Interior design sits between the artistic and the practical, using objective metrics. To get the most out of a room, plan with both. Find and use objective metrics for the percentage of a room used, but inform them with an understanding of why that ratio evokes certain feelings.
Common Small-Room Challenges
Optimization is arguably the biggest challenge when working with smaller rooms. You’ll need to make careful use of the space in order to get the most out of it. Some people assume it’s best to jam everything they can into the room. Others try to keep things centered in the middle of the room or pushed to the walls. People either try to increase the amount of furniture or the total empty space. However, the largest issue with these strategies is that they feel artificial. You’re not designing a room around how people actually use free space. It’s better to work through some room layout tips that emphasize a more natural feel. This means using a ratio of free space to used space.
Furniture Spacing
Negative space in interior design refers to the areas that are intentionally left unoccupied in order to lend a specific feel. Negative space can be a happy accident within larger rooms. In a small room, negative space needs to be planned for using spacing and furniture layouts. It’s tempting to just fit a sofa, bed, or other large piece of furniture as snugly into a space as possible. However, the lack of negative space creates a cramped feeling that should be avoided.
Traffic Flow
A good way to balance negative space is by thinking about the flow of traffic. How can someone work with furniture in any given location? A couch should ideally sit within a ratio of two-thirds of the wall. That ratio might seem like wasted space at first. The lack of space becomes overt when someone wants to do something and can’t. Likewise, people should be able to walk around and fully interact with any other piece of furniture for similar reasons.
Visual Balance
You should also try to keep any area of a small room from being dominated by a single piece of furniture. An interior space ratio should always be maintained in order to ensure variety. Besides that, you should try to vary color along with the negative space. Use color balance to ensure an aesthetic flow in the room. This keeps a room feeling filled but not full.
Example Layouts
You’ll want to have a room furniture balance ratio that allows for walkways, access to doors, and doesn’t make conversation difficult. People generally feel comfortable with a clearance of about three feet or and more for distance when speaking to each other. This can typically serves as a firm rule to design around. It’s essential to consider the room length and width while positioning furniture within a space.
A 60/40 ratio which is a good rule of thumb to aim for. There should be a slight majority of negative space compared to filled space. However, this can be difficult to calculate on the fly. The Interior Space Ratio Calculator in particular is an easy way to work with objective design metrics. You can simply enter the amount of space you have and the collective space of your furniture to see where it fits in this ratio. You’ll ideally put in the sizes for everything you’re considering and then add or remove as desired while you work toward the ideal ratio.