How to maximise your space at home?

September 13, 2024 Yas Lightowler

September 2024

Are you interested in understanding how to maximise your space at home? Homes often need to be refurbished or redesigned to adapt to a lifestyle, whether they are a property you already live in or one you are buying.

Understanding how to maximise and optimise your interior space to fit your lifestyle is core to any interior design plan and every interior designer will use design techniques to do this. Interior designer Yas Lightowler, founder of KHAIA interior design studio in Esher, Surrey shares her knowledge and tips.

Photographs and Styling by: @Kristofer_johnsson and @pellahedeby

What do we mean by maximising your space at home?

In interior design, maximising your space means to use strategic techniques to optimise the functionality, efficiency and aesthetics of a given space. In short, using well-tested design techniques to help improve the way your home works, flows and looks.

Let’s look at each of these three considerations in a bit more detail to help you understand how they affect your space:

Functionality – In residential interior design, functionality ensures spaces are practical, comfortable, and safe, enhancing daily living, comfort, and well-being. It refers to the intended purpose of the space, considering circulation, traffic flow, furniture arrangement, zoning, and aesthetics. By optimising space utilisation, adaptability, and maintenance, functional design creates harmonious, comfortable, and well-balanced interiors that are both liveable and enjoyable.
Efficiency – A critical aspect of interior design, space maximisation involves the efficient use of the available space and making the most of any natural attributes the space may have. For example, using a single colour on both walls and ceilings can create the illusion of higher ceilings. This is because the human eye notices very little difference between where the wall finishes, and the ceiling starts. Darker colours can also create the effect of making the room smaller.
Aesthetics – To put it simply, the aesthetics is the harmony created between the visual elements of an interior design scheme. Understanding what works and what doesn’t in a space is essential. Using height, scale, shapes and colours, incorporating minimalist furniture and decluttering can all create the illusion of space. Lighting can also contribute by re-directing the eye to different features of the room and away from the size of the space.

Every interior designer will use these design principles to evaluate and plan how to maximise a space, whether it is a kitchen, master suite or a whole property.

How to maximise an interior space?

Ideally you will be working with an interior designer to help you assess your home and advise you on the optimal layout and use of your space using their experience. However, if you are considering taking on the job of maximising the space in your home yourself, let me share a few of my personal tips and ideas on what to consider:

1. Smart storage solutions. I recommend integrating aesthetically appealing storage units that can conceal any items you don’t want on display. This way you can easily maintain a tidy home and minimise visual distractions. Floor to ceiling units and bookcases offer great storage and accentuate ceiling height.

2. Strategic furniture placing. Furniture placement plays a key role in allowing traffic flow and can help create the effect of openness. Think about how you want people to move through your space and use different areas throughout the day. Balanced proportions between the different furniture pieces and the number of pieces can help create an efficient furniture layout.

3. Light colour palette. Lighter colour palettes create an airy and open atmosphere. When creating the quietly luxurious minimalist interiors I am known for, I choose colour palettes of understated lighter hues and combine them with natural materials minimising the visual clutter, similar to the inspiring designs from de la villa Studio in Madrid below.

4. Minimalist style. Decluttering will help you achieve a sense of more space. Think carefully about what items are useful, important and relevant for your day-to-day life. Incorporate these into the design and store remaining items away. This will help promote a sense of calm, even in a busy family home.

An example of combining a minimalist style, light colour palette and strategic furniture placing is showcased by de la villa Studio, one of my favourite Interior Design Studios from Madrid. Designed by: de la villa Studio @delavillastudio

5. Smart lighting design. Ambient lighting accentuates the size and comfort of a space, whereas accent lighting focuses the eye on certain pieces in the room, adding drama and directing attention away from the overall space. A well-designed lighting scheme enhances furnishings, highlights colour palettes, and creates atmosphere – read my article about The Power of Good Lighting in interior design.

Lighting design by: John Cullen

Design and Photography by: Infinite Interior Designs and Duncan Chard Photography

6. Proportions and scale. Proportions and scale dictate how different elements (furniture, colours and patterns) interact within a space, and influence the functionality and aesthetics. The footprint of the furniture in a room should never exceed 60% of the square footage leaving at least 40% negative space to allow people to move with ease around the space. When the scale and proportions of these elements is well-balanced, it can be transformational on the visual perception of a space. Making the most of this ratio and proportions requires the invaluable experience of an interior designer.

Are you are thinking about how to maximise the space in your current home or need help with a property you have just moved into?

Get in touch with us at KHAIA to talk about your project, we would be delighted to help. Have a look at our instagram feed for more KHAIA inspiration and to see current projects.

If you are still unsure whether or when to enlist the help of an interior designer, read one of my latest articles here that will help you answer some of the questions you may have.