The holidays are some of the busiest, most joyful times of the year. They’re a time for friends and family, for celebration and thanks, but they’re also a time for stress and chaos. As we all know, the holidays come with unique ups and downs and if you live in a small home, these can be even more troublesome—especially if you’re an avid decorator. Luckily, during this holiday season, you don’t have to succumb to the trials that small spaces bring. There are plenty of ways to make a small home look bigger this holiday season without breaking the bank or creating more stress than you already face.
Take Advantage of Light
The amount of light that your home gets has the potential to transform a room. Dark spaces create the feeling of a cramped, small home. Light opens it up and makes you feel like you’re in a much larger room. If you currently have dark colors on your walls, consider changing the paint. We don’t recommend painting your walls every holiday but doing so now will allow you to reap the benefits for years to come. The best colors that help a small home look bigger are cream, white, and tan. If you already have a lighter colored room and want to make even more of a difference, take advantage of light sources. Natural light is the best way to open up a room, but you can create your own light with table lamps, subtle floor lamps, and by using candles on your tables. The candles are a great way to both open up the space and give your home a welcoming ambiance.
Create a Vertical Focal Point
One of the best ways to make a small home look bigger this holiday season is to bring the focal point towards the ceiling. Tall ceilings help to make a space feel larger and less cramped, but even if your ceiling is low, you can create the illusion of length with a few tricks. Try installing some shelves above your windows and doors. We recommend that you use these year-round, but during more festive seasons you can add a few pieces of holiday decorations to help you get more out of your space. If you have a flare for the extravagant, you can even decorate your ceiling using wallpaper to create an accent that will appeal to your taste. In whatever way you can, make your room look taller.
If you have stairs, use your railings as a way to bring the focal point up and decorate for the holidays. Interlace garland that’s fitted with flowers from the bottom to the top of your railing to add a subtle decorative touch that helps to open up your space. If you have a balcony, you can also add garland to the railings. It’s a great way to decorate without taking up any space.
Be Strategic with Decorations
Decorating your home for the holidays can be difficult. If you love holiday décor, but are living in a small space, you can easily make your home feel cramped and cluttered instead of warm and inviting. The key is using a few strategic decorating tips that will help open up your space.
If you have wall art up year-round, replace it with a holiday painting. By swapping them out, you’ll avoid overloading the senses and you’ll keep the focal point celebratory. To get the most out of your small space, opt for one large painting instead of a ton of tiny ones. Hanging a large painting on a wall or leaning it against one on a table or shelve helps to make the wall look larger and more inviting. Place the painting eye level so that the space above helps to complement the vertical focal point we discussed above. You can also swap out some of your regular photographs in frames or small knickknacks to help you enhance the holiday cheer without crowding your counter space.
For those celebrating the holidays with a tree, avoid getting the biggest, most intimidating tree you can find. Miniature trees are just as beautiful and can help you keep your living space open and available for use. Adorn it with your favorite decorations and a tree topper and call it a day.
Some other great tips for strategic holiday decorations include:
- Hanging ornaments from bookshelves or cabinetry
- Dressing up a side table book using a felt cover and some accents
- Utilize holiday dishes and swap them out for your regular ones
- Add decorative touches to the backs of chairs
- Decorate your doorways
- Create a unique tabletop tree
- Find your favorite holiday throw pillows or blankets to double as a functional decorative touch
- Use window space to your advantage by adding accents or window hangings
- Make a magnetic advent calendar for the wall to avoid wasting space
- Decorate with small wreaths throughout your home
Incorporate Stripes
Stripes are one pattern that helps trick your eyes into thinking your home has more space. The concept is similar to how wearing vertical stripes can help make you look taller and horizontal stripes unfortunately make you look wider. When you add long, vertical stripes to your home, whether as a permanent fixture or a holiday decoration, it can help to open up the room and create a more inviting feeling. Vertical stripes help add to your vertical focal point and can be added in any colors. To stick to the holiday theme, try adding a few alternating vertical stripes that fall into your holiday color scheme. There are some great options for removable wall decor, or you can DIY with the strategic use of wrapping paper.
To compliment the vertical stripes, add a few rugs to your home. Rugs play off of the vertical stripes and help to make your room feel both bigger and cozier. You can opt for traditional rugs that will be used year-round or find a holiday accent rug that will help you decorate your home without taking up valuable room. If you decide to use holiday rugs, just make sure that you have a place for your everyday rug so it’s kept out of the way.
Utilize Holiday Mirrors
Mirrors have a unique ability to make your home feel larger. Mirrors reflect light which results in an open feeling in the same way that opening your windows do. It creates the illusion of larger spaces, even though the size of the room won’t change. If you already have mirrors around your house, great! Repurpose the mirror by hanging a small decoration or wreath along the top of it to give you the same space enhancing feeling with a touch of holiday spirit.
If you don’t have any mirrors in your home, now is a good time to find a few that you love. Mirrors are the perfect way to make your home feel larger without wasting any floor space. They can be hung on a small wall or leaned against a large one to help you create the illusion of space.
Declutter Your Home
Finally, the best way for you to make a small home look bigger this holiday season is to declutter. If you’re going to decorate, adding to whatever pictures, art, and knickknacks you already have will create a cluttered, cramped feeling. While we don’t recommend throwing out your year-round décor, you should put it away for the holiday season to avoid overloading your home with accessories. There are plenty of ways to enjoy a small home or apartment without feeling like you’re stepping on top of things. If you don’t already have a storage unit, now is the time to get one. A storage unit can help you swap out your year-round décor for holiday décor without causing storage problems or creating a disastrous mess. Self storage units can help smaller homes even after the holidays are over and once you see their benefits it’ll be hard to go back to an overcrowded broom closet.
If you’re looking for the perfect temperature controlled self storage unit to help enhance your holidays, contact us today. We offer a variety of self storage units in varying sizes for whatever your needs may be. With our flexible leasing options, you can test out a unit with short-term rentals and extend into long-term rentals as needed. All of our units are temperature controlled and offer stable levels of humidity to ensure that all of your things stay in great condition. Our facilities are protected with top-of-the-line security features like perimeter alarms, gated access codes, and 24/7 CCTV. To learn more about our storage units, give us a call today at 1-866-327-LOCK or stop by one of our locations for a tour of the facility.
