How To Make Your 1 Room Seem Like 2 - On A Budget.
There are many cities in which renters or even owners have very limited space to their name. due to this, maybe they want to learn how to make one room in their home or apartment seem like two (but in an affordable way!), or just make their unit feel larger. Or a lower income family (or even moderate one in an expensive city) may want to make one room two so they can share the rent and other expenses. We have a list of tips and suggestions below for how to do this in an affordable way, on a budget.
Some cities have an abundance of very small homes or apartments, including San Francisco, New York, Boston, Miami, and many others. Most “regular” Americans (and especially low to moderate income ones) can’t afford to live in a bigger unit in those congested cities, so they need to make do with smaller homes, and maybe they need or want to make that one room into two.
So in other words, are you living in an efficiency or small apartment, with one or two rooms to accommodate everything? If so, you're sure to have your space cleverly organized for multi-purpose use. But, of course, it's preferable to have separate rooms for different uses, and the good news is you can, provided you have a little space for maneuver. Simply turn your main room into two mini-rooms. Here's how:
Make a partition
Divide your room in two, perhaps with a purpose-made screen. They can be bought for as little as $50, but of course higher quality ones may run a few hundred. Or, if your budget is even lower, use furniture or boxes. You might be able to purchase a screen at low cost from an online site or a thrift store to save money. Some landlords may even allow more than one person to live in the section so they can share rent costs, utility bills, food, and other expenses.
Another possibility is to suspend a cord from one wall to the other, above head height for safety, using hooks or screws if permissible, and hang drapes from it as a dividing wall. Decide what you want to use each area for and give them names to suit, like "Kitchen/Diner" and "Chill Out Room".
Choose different color schemes
After dividing the room (s), if you're free to paint your walls and your budget will stretch to two small pots of paint, you can have fun painting your two mini-rooms in different colors. Otherwise, you can establish different color schemes by crayoning over sheets of scrap paper in your two chosen colors and sticking them to the walls, or draping your furniture with throws in those colors. Again, you may find some affordable throws at your local thrift store. Colored towels or bedsheets could also be used.
Arrange different lighting
This can help a smaller space seem bigger, and is affordable to do on a budget. You'll probably have a central light for your main room, but it might be worth stretching to one or two low-energy lamps (maybe $10 to $20) to use instead or as well, with different designs and shade colors for each area. This will give each area it's own light, shade and feel, also adding a homely ambiance.
Furnish differently
Arrange your furniture and possessions to suit your two sub-rooms. If you can’t afford anything or want to save even more money (or are low income), then try a free furniture bank for items, couches, beds, tables, or whatever. They are free to use for low income families.
If one section of the room is for sleeping and relaxing in, you'll want your bed, cushions and TV that side - not forgetting any teddies or dog beds! If the other half is your eating and studying space, say, you'll want a table, shelf or another work surface in there, together with a chair or footstool, laptop, books and papers. Or heck, some people in NYC even divide their rooms to have 2 people pay rent! If one section contains your cooking facilities, gather all your food and implements in one corner.
Get rid of the clutter
If you have limited space, get rid of the junk. Throw out stuff, or maybe sell it. Not only is it free to do, but countless studies show it makes people happier, healthier, and frees up their mind. Heck, maybe you can even sell some stuff to make some money to pay the rent on your one bedroom place!
Face your furniture away from the dividing line
Arrange a focal point for each of your mini-rooms, away from the divide. It could be a shelf with ornaments on, a picture or mirror on the wall or a table with a plant as a centerpiece. Set your chairs or bed to face away from your divider, towards your focal point.
Install separate entertainment facilities
An entertainment facility in each sub-room will make them even more separate. You won't want two TVs or music systems playing at once, of course, but you could have a radio or personal stereo in one half, say, and a TV or laptop in the other, to turn on or off as you go between the two. Since you are ideally dividing existing electronics into the sections, this should allow you to save money. Then you'll really feel you're moving from room to room.
These arrangements may take time and ingenuity, but you'll be rewarded for the effort when your living space starts feeling more like home. Invite your friends around to celebrate its smart, new look.
|
