Simple design techniques can absolutely increase the usable square footage in your existing home.  No construction required!

One technique I use to address additional usable spaces in my client’s homes is to ask questions about how they use their spaces.  So many people have a Living Room that is used once or twice a year.  Sometimes it’s a nook room that you can’t decide how to furnish because the space is small or awkward.  Other Challenges are using one space for two purposes.  Designer to the Rescue!

Take that Living Room.  It may be 1/6th of your floor plan- in a 2500 sq foot house that could be 400+ sq feet that is acting like it doesn’t exist.  Who needs a 400 sq ft hallway to the parts of your home that you actually use?

Most clients need an area for reflection and reading and can’t find unity and harmony in the Media Room with the constant buzz of the television.  This is a great opportunity!  Take that Living Room and redesign it with your needs and desires in mind.  Make an area cozy, a chair and a half to cuddle in or put your feet up after a long day.  Add a great reading lamp, a nice rug and voila!  You have reclaimed your space in a different way.  Who says bookcases need to be confined to the library?  If you are a reader and the Living Room is to become your Reading Room….bring those shelves and books in!

An awkward nook can achieve the same use or even become a bill-paying station or small office.  Even if the space is strangely shaped, there are ways to design it to create additional usable square footage for you.  What about a place for the home gym?  Strange shapes call to the weights and treadmills…use me!

Double duty rooms are wonderful design challenges.  They require excellent design and many questions about use and how the rooms will function independently of the alternative use.  One of my favorite solutions for a small house was a client who needed a home office for herself.  The designated office was built out for her husband and they could not share.  We converted a Dining Room into a Dining Room/Home Office with gorgeous cabinetry that closes when the office is closed and looks like a built in Hutch.

Dining Room/Home Office

Open to Office

Get Creative with the Space you Have!  Be Yourself, Be Fabulous, Have Great Design!

Call me on 562-307-1566 or email me to get started on your design project.