4 Easy Steps to Maximize Space when Designing a Floor Plan

We all have them, those awkward nooks and rooms that give major design challenges when it comes to maximizing your space.  So, whether you're like us and designing a nursery, or wanting your living room design to work in a more functional way, these four easy steps will help put your ideas on paper, while ultimately maximizing your room's potential!

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 First things first.  All too often we'll eyeball a space only to have the frustration of under or overestimating the size of a room.  So, get out your handy tape measure and put those measurements on paper, while simultaneously drawing a bird's eye view of the floor plan.  Be sure to include doorways and windows along with any other structural additions.  

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Sometimes it's as simple as taking a step back to see what's right in front of you.  In the example above the the left door way swings into the room, which in this case is taking up valuable space in what's currently a bedroom.  By switching the hinges and having the door swing outward, we're now able use an additional corner of the room!  This step can help for a multitude of examples ~ wanting to add a window to a space?  tear down a wall? or remove a doorway entirely?  By deciding structural changes early on, you can determine if their addition or removal is an overall plus for the space, in both form and function.

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If you don't ask the question, then you won't get the answer.  Take the time to define (in words) what's missing in the space.  By prioritizing a room's needs, and balancing the wants, you can maximize a rooms potential.  In the example above, no closets in a bedroom poses a serious storage problem.  The addition of a closet or floor-to-ceiling built-ins would significantly change the storage options in this room .  But if adding a closet or built-ins isn't an option, think creatively to come up with hidden storage ideas (think baskets, chests, and stand-alone furniture pieces).

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Nothing's worse than purchasing a new piece of furniture only to discover it's size is either too large or too small for a space.  Nor is moving a bunch of furniture around a bazillion times in a room just to see what works.  Starting with large objects first (a couch in a living room, a bed in a bedroom, etc) use icons that are drawn to scale to easily see what fits and what doesn't.    Helpful tip ~if you're not doing this on a computer, graph paper works wonders to help with scale, have each square represent one foot or one inch, you get the idea.  And rather than drawing and erasing objects continuously, use another piece of paper to draw and cut out your objects, making moving around a couch as simple as rearranging a paper icons.

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Four easy steps that will help reveal a room's potential by maximizing space!

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