Creating the illusion of space

Creating the illusion of space


Interior Design
Naoimh Tuohy

There was a time when everything I owned could be squeezed into a 65-litre rucksack. Sadly, that same rucksack is now squeezed into one of the many wee cubby holes occupying my space-conscious pad. If you wanted to break it down, given the prices per square metre of Irish property, this is quite possibly the highest price a rucksack has ever had to pay to lay down its travel-weary hat.
But what I’m really getting at here is space. Space and storage: two vital aspects of apartment living today. Apartment accommodation, or lack thereof, has forced us to become creative. It is the mother of not only clever storage inventions, but also of teaching us the art of illusion, making our pokey – can’t-swing-a-cat-in-it – apartments look like they were built to host the Eurovision.
So, here we are. The ten top tips for living in a box – and one extra just for good luck:
RPaint your space one colour throughout. Obvious, you might think. Not necessarily, says I. I’ve worked within the property arena now for the past ten years, the latter half of them spent decorating a fair chunk of Dublin, and it never ceases to amaze me how many colours one person thinks they need in the 550-square-foot, spatially-challenged home. Eggshell or Jasmine White from Dulux work well. Farrow & Ball also have a fabulous range of unique shades and are available from selected stockists or online.
RSimilarly, don’t use different flooring in each room. Create a feeling of openness and continuity by joining together living room, hall and bedrooms with one shade in one material rather than breaking it all up.
Use blinds rather than curtains. Not only is it cheaper, but too much material and busyness around a window will give a claustrophobic feeling.
Try using glass furniture rather than the more traditionally favoured wood. Glass coffee and dining tables with a sharp contemporary design can most definitely give the illusion of space to any room.
Built-in units, as opposed to standalone furniture, give cleaner lines – again giving the idea of space. When installing, make sure to plan properly using floor-to-ceiling space if fitting a wardrobe, for example, or a book case.
If you’re not in a position to install purpose-made units, don’t despair. There are some clever ways around it. www.storagesolutions.ie offer a wide range of options, and the company delivers nationwide.
Keep your furniture to a minimum if you can. What’s the point in having a home where every time you move you bump into something? Seeing as much of the floor space as possible and keeping walkways clutter-free is paramount to opening up the entire room.
REvery apartment has a certain amount of dead space or a wall area that seems obsolete. Turn it to your advantage with a combination of open and closed shelving. Create different sized spaces within this shelving unit, allowing for multiple uses.
Mirrors are super for opening up any space and giving new dimensions to the room. When well placed, in addition to being functional, they can be used cleverly for light reflection.
Don’t do over-kill on wall hangings. Wide open, lightly-shaded walls can enhance the room and make it feel longer than it is. Try to use large, one-off pieces rather than a series of several small prints within the apartment.
Try to eliminate stud partitions between areas that don’t require a huge level of privacy – between kitchens and living-rooms, say. More often than not these walls close the apartment in completely. Taking them down will go a long way towards creating that open space feeling. And as a bonus, open-plan living-room/kitchens lend themselves much more towards home entertaining, which in these recessionary times is fast becoming the new social setting.

Clever storage with style
Do you find that every surface of your kitchen or bedroom is creaking under the weight of everthing from bills to bulbs to batteries?
Every home gathers clutter, and it can easily get out of hand, making smaller spaces feel claustrophobic. Storage boxes are an obvious solution, allowing the scattiest of homeowner to tidy away unsightly but important bits and bobs, and helping to maximise the feeling of space.
Carraig Donn in Westport sells these adorable, stylish storage boxes, proving that boring beige and brown containers are a thing of the past – and who wants their home to look like an office anyway?

A set of three Green Gingham Flower storage boxes retails at e18.95, while a set of three Red Gingham Rose Storage Boxes retails at €14.95.

> Naoimh Tuohy is an interior designer based in Dublin and working countrywide. Originally coming from a property background, she made the jump from valuing buildings to redesigning their interiors. She has worked freelance for the last six years and specialises in show houses, home-owner renovations and investment-property fit-outs.
She can be contacted at 087 7625539.