitchen and a movie area all
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in that one open room, all right.
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Well, coming up on this episode of Life Kit, we're
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going to talk more about floating your furniture. We're going
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to talk about zoning, about floor arrangements, about how to
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hang your.
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Art, lots of low budget and non permanent solutions to
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make your space. You're wrong, that's after the break.
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Brazil used to have one of the fastest growing economies
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in the world. People called it the country of the future.
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There are songs Oh Brazi wel baij because it seems
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like we have it all man, but then the music stopped.
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On the Planet Money podcast, a lot of countries these
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days aren't rich, they aren't poor, They're just kind of
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stuck in the middle. Why is that? Listen on the
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NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Okay, Andy, what do we need to think about when
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we're designing smalls specifically, Like, how's it different when you're
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trying to make a studio apartment or a one bedroom
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your own versus a three acre farmhouse or a ten
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room mansion.
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It's a good question. Let me introduce you to Shamikh Lynch.
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She is the founder and principal designer of Maximizing Tiny
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Interiors in New Jersey, and her answer was, you know,
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in a lot of ways, a home is a home
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as a home, so you know, people got to cook,
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people gotta work, kids need room to play and do
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their homework, so a lot is the same. But here's
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what she says is really essential to the design of
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small spaces.
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Specifically, no room can be just an extra room. You
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don't have any extra square footage where it's like, oh, well,
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that's just going to be decorative. Every single item in
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your home needs to serve a purpose, and our motto
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is that everything in your home should work for you,
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and work is a verb there where it needs to
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have at least two functions. Right, your living room is
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probably also functioning as your dining room and also functioning
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as your playroom.
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Yeah, you really have to make use of all the
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space you have.
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Every nicking cranny. And then the other thing is downsizing.
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All the experts I spoke to said that, like more
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than furniture size or picking the wrong paink color, what
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is really the enemy of small spaces is clutter. If
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you have a small space that you want to rearrange,
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the very first thing you need to do is declutter,
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because once you pare down to the things that you
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really need. It's a lot easier to see how much
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space you actually need for storage, how you can get
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creative with solutions, and overall it can just help you
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be more intentional with planning your space.
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Yeah. I always think that I've tackled my clutter and
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then there's another round of decluttering and I'm like, what, Like,
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I thought I needed this thing six months ago, but
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it turns out I really don't.
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The clutter monster always lives again. After tackling your clutter
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or your latest clutter monster, at least you want to
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organize your stuff in a way that actually makes sense
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for your life, right. Faith Roberson is a professional organizer
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and decluttering coach in New York City, and she lived
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for a while in a five hundred and fifty square
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foot studio, and she wrote the book What Stays and
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What Goes How to organize with intention and create space
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for grace. What she told me is when everything has
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a specific home and a specific purpose, you're going to
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work better and you're going to feel better.
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The key to small spaces is learning how.
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To disperse things in multiple areas in order to create
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a flow and a sense of harmony in the space.
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I had to start to think, Okay, where am I
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going to put my workout gear?
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You know, where am I going to put this? Under
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my bed?
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I had storage of course, that's like a no brainer.
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And also using the height of the cabinets was important,
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just going all the way up to the ceiling.
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She talks about flow. What does it mean for a
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space to.
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Have good flow? Yeah, I feel like this is a
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termament you hear a lot when it comes to designing decorating,
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but the definition is a little bit slippery. So Shamika
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told me, when she thinks about flow, she thinks about
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how well all the elements of a home are working
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together for the people who live in it. So, for example,
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in your kitchen, you know, when you go to put
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your dishes on the drying rack, is it easy to do?
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Is it right there?
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Or are you tracking water all over the floor with every dish?
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That might be one example. If you have to dig
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in and out of a closet every morning, if you
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have to hop up and over workout equipment every day,
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might be time to rethink.
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Yeah, that makes sense. And then you also if you
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think about that ahead of time, then you know what
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you might need to buy or repurpose rather than just
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sort of aimlessly going to a storage store and getting
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stuff that's not going to work for you.
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Right.
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Well, I know that experts gave you a lot of
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tips for the apartment from the ground up. Really, so
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let's start with the ground huh, let's do it, Yeah, coverings.
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What'd you learn about that?
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Okay, general rule I would say from the experts across
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the board, rugs are a good idea in small spaces.
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They are a quick and easy way to add warmth,
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to add texture, personality to a space. So if you
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don't have one, you want to add that to the
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top of your list. Another great thing about rugs zoning,
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so they are great way to create distinct areas in
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your home. I thought this was a wonderful tip from Shamika.
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She works with a lot of people who live in
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open floor plans, and she says sometimes she doesn't even
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have to buy something new, She'll just reori in a
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room by switching up a rug.
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Everywhere the rug touches is the living room, right, that's
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the living room rug. Like lion king. Everywhere the light
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touches is yours. And even if your even if your
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dining room is right next to the room, which mine is,
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there's a dining room rug right. That says you know,
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this is where the dining room is. So rugs really
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help for that to define those spaces.
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It can be a little hard to know what size
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right to get.
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I would say generally speaking, you want to go bigger
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instead of smaller. When you go too small, the ratios
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can be off and it can make a room feel accidental.
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It reminds me of when Kristen Wegg used to do
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this on SNL where those doll hairs. Yeah, it's like
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the proportions are off right. Yes, you're like, this is
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like normal size person and with like little baby doll hands.
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Yeah.
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Is there's something unsettling and I think that that happens
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when your rug is too small.
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Yeah, that is exactly right. The proportions are off. So
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to help us think through ratio, all turn to Alexandra Gator.
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She's a home to core expert who specializes in making
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over small spaces for her YouTube channel. It's really fun,
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definitely worth a watch.
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She told me.
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If she had to put a number to it, you
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want to aim to cover around seventy five percent of
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a room with your rug. WHOA, Yeah, it's a lot,
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like more than you think.
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You know.
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You maybe want to have a clear walkway in between
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one space or another, one room or another, but generally speaking,
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you want to have at least the two legs of
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a couch, the two legs of any chairs, or if
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you can fit everything, like if you can fit an
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entire living room set on a rug, that's a good idea.
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I will say, rugs can be kind of expensive, especially
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if you're getting a big one.
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Yeah, it's definitely a higher ticket item when it comes
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to redecorating. So I did a little bit of sourcing
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online for you. Rugs USA and Ikea seem to be
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a couple of the top spots people turn to for
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low cost, brand new quality rugs. Facebook, Marketplace and offer
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up also not bad ideas for second hand.
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Options coming up. How to arrange your furniture to make
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your room feel bigger. That's after the Break.
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This week on NPR's Newsmaker's main Senate candidate Grand Platner,
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a working class Democrat leaning into one message that the
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political system is rigged to favor the wealthy.
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There's only one direction we need to be pointing fingers
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and that is up, it's not.
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Left and right.
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Can that message help Democrats take the Senate in this
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year's midterms? Grand Platner this week on NPR's Newsmakers watch
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or listen wherever you get podcasts.
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Okay, let's move on to furniture arrangement. We were talking
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about floating furniture. Can you just explain exactly what that
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means and why were supposedly supposed to do it?
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Okay, So floating means you don't put your furniture, say,
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right up against the wall. You just need some space
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behind it. And what that does is create the illusion
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of additional depth, and it can actually make a room
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seem bigger. Another version of that is you can also
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float your furniture into the middle of a big open
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room or big long room, and you can use it
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to zone the space into different sections. So, for example,
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you can turn that couch sideways and define a space too,
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like this is living room and this is the dining
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room or whatever.
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What do we do about the back of the couch thing,
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like having to look at the back of the.
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Couch you anchor it. That was Alexander's idea. If the
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floating feels weird. Maybe you put a little console there,
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maybe it's your desk, right, you anchor it. You put
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a rug underneath that whole thing so that you have
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your specific zones and it grounds the whole area.
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What about the size of your furniture, Like, how do
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you decide how big of a couch to get or
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how big of a table to get?
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I would say overall, and surprisingly the experts cautioned more
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against going too small rather than going too big. The
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first example that came to my mind was like a
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dorm room in college that hasn't been decorated yet. You
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see a big blank wall and all they have is
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like a teeny tiny picture or two from home on
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that big blank wall, and it just doesn't look great.
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It doesn't feel right. No, apparently there's a name for
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this kind of feeling.
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They call it the dollhouse effect. Where you know, if
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you put too many small things in a space, it
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creates visual clutter. It almost looks like a mistake because
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the scale is off. Let's say I have a sofa
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that it's eighty four inches. If I have a five
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x seven ruck, it looks like there's something missing, something
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else needs to go there.
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Yeah, I'm thinking about too. Like regarding the size of
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the furniture, obviously, you also have to think about how
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you're using it and what your priorities are. Like for me,
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I really wanted an extra deep couch this time, just
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to be able to fit more people on it.
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Yeah, you don't have to go small just because you're
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in a small space. You do want to be purposeful
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with the large furniture that you buy. You want to
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make sure that you're buying it for the right reasons,
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with the lifestyle that you have in mind. Another question
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that I had was, you know, what if you have
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something that you really love, you know, like a keepsake
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family heirloom that you love, but isn't super practical. And
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Faith had a really good answer for this, like can
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you make it functional? You know, you don't necessarily need
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to buy something new, You don't need to toss it,
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you don't need to put it in storage. Faith told
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me about this hutch that she's had for a million years.
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Think it was like an entertainment center or something I
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got on Craigslist, and then I added a pole and
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made it into a wardrobe and then here I brought
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it here and I just added shelves and turned it
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into like a shoe cabinet.
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It has lived nine lives.
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And it's big, and my living room isn't that wide,
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so it takes up space.
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But it's all about how you style it, right.
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So then I put this really beautiful like plant next
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to it, and I think I have like a lamp
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on the other side, and it becomes a part of like.
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Art in the space.
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But it also solves a really big issue that I have,
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which is not having a home from my shoes.
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I love that.
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Yeah.
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I love having that piece that stays with you and
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that you can alter over time.
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Yeah.
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Okay, let's talk more about walls. What about wall paint
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and wallpaper? What did you learn?
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So I have some news for you, Mariel. I know
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that you have some feelings about this, but apparently the
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accent wall is out for small spaces. You know.
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I like my accent wall. I think it looks nice.
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I'm sure that it does. Let me explain to you. Basically,
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they were saying, if your goal is to make your
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small space bigger, they were saying, you want continuity. I
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was kind of expecting them to say, you want white
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or light colors. I was expecting, you know, invite light.
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You want to make it as sunshiny as you can
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in a small space, to expand it, avoid darker, moodier tones.
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But really no, they were like, whatever you like, go
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for it, but what is important is to be consistent
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in your palette. One idea that was popular was color drenching.
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So Shamika said, if you don't have fancy trim, if
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you have just like plane baseboards, you could paint the
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trim the same color. So go from your baseboards all
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the way up to your ceiling. Consider doing that all
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the same color. And that continuity can create some extra space,
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can create extra height and depth for you. Wallpaper Alexandra said,
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wallpaper on ceilings is the thing that's popular. Yeah, you
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could go big.
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Yeah, it's that hard to do though I did break
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in mind. She said it's a commitments.
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Yeah, she did say it's a commitment. Okay, So something
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to think about slight less of commitment, but can help
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you make your space Bigger curtains, so one good idea
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is just to hang your curtains a little bit higher
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and a little bit wider than your window frame. One
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guide I saw said about six to twelve inches higher
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than where your window frame is, and then you want
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to extend your curtain rod four to ten inches beyond
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that frame, and doing that can help extend your eye.
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And then Alexandra had a great rule of thumb about
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how long your curtains should be.
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Making sure your curtains just kiss the floor.
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I f i'd like pooling curtains.
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It just collects dust. It doesn't look like you've thought
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it through.
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00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:00.679
So just kind of kissing the floor is the rule
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00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:01.080
that I.
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00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.559
Love to follow when it comes to curtains, Just kiss
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the floor. What about art? I have a gallery wall,
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00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.960
and although I think that I did it partly because
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I don't know how to do anything else, Like in
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00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:16.519
terms of art, I feel like when I've just had
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a big piece, it's never been big enough, or two
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big pieces, they've never been big enough, and then everything
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00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.120
feels kind of empty. I guess I wonder is there
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00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:27.960
a science to this, like to how to hang your
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00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.879
art in small spaces to make it feel bigger.
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So one rule for you, Shmika said for hanging art,
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the center of your art should be at eye level
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when you're hanging art, So for gallery wall specifically, Shamika said,
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you know, it is okay to go on vibes. She
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said she aims for roughly two to four inches of
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space between frames or between items. She did say that
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the thing about gallery walls is sometimes in small spaces
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they can get a little bit busy, so you want
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to make sure if you're doing it in a big
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open space that you have a piece of furniture to
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aim correct. A nice open, sparse hallway is a good
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00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.399
idea for a gallery wall. You could do a gallery
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wall in a corner to create the illusion of space,
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so it doesn't necessarily need to be one flat wall.
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Another one is like a triptic situation. So if you
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have a piece of art that you really like, you
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00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.440
can print it out over three get like three frames,
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blow it up like over your bed. Say that can
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create the illusion of like expanding the wall. And then
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generally speaking, having different frame textures, different frame depths, you know,
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like shadow box situations, can create more visual interest, create
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more depth there. What about mirrors, Yes is my answer, Yes,
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I want them good for small spaces, helps expand the space,
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helps catch more light. Alexandra said a lot of people
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are really into floor Mars right now very popular. But
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she said hanging mirrors, small ones in your gallery wall,
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ones that you can hang over the door for space
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00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:55.320
saving measures, all the mirrors, all the time.
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00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:57.840
Yes, these are all such great ideas. And I'm in
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the midst of a lot of home and movement right now.
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00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:04.319
I don't even know when this started or how this happened,
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00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.160
because I thought I was in a place where I
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00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.920
was like settled in the apartment. I'd made a lot
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00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:11.200
of changes, and I was like, Okay, now we're good.
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00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:14.799
But suddenly here I am in the vortex again, and
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00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:18.519
it's fun, but it's also kind of I don't know.
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00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.960
I have this sense of urgency to it, like I
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00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:24.720
need to do everything now and the space isn't good
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00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:27.119
enough as it is right now, which I think is
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00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.960
a trap. I guess. I just like I try to
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00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:35.279
remind myself that it's okay. I'll let this unfold over time.
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00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:38.039
Right, as long as your house still feels like home
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00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.359
when you get back at the end of the day,
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you know, I think that's what's important. There's always going
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to be something left to be done. Yeah, right. I
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00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:45.920
was talking to Faith about the a similar idea, and
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00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.039
she said, if you haven't found your flow in your
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00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:50.119
home yet, you should just keep working at it and
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00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:52.960
doing that. Finding that flow is kind of like doing
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00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.880
a jigsaw puzzle. There's always like one more piece to
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00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:55.559
put back together.
400
00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:58.440
Have you ever put a piece in a puzzle and
401
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.519
it looks like it should fit right, and then there's
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00:18:01.559 --> 00:18:04.880
like this little sliver of space and you convince yourself
403
00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:06.640
that it's the right piece, and then you start building
404
00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.240
on the puzzle and you can only go so far
405
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:10.680
before you're like, oh, this is not and it's messing
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00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:15.599
up the way I can move forward. Organizing is like that.
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00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:18.319
That reminds me of Saddoku when I'm very far down
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00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:23.000
the Sudoku puzzle and I'm like, oh my god, that's
409
00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.240
not good thing. I did this in pencil. But it's
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00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:28.799
understanding that we do kind of have to live our
411
00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:29.599
lives in pencil.
412
00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.400
You're right, your home never looks like a magazine or Instagram,
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00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:34.559
but like would you want it to?
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00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:37.200
Yeah, Andy, thank you so much for this.
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00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:38.880
Oh it's been a pleasure. Let me know if you
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00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:39.920
fill your furniture.
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00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:41.920
I'm gonna try I'll try it. Maybe I'll do a
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00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:47.440
little stuff behind it, all right, folks, it's time for
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00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:50.680
a recap. Take Away one. To make your small space
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00:18:50.759 --> 00:18:53.559
feel bigger, you want to start by decluttering. When you
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00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:55.799
get rid of the stuff you don't actually use or
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00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.319
want around, you will literally have more space, and it'll
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00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:01.599
be easier to make a plan and reimagine your home
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00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:05.759
in a way that flows. Take Away two. Small spaces
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00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.039
need to work harder for you, so make the most
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00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:11.519
of your vertical space. Think about high up shelves, for instance,
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00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.519
and get creative with your storage. For instance, I just
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00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.039
got a couch and it has storage built into the seats.
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00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.039
Take Away three. You can have big, beautiful furniture in
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00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.200
a small space, but you have to be mindful of
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00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:25.640
proportion and scale. You want to make sure the space
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00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:29.119
flows and that it's usable. Also, this is about trade offs.
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00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:31.319
If your couch takes up most of the living room,
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00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:33.559
you may not have space for a big dining table.
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00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.599
So think about your priorities and how you actually want
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00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:40.480
to use your home. Take Away four. In tight spaces,
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00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.920
you can create the illusion of height and depth. That
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00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.720
might look like floating your furniture or painting the walls creatively,
439
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.480
or using rugs or a console table or a bookshelf
440
00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.599
to separate your space into zones. It could also mean
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00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:57.559
adding mirrors or hanging your curtains higher. You've got a
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00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:01.599
lot of options. All right, that's our show. If you
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00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.119
love Life Kit and you want even more, why not
444
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.079
follow us on Instagram at NPR Lifekit. There you'll find
445
00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.440
videos featuring our favorite tips and comics on topics like
446
00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:13.880
how to talk to your baby and how to turn
447
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.680
your lawn into a native plant garden. You can find
448
00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:20.920
those by following at NPR Lifekit. This episode of Life
449
00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.440
Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider and reported by
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00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.039
Andy Tagle. It was edited by Sylvie Douglas. Our digital
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00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.680
editor is Malica Gharib, and our visuals editor is c J. Riekalan.
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00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.119
Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan
453
00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:37.880
is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Margaret Serino.
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00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.160
Engineering support comes from Tiffany Varricastro and Becky Brown. I'm
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00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.920
Mariel Sagara. Thanks for listening.
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00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.079
This week on sources and methods. What a piece deal
457
00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:54.759
between the US and Iran might look like? Just how
458
00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.559
similar would it be to the Obama administration deal that
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00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.359
President Trump ripped up. If Trump will allows some enrichment,
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00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:04.119
which is what the Iranians demand, then everyone's going to
461
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:04.559
be saying.
462
00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.160
Well, wait a minute, how is this different from what
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00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:06.880
Obama had?
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00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.440
Plus more of the week's biggest national security news on
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00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:12.119
sources and methods. Listen on the NPR app or wherever
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00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:13.119
you get your podcasts.
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Every episode if it's been a minute, MPRS What's Happening
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in Culture podcast starts by asking three questions, who, how, why?
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Now?
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If the culture's asking it, we're talking about it. At NPR,
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we stand for your right to be curious and indulge
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your cultural curiosity. Follow it's been a minute wherever you
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that are feeling your feed.
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You're listening to Life Kid from NPR.
10
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You want to float furniture? Do you want to float it?
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Girl?
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No?
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No, no, because what is that? Even like that is
14
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going to look so weird in my place?
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Apparently?
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No.
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00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:44.119
I mean it's an optical illusion that you actually have
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a little more square footage. If everything's not up against
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00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.479
the wall. You can do it like three to five inches.
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It's not like you put in the center of your
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00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.159
living room. If you go to an open house where
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they've staged it, you'll notice that they never put all
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of the furniture up against the wall. They always do
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it like just a lit It gives you the feeling
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of more space.
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All right, Reporter Andy Tagle coming in straight away with
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the tips. I'm Mary el Sagata and today on life
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Kit we're talking about how to make a small space
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feel bigger apparently, and I would say counterintuitively, leaving space
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between your furniture and the wall is one way to
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do that. We'll see, maybe I'll try it. I will say,
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I'm in one of those moments with my apartment right
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now where I'm looking around and I'm like, it's time
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to change everything. Oh yeah, even though I think it's cute,
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you know, like it's time for a new paint color,
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it's time for a new couch or whatever. But I
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think part of that is, as my life has changed,
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I want to use this space for different things, and
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especially in a small space, one room does have to
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perform multiple functions, and then you have to think about,
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like what is my priority here.
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I have a word for you. The word is zoning,
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and the idea is that you could have though even
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if you have just one space, if you have an
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open floor plan, zoning just means like you can zone
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off different areas of the open floor pat There's no
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reason why you can't have a dining room and a
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living room and a kitchen and a movie area all
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in that one open room, all right.
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Well, coming up on this episode of Life Kit, we're
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going to talk more about floating your furniture. We're going
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to talk about zoning, about floor arrangements, about how to
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hang your.
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Art, lots of low budget and non permanent solutions to
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make your space. You're wrong, that's after the break.
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Brazil used to have one of the fastest growing economies
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in the world. People called it the country of the future.
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There are songs Oh Brazi wel baij because it seems
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like we have it all man, but then the music stopped.
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On the Planet Money podcast, a lot of countries these
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days aren't rich, they aren't poor, They're just kind of
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stuck in the middle. Why is that? Listen on the
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NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Okay, Andy, what do we need to think about when
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we're designing smalls specifically, Like, how's it different when you're
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trying to make a studio apartment or a one bedroom
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your own versus a three acre farmhouse or a ten
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room mansion.
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It's a good question. Let me introduce you to Shamikh Lynch.
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She is the founder and principal designer of Maximizing Tiny
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Interiors in New Jersey, and her answer was, you know,
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in a lot of ways, a home is a home
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as a home, so you know, people got to cook,
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people gotta work, kids need room to play and do
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their homework, so a lot is the same. But here's
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what she says is really essential to the design of
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small spaces.
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Specifically, no room can be just an extra room. You
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don't have any extra square footage where it's like, oh, well,
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that's just going to be decorative. Every single item in
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your home needs to serve a purpose, and our motto
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is that everything in your home should work for you,
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and work is a verb there where it needs to
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have at least two functions. Right, your living room is
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probably also functioning as your dining room and also functioning
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as your playroom.
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Yeah, you really have to make use of all the
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space you have.
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Every nicking cranny. And then the other thing is downsizing.
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All the experts I spoke to said that, like more
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than furniture size or picking the wrong paink color, what
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is really the enemy of small spaces is clutter. If
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you have a small space that you want to rearrange,
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the very first thing you need to do is declutter,
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because once you pare down to the things that you
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really need. It's a lot easier to see how much
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space you actually need for storage, how you can get
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creative with solutions, and overall it can just help you
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be more intentional with planning your space.
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Yeah. I always think that I've tackled my clutter and
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then there's another round of decluttering and I'm like, what, Like,
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I thought I needed this thing six months ago, but
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it turns out I really don't.
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The clutter monster always lives again. After tackling your clutter
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or your latest clutter monster, at least you want to
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organize your stuff in a way that actually makes sense
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for your life, right. Faith Roberson is a professional organizer
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and decluttering coach in New York City, and she lived
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for a while in a five hundred and fifty square
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foot studio, and she wrote the book What Stays and
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What Goes How to organize with intention and create space
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for grace. What she told me is when everything has
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a specific home and a specific purpose, you're going to
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work better and you're going to feel better.
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The key to small spaces is learning how.
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To disperse things in multiple areas in order to create
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a flow and a sense of harmony in the space.
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I had to start to think, Okay, where am I
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going to put my workout gear?
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You know, where am I going to put this? Under
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my bed?
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I had storage of course, that's like a no brainer.
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And also using the height of the cabinets was important,
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just going all the way up to the ceiling.
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She talks about flow. What does it mean for a
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space to.
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Have good flow? Yeah, I feel like this is a
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termament you hear a lot when it comes to designing decorating,
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but the definition is a little bit slippery. So Shamika
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told me, when she thinks about flow, she thinks about
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how well all the elements of a home are working
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together for the people who live in it. So, for example,
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in your kitchen, you know, when you go to put
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your dishes on the drying rack, is it easy to do?
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Is it right there?
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Or are you tracking water all over the floor with every dish?
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That might be one example. If you have to dig
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in and out of a closet every morning, if you
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have to hop up and over workout equipment every day,
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might be time to rethink.
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Yeah, that makes sense. And then you also if you
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think about that ahead of time, then you know what
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you might need to buy or repurpose rather than just
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sort of aimlessly going to a storage store and getting
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stuff that's not going to work for you.
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Right.
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Well, I know that experts gave you a lot of
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tips for the apartment from the ground up. Really, so
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let's start with the ground huh, let's do it, Yeah, coverings.
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What'd you learn about that?
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Okay, general rule I would say from the experts across
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the board, rugs are a good idea in small spaces.
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They are a quick and easy way to add warmth,
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to add texture, personality to a space. So if you
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don't have one, you want to add that to the
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top of your list. Another great thing about rugs zoning,
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so they are great way to create distinct areas in
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your home. I thought this was a wonderful tip from Shamika.
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She works with a lot of people who live in
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open floor plans, and she says sometimes she doesn't even
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have to buy something new, She'll just reori in a
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room by switching up a rug.
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Everywhere the rug touches is the living room, right, that's
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the living room rug. Like lion king. Everywhere the light
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touches is yours. And even if your even if your
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dining room is right next to the room, which mine is,
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there's a dining room rug right. That says you know,
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this is where the dining room is. So rugs really
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help for that to define those spaces.
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It can be a little hard to know what size
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right to get.
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I would say generally speaking, you want to go bigger
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instead of smaller. When you go too small, the ratios
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can be off and it can make a room feel accidental.
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It reminds me of when Kristen Wegg used to do
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this on SNL where those doll hairs. Yeah, it's like
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the proportions are off right. Yes, you're like, this is
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like normal size person and with like little baby doll hands.
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Yeah.
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Is there's something unsettling and I think that that happens
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when your rug is too small.
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Yeah, that is exactly right. The proportions are off. So
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to help us think through ratio, all turn to Alexandra Gator.
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She's a home to core expert who specializes in making
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over small spaces for her YouTube channel. It's really fun,
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definitely worth a watch.
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She told me.
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If she had to put a number to it, you
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want to aim to cover around seventy five percent of
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a room with your rug. WHOA, Yeah, it's a lot,
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like more than you think.
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You know.
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You maybe want to have a clear walkway in between
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one space or another, one room or another, but generally speaking,
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you want to have at least the two legs of
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a couch, the two legs of any chairs, or if
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you can fit everything, like if you can fit an
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entire living room set on a rug, that's a good idea.
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I will say, rugs can be kind of expensive, especially
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if you're getting a big one.
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Yeah, it's definitely a higher ticket item when it comes
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to redecorating. So I did a little bit of sourcing
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online for you. Rugs USA and Ikea seem to be
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a couple of the top spots people turn to for
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low cost, brand new quality rugs. Facebook, Marketplace and offer
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up also not bad ideas for second hand.
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Options coming up. How to arrange your furniture to make
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your room feel bigger. That's after the Break.
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This week on NPR's Newsmaker's main Senate candidate Grand Platner,
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a working class Democrat leaning into one message that the
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political system is rigged to favor the wealthy.
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There's only one direction we need to be pointing fingers
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and that is up, it's not.
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Left and right.
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Can that message help Democrats take the Senate in this
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year's midterms? Grand Platner this week on NPR's Newsmakers watch
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or listen wherever you get podcasts.
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Okay, let's move on to furniture arrangement. We were talking
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about floating furniture. Can you just explain exactly what that
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means and why were supposedly supposed to do it?
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Okay, So floating means you don't put your furniture, say,
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right up against the wall. You just need some space
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behind it. And what that does is create the illusion
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of additional depth, and it can actually make a room
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seem bigger. Another version of that is you can also
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float your furniture into the middle of a big open
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room or big long room, and you can use it
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to zone the space into different sections. So, for example,
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you can turn that couch sideways and define a space too,
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like this is living room and this is the dining
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room or whatever.
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What do we do about the back of the couch thing,
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like having to look at the back of the.
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Couch you anchor it. That was Alexander's idea. If the
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floating feels weird. Maybe you put a little console there,
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maybe it's your desk, right, you anchor it. You put
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a rug underneath that whole thing so that you have
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your specific zones and it grounds the whole area.
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What about the size of your furniture, Like, how do
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you decide how big of a couch to get or
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how big of a table to get?
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I would say overall, and surprisingly the experts cautioned more
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against going too small rather than going too big. The
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first example that came to my mind was like a
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dorm room in college that hasn't been decorated yet. You
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see a big blank wall and all they have is
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like a teeny tiny picture or two from home on
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that big blank wall, and it just doesn't look great.
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It doesn't feel right. No, apparently there's a name for
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this kind of feeling.
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They call it the dollhouse effect. Where you know, if
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you put too many small things in a space, it
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creates visual clutter. It almost looks like a mistake because
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the scale is off. Let's say I have a sofa
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that it's eighty four inches. If I have a five
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x seven ruck, it looks like there's something missing, something
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else needs to go there.
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Yeah, I'm thinking about too. Like regarding the size of
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the furniture, obviously, you also have to think about how
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you're using it and what your priorities are. Like for me,
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I really wanted an extra deep couch this time, just
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to be able to fit more people on it.
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Yeah, you don't have to go small just because you're
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in a small space. You do want to be purposeful
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with the large furniture that you buy. You want to
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make sure that you're buying it for the right reasons,
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with the lifestyle that you have in mind. Another question
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that I had was, you know, what if you have
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something that you really love, you know, like a keepsake
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family heirloom that you love, but isn't super practical. And
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Faith had a really good answer for this, like can
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you make it functional? You know, you don't necessarily need
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to buy something new, You don't need to toss it,
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you don't need to put it in storage. Faith told
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me about this hutch that she's had for a million years.
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Think it was like an entertainment center or something I
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got on Craigslist, and then I added a pole and
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made it into a wardrobe and then here I brought
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it here and I just added shelves and turned it
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into like a shoe cabinet.
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It has lived nine lives.
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And it's big, and my living room isn't that wide,
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so it takes up space.
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But it's all about how you style it, right.
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So then I put this really beautiful like plant next
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to it, and I think I have like a lamp
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on the other side, and it becomes a part of like.
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Art in the space.
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But it also solves a really big issue that I have,
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which is not having a home from my shoes.
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I love that.
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Yeah.
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I love having that piece that stays with you and
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that you can alter over time.
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Yeah.
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Okay, let's talk more about walls. What about wall paint
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and wallpaper? What did you learn?
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So I have some news for you, Mariel. I know
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that you have some feelings about this, but apparently the
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accent wall is out for small spaces. You know.
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I like my accent wall. I think it looks nice.
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I'm sure that it does. Let me explain to you. Basically,
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they were saying, if your goal is to make your
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small space bigger, they were saying, you want continuity. I
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was kind of expecting them to say, you want white
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or light colors. I was expecting, you know, invite light.
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You want to make it as sunshiny as you can
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in a small space, to expand it, avoid darker, moodier tones.
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But really no, they were like, whatever you like, go
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for it, but what is important is to be consistent
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in your palette. One idea that was popular was color drenching.
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So Shamika said, if you don't have fancy trim, if
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you have just like plane baseboards, you could paint the
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trim the same color. So go from your baseboards all
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the way up to your ceiling. Consider doing that all
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the same color. And that continuity can create some extra space,
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can create extra height and depth for you. Wallpaper Alexandra said,
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wallpaper on ceilings is the thing that's popular. Yeah, you
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could go big.
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Yeah, it's that hard to do though I did break
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in mind. She said it's a commitments.
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Yeah, she did say it's a commitment. Okay, So something
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to think about slight less of commitment, but can help
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you make your space Bigger curtains, so one good idea
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is just to hang your curtains a little bit higher
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and a little bit wider than your window frame. One
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guide I saw said about six to twelve inches higher
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than where your window frame is, and then you want
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to extend your curtain rod four to ten inches beyond
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that frame, and doing that can help extend your eye.
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And then Alexandra had a great rule of thumb about
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how long your curtains should be.
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Making sure your curtains just kiss the floor.
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I f i'd like pooling curtains.
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It just collects dust. It doesn't look like you've thought
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it through.
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So just kind of kissing the floor is the rule
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that I.
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Love to follow when it comes to curtains, Just kiss
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the floor. What about art? I have a gallery wall,
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and although I think that I did it partly because
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I don't know how to do anything else, Like in
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terms of art, I feel like when I've just had
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a big piece, it's never been big enough, or two
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big pieces, they've never been big enough, and then everything
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feels kind of empty. I guess I wonder is there
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a science to this, like to how to hang your
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art in small spaces to make it feel bigger.
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So one rule for you, Shmika said for hanging art,
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the center of your art should be at eye level
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when you're hanging art, So for gallery wall specifically, Shamika said,
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you know, it is okay to go on vibes. She
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said she aims for roughly two to four inches of
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space between frames or between items. She did say that
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the thing about gallery walls is sometimes in small spaces
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they can get a little bit busy, so you want
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to make sure if you're doing it in a big
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open space that you have a piece of furniture to
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aim correct. A nice open, sparse hallway is a good
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idea for a gallery wall. You could do a gallery
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wall in a corner to create the illusion of space,
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so it doesn't necessarily need to be one flat wall.
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Another one is like a triptic situation. So if you
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have a piece of art that you really like, you
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can print it out over three get like three frames,
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blow it up like over your bed. Say that can
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create the illusion of like expanding the wall. And then
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generally speaking, having different frame textures, different frame depths, you know,
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like shadow box situations, can create more visual interest, create
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more depth there. What about mirrors, Yes is my answer, Yes,
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I want them good for small spaces, helps expand the space,
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helps catch more light. Alexandra said a lot of people
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are really into floor Mars right now very popular. But
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she said hanging mirrors, small ones in your gallery wall,
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ones that you can hang over the door for space
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saving measures, all the mirrors, all the time.
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Yes, these are all such great ideas. And I'm in
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the midst of a lot of home and movement right now.
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I don't even know when this started or how this happened,
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because I thought I was in a place where I
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was like settled in the apartment. I'd made a lot
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of changes, and I was like, Okay, now we're good.
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But suddenly here I am in the vortex again, and
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it's fun, but it's also kind of I don't know.
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I have this sense of urgency to it, like I
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need to do everything now and the space isn't good
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enough as it is right now, which I think is
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a trap. I guess. I just like I try to
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remind myself that it's okay. I'll let this unfold over time.
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Right, as long as your house still feels like home
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when you get back at the end of the day,
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you know, I think that's what's important. There's always going
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to be something left to be done. Yeah, right. I
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was talking to Faith about the a similar idea, and
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she said, if you haven't found your flow in your
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home yet, you should just keep working at it and
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doing that. Finding that flow is kind of like doing
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a jigsaw puzzle. There's always like one more piece to
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put back together.
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Have you ever put a piece in a puzzle and
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it looks like it should fit right, and then there's
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like this little sliver of space and you convince yourself
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that it's the right piece, and then you start building
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00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:08.240
on the puzzle and you can only go so far
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00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:10.680
before you're like, oh, this is not and it's messing
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up the way I can move forward. Organizing is like that.
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That reminds me of Saddoku when I'm very far down
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the Sudoku puzzle and I'm like, oh my god, that's
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not good thing. I did this in pencil. But it's
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understanding that we do kind of have to live our
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lives in pencil.
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You're right, your home never looks like a magazine or Instagram,
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but like would you want it to?
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Yeah, Andy, thank you so much for this.
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Oh it's been a pleasure. Let me know if you
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fill your furniture.
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I'm gonna try I'll try it. Maybe I'll do a
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little stuff behind it, all right, folks, it's time for
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a recap. Take Away one. To make your small space
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feel bigger, you want to start by decluttering. When you
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get rid of the stuff you don't actually use or
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00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.319
want around, you will literally have more space, and it'll
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be easier to make a plan and reimagine your home
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in a way that flows. Take Away two. Small spaces
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00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.039
need to work harder for you, so make the most
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of your vertical space. Think about high up shelves, for instance,
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00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:14.519
and get creative with your storage. For instance, I just
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00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.039
got a couch and it has storage built into the seats.
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00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.039
Take Away three. You can have big, beautiful furniture in
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00:19:21.079 --> 00:19:23.200
a small space, but you have to be mindful of
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proportion and scale. You want to make sure the space
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flows and that it's usable. Also, this is about trade offs.
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If your couch takes up most of the living room,
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you may not have space for a big dining table.
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So think about your priorities and how you actually want
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to use your home. Take Away four. In tight spaces,
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you can create the illusion of height and depth. That
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might look like floating your furniture or painting the walls creatively,
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00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.480
or using rugs or a console table or a bookshelf
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00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.599
to separate your space into zones. It could also mean
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adding mirrors or hanging your curtains higher. You've got a
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lot of options. All right, that's our show. If you
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00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:04.119
love Life Kit and you want even more, why not
444
00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.079
follow us on Instagram at NPR Lifekit. There you'll find
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00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.440
videos featuring our favorite tips and comics on topics like
446
00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:13.880
how to talk to your baby and how to turn
447
00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.680
your lawn into a native plant garden. You can find
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00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:20.920
those by following at NPR Lifekit. This episode of Life
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00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:23.440
Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider and reported by
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00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:27.039
Andy Tagle. It was edited by Sylvie Douglas. Our digital
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00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.680
editor is Malica Gharib, and our visuals editor is c J. Riekalan.
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00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.119
Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan
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00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:37.880
is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Margaret Serino.
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00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.160
Engineering support comes from Tiffany Varricastro and Becky Brown. I'm
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00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.920
Mariel Sagara. Thanks for listening.
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00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.079
This week on sources and methods. What a piece deal
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00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:54.759
between the US and Iran might look like? Just how
458
00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.559
similar would it be to the Obama administration deal that
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00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.359
President Trump ripped up. If Trump will allows some enrichment,
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00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:04.119
which is what the Iranians demand, then everyone's going to
461
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:04.559
be saying.
462
00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.160
Well, wait a minute, how is this different from what
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00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:06.880
Obama had?
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00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.440
Plus more of the week's biggest national security news on
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00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:12.119
sources and methods. Listen on the NPR app or wherever
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00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:13.119
you get your podcasts.
