Furnishing Small Rooms and Condominium Urban Spaces
Published in the New Home Buyers Guide (December 08, 2006 – January 05, 2007) by HomeBase.ca. Please visit www.HomeBase.ca for more useful articles and tips on real estate developments, pre-construction condos, moving and selling tips and cautions and more.
Just because you aren’t living in a five thousand four hundred square foot mega-home does not mean you have to give up your cherished comfort – far from it! In today’s market, designers and decorators are only too willing to make your time at home as relaxing and comfortable as possible no matter what size your floor plan is. Read below for more fro the ‘Furnishing Small Rooms’ series by homebase.ca.
It’s all about scale according to Ley Edwards-Kays, head designer with Jordans Interiors. “There’s no reason why you can’t have an overstuffed look as long as the scale works with the overall design,” she says. “For example, we carry some sofas that are thirty four inches deep as opposed to thirty eight inches, and many of the traditional styles are now coming as a mini sofa as well.” A mini sofa, she explains is sixty six inches long, shorter than a full-sized sofa yet longer than a five four inch love seat. Sebastien Fauteaux, co-owner of the Urban Barn agrees. “Apartment sized sofas are a growing market. Leather always used to be oversized, but now you can even find it in smaller scale sofas.” Fauteaux adds that another sofa trend is to smaller arms or, in some cases, no arms at all. “If the arms are eight inches wide, you could save sixteen inches in the overall size,” he points out.
Although it’s strictly a visual trick, Edwards-Kaye says there’s also a resurgence of sofas with legs as opposed to skirts. “it gives a much airier feeling to a room,” she explains. Once relegated to the guest room, hide-a-beds are now big news in furnishing compact living spaces. “These days you can’t tell it’s a hide-a-bed,” Fauteaux says. More importantly, with advances in mattresses and the actual mechanism, these double-duty sofas are easy to open, easy to close, and comfortable in both transformations. “Even older folks won’t have a problem using them, “ he says. “If you’re going to spend a certain amount on a sofa anyway, spending the extra couple of hundred dollars for a quality hide-a-bed makes a lot of sense when you have limited space to work with.”
For many, the temptation to take it all is overwhelming. “People often think in terms of taking everything when they downsize,” says Leslie Forbes, a nineteen year veteran of interior design with United Properties who is now branching out as a freelance consultant. “My job is to help them edit, help them re-think the way they use the pieces they have. You need to look at what you absolutely love and then ask how those treasures can be used somewhere else. Maybe you can’t use the sofa and the love seat, but you could use the love seat and combine it with a couple of arm chairs.” Like Forbes, Edwards-Kaye believes it’s important to incorporate favourite pieces into your new home. “Always do a floor plan,” she says. “It’s not always the case that you need smaller furnishings, but you need to know ahead of time exactly how, or if, everything will fit.”
A hot item in many of todays’ compact living rooms is the coffee table trunk. “Everyone seems to be looking for one,” Fauteaux says. “They’re great for storing kid’s toys or newspapers, even extra bedding.” The kitchen counter stool, a feature of the popular great room concept popular I many new homes of all sizes, is particularly effective for condominiums. “People are using counter space or a kitchen island as a table so they have more room in their living room,” Feateux explains. Back in vogue according to Edwards-Kaye are tub chairs – because they tend to work well with love seats and mini sofas – and flip-top or gate-leg tables. And Don’t forget nesting tables, perennial favourites that are practical yet elegant.
What for our next small spaces feature on maximizing storage options by Homebase.ca.
Compact Living Rooms in Condo Homes
Just because you aren’t living in a five thousand four hundred square foot mega-home does not mean you have to give up your cherished comfort – far from it! In today’s market, designers and decorators are only too willing to make your time at home as relaxing and comfortable as possible no matter what size your floor plan is. Read below for more fro the ‘Furnishing Small Rooms’ series by homebase.ca.
Sofas to Snuggle In
It’s all about scale according to Ley Edwards-Kays, head designer with Jordans Interiors. “There’s no reason why you can’t have an overstuffed look as long as the scale works with the overall design,” she says. “For example, we carry some sofas that are thirty four inches deep as opposed to thirty eight inches, and many of the traditional styles are now coming as a mini sofa as well.” A mini sofa, she explains is sixty six inches long, shorter than a full-sized sofa yet longer than a five four inch love seat. Sebastien Fauteaux, co-owner of the Urban Barn agrees. “Apartment sized sofas are a growing market. Leather always used to be oversized, but now you can even find it in smaller scale sofas.” Fauteaux adds that another sofa trend is to smaller arms or, in some cases, no arms at all. “If the arms are eight inches wide, you could save sixteen inches in the overall size,” he points out.
Although it’s strictly a visual trick, Edwards-Kaye says there’s also a resurgence of sofas with legs as opposed to skirts. “it gives a much airier feeling to a room,” she explains. Once relegated to the guest room, hide-a-beds are now big news in furnishing compact living spaces. “These days you can’t tell it’s a hide-a-bed,” Fauteaux says. More importantly, with advances in mattresses and the actual mechanism, these double-duty sofas are easy to open, easy to close, and comfortable in both transformations. “Even older folks won’t have a problem using them, “ he says. “If you’re going to spend a certain amount on a sofa anyway, spending the extra couple of hundred dollars for a quality hide-a-bed makes a lot of sense when you have limited space to work with.”
Taking It With You –Sometimes
For many, the temptation to take it all is overwhelming. “People often think in terms of taking everything when they downsize,” says Leslie Forbes, a nineteen year veteran of interior design with United Properties who is now branching out as a freelance consultant. “My job is to help them edit, help them re-think the way they use the pieces they have. You need to look at what you absolutely love and then ask how those treasures can be used somewhere else. Maybe you can’t use the sofa and the love seat, but you could use the love seat and combine it with a couple of arm chairs.” Like Forbes, Edwards-Kaye believes it’s important to incorporate favourite pieces into your new home. “Always do a floor plan,” she says. “It’s not always the case that you need smaller furnishings, but you need to know ahead of time exactly how, or if, everything will fit.”
Trends and Traditions in Urban Living
A hot item in many of todays’ compact living rooms is the coffee table trunk. “Everyone seems to be looking for one,” Fauteaux says. “They’re great for storing kid’s toys or newspapers, even extra bedding.” The kitchen counter stool, a feature of the popular great room concept popular I many new homes of all sizes, is particularly effective for condominiums. “People are using counter space or a kitchen island as a table so they have more room in their living room,” Feateux explains. Back in vogue according to Edwards-Kaye are tub chairs – because they tend to work well with love seats and mini sofas – and flip-top or gate-leg tables. And Don’t forget nesting tables, perennial favourites that are practical yet elegant.
What for our next small spaces feature on maximizing storage options by Homebase.ca.
Labels: Condominium, Furnishing, Small Rooms, Urban Spaces
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