Smart furniture for small spaces

In her wonderfully useful decorating handbook, 500 Ideas for Small Spaces, Canadian interior designer Kimberly Seldon says that utilizing multifunctional, smart furniture increases the functionality of small rooms.Watching my newly married daughter and son-in-law furnish their first place, I was reminded of the necessity of finding multipurpose furniture, given the range of functions, limited space and budgetary constraints with which all apart-renters and condo-dwellers must contend.

• The 'other' guest room. Your place may not have room for a guest room, but with the right furniture you don't have to avoid overnight guests. A sleeper sofa provides the comfort and formality of a sofa during the day and a hideaway double bed in the evening. If you have a one bedroom, this may enable you to accommodate occasional guests in the living room. A futon, although not as formal-looking as a sleeper sofa with upholstered arms and legs, is considerably lighter, easier to make up into a bed and less expensive. The mattress can often be much more comfortable as well.
• A Murphy bed - or wall bed - is another smart furniture solution for the dilemma of what to do with a room that also needs to double as a spare bedroom. It's a great solution for a bachelor apartment, home office, second bedroom or even a living room. A custom murphy bed offers the opportunity to have a real bed with a real mattress that can be folded away against the wall when not in use.

Smart furniture solutions for the living room:

• A pedestal table can double as a desk as well as a dining table.
• A small filing cabinet on wheels can store personal and work files and be whisked out of the way or even hidden under a tablecloth or skirt when entertaining – cut a piece of plywood in a circle that’s a little larger than the width of the file cabinet and cover with a beautiful fabric that’s draped to the floor.
• Many modern cocktail/coffee tables or storage ottomans are designed with storage for remotes, books, magazines and all kinds of other paraphernalia that simply must be in the room.
• A small chest of drawers or a trunk provides excellent storage and can also work well as a coffee table or end table.
• Purchase the most attractive media storage units and wall units you can afford and arrange your books, CDs and DVDs, glasses, serving pieces and decorative objects as if you were styling for a magazine photo.
• Purchase some tubing at a hardware store and neatly conceal wires wherever possible.

Kitchens can be limiting, some are small, others have more room for smart furniture:

• Even if you have a small kitchen, you might be able to create an eating area with a wall mounted shelf and a pair of bar stools.
• A hanging pot rack will free up cupboard space and make pots and pans more accessible.

Smart furniture for the foyer:

• A storage bench with a lower boot tray placed near your front entrance will create invaluable space for hats, gloves and scarves and make getting ready in the morning much easier for everyone.
• If you don’t have a coat closet, consider installing some wall-mounted hooks across from the bench.

Many influences such as popular culture, the omnipresence of the media in our lives and our homes, modern architecture and materials inspire and shape the objects that we live with. Whatever size home you have, make it a place you’ll enjoy sleeping, working, eating, reading and relaxing in by putting considerable thought into minimizing clutter and maximizing your smart furniture.