Lifestyle /
Want To Spruce Up Your Small Space?
Our exclusive interview with renowned designer, Glen Peloso gives us great ideas!As summer approaches and the temperature rises, renovations and home improvement may be on your mind. But what if you can't do any major renovations and your place is in need of an update? I had the amazing chance to interview the internationally renowned designer, Glen Peloso, principal of Glen Peloso Interiors, to discuss tips on keeping your place organized and clutter-free without remodelling the whole home.
Our chat addresses space saving ideas for condo and apartment dwellers and how to work around limitations to your space and things to consider when renovating and home, in minor or major projects.
What are some things to consider when trying to maximize a small space in your home, in an area that cannot be renovated?
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Keep the space as simple and uncluttered as possible
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The more items in a room, the more crowded it will feel – for example things in boxes of all the same colour (white grey or black) will allow you to have everything you need but have it look simple
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Use the walls, not the floor. Imagine a room that is 10×10 with a 10ft ceiling height. You have 100 square ft of floor (which you will have to live and walk on) vs. 400 sq ft of wall space which you never have to walk on. A wall unit (10ft long x ten feet high x 1ft deep) consumes 10 sq ft of floor space and gives you 200 cubic ft storage space. A good and useful trade off!
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Have only one central image! A large painting on one wall vs. smaller painting on all walls, looks less complex which equals a larger looking space.
What techniques can be used to help maximize a tight space?
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Think about monochromatic colours. Every time you change colour, our eye goes to that place first and helps the viewer determine dimension. Remove as many colour breaks as possible and we perceive the room to be larger. It doesn't matter if the space is all dark or all light in colour. (As an analogy — if you have too much light in your eyes or your eyes are closed, the space you perceive is endless in both ways, simply because our ability to perceive dimension is reduced. The same is true with monochromatic colours.
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Use multifunctional furniture: An ottoman that is also storage, a Murphy bed, a coffee table that alter to be a dining table, occasional chair that is also a dining chair, a storage cabinet that hides your desk or makeup mirror etc. Small spaces require everything to have several functions providing both form and function.
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Use furniture that are reflective (mirror or polished chrome or glass) as they take up less aesthetic weight in a room because they reflect their surroundings.
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Select furniture that you can see under. For example a sofa that you can see under vs. a sofa with a skirt that goes to the floor, Coffee table with legs as opposed to a cube to the floor, a chair with legs as opposed to a tub chair – the more floor space you can see, the more floor space we presume there is in the space.
What colours and décor ideas can be used to help enhance a small or storage space?
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The same idea of monochromatic colour. To enhance the visual interest you can play with textures while keeping the colour the same. I.e. (white toilet, white cabinets, white textured floor tiles, white mosaic wall tiles, chrome faucets and white towels and window coverings – a variety of texture but all still white — the same idea works with any colour.)
With minimal structural changes, what are some options for moving/improving/or creating space?
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Taking out a wall always makes a space seem larger than previously.
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If the wall is structural, insert a glass panel so that you can see more floor space at a glance.
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Put in pocket doors to eliminate the door swings that take up floor space.
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Remove unnecessary doors between rooms and make passages instead. Rethink the use of your ensuite doors that are generally never closed. Does the den/TV room really need a door? Seeing more space gives the feeling of more space.
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Change necessary doors to frosted glass doors so that the light from one room to the next will bleed making the space seem larger.
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With closets, used frosted glass doors and install some lighting on the inside edges of the doors. The light will give the impression of another room and our perception is a larger spac
When tackling a larger renovation with major structural changes to the home, how important is it to have a contractor?
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IMPERATIVE. These are not the kinds of jobs that unskilled people should take on. In a condo there are no other options legally but in a small home you may end up with structural problems, electrical problems, water and plumbing issues, heat and cooling loss etc etc. At the very least you need to have someone with a plan and method of execution as it will all go horribly wrong when it is done adhoc — would you let a "friend" cut your hair or do you dental work?? Same thing!!
How important is it to stick to the plan, vision and budget?
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The plan is the most important part of the job. The plan is the element that creates the vision and forms the budget for the entire project. Old adage "Fail to plan = Plan to fail" — the plan allows you to know exactly what you are going to get while it is still relatively inexpensive.
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If a design cost 5 to 10% of your budget, you are spending 90 percent of your budget well vs. gambling with 50% of your budget and losing! Just like surgery, if the surgeon offers a 10% chance of a problem I would move forward. If he/she offered a 50% of a problem, I may not move forward.
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The vision is essentially "The Design". There are always several options as to a design direction (traditional, transitional, contemporary, industrial, modern etc) and they all can be very appealing when followed through. Think of it this way "a Chanel cocktail dress, with flat gum soled shoes, chunky jewelry and purple mullet and a tire tread hand bag – you would have to be a rock star to pull that off. Any one of those elements followed through could make a cool outfit but combined, not so much! Follow the vision through so you can judge a finished work of art as opposed to an uncertain artist struggling for a voice.
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Be budget-savvy. The budget follows the two previous points and knowing what you are going to spend and being prepared for it is far better than being so far in debt to your home and design that your life is reduced to every weekend at home alone eating mac and cheese watching movies on borrowed internet connection from your neighbours. Your home is meant to improve the quality of your life, not reduce so that you are working for your house.
Sources: Twitter and Glen Peloso official page
Geeta Wahab
Author
Cultivating a life she loves, Geeta (@geets.suites) is chasing all her passions, including her love for home décor. As a brand new home owner, her current journey has launched her further into that world - check out her Instagram @geets.suites for tidbits of her story and other decorating pieces. A...
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