How to Decorate Your Small Space

Whether you’re pimping out a camper or downsizing into a tiny home (maybe even with wheels!), efficient design matters. The main considerations when decorating a small space are simple: look for multi-purpose furniture; buy the best quality gear you can afford (it’ll last much longer); and banish clutter. Once you’ve nailed those basics, follow these seven tips to live large in your small home.

Flow is essential: Eliminate obstacles so that air, light, and people can easily move throughout the space. Think about where you want to cook, eat, and sleep, and then create a smooth sequence that fits your habits. Avoid corridors that waste space and block flow. Define your open spaces with carpets and furniture, not walls.

Paint!

Choose warm colors in light hues so walls look like they recede. Dark colors can make a space seem even smaller than it is. Paint your ceiling the same color as the walls to create a continuous expanse. If anything, go one shade lighter on the celling, which can appear darker than the walls.

Build a Good Foundation

Dark color and weighty furniture should ground your interior. Art, accessories, and details lighten up the space as they approach the ceiling.

Create Balance, Not Symmetry

Imbalance is especially evident is small areas. Creating balance doesn’t mean you have to avoid asymmetry: it just requires an overall equity of scale and color. Avoid stark contrast and large, overbearing décor.

Let in the Light

Maximize both daylight and artificial light, as brighter spaces feel larger. If you’re using drapes, go with sheer fabrics to filter light or install top-down bottom-up shades that maintain privacy while still letting light in. Try translucent room dividers, open shelving, or walls with windows at the top to break up the space. Finally, look for reflective surfaces such as mirrors, glass, and metals to amplify light.

Be Efficient

Use multi-purpose furniture that’s sized for comfort. Tiny pieces that aren’t comfortable are a waste of space. Try nesting tables, dining table and desk combos, and sofas that double as a guest bed. Use furniture that’s light on its feet with exposed legs that let light pass through the room.

Customize It

You’re sacrificing square footage, not personality. Go ahead and mix it up with a blend of styles that make you happy. Create a focal point at the heart of your home, or the space that you use the most. Unify a mix of styles with a single color that repeats throughout the space.

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While you might not notice it immediately, this family’s was designed to mimic a series of tents.

Perched on a hill with stunning views of New Zealand’s Buckleton Bay, the retreat’s separate sleeping areas are connected to a central space–the heart of the base camp. Here, groups can gather to cook, eat, and lounge under a soaring white roof. Tethered by red masts, this horizontal plane rises toward the sea, while the deep overhang provides shade, much like a tent’s awning.

Low-maintenance materials (concrete, wood, and glass) make the transition from inside to out. The concrete terrace wraps around the full perimeter of the house, and encircles a brick fireplace.

In the summer, residents can slide open the glass walls to let in the sea breeze and take in views of the bay.

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We’re a country obsessed with privacy—. But that doesn’t mean you have to shut yourself in a bunker whenever you go on vacation.

On Seal Rocks Beach in New South Wales, to create a private, inner courtyard. It won’t shield you from NSA drones, but it will afford you relief from neighbor’s prying eyes.

The home’s open entrance is shaded. Leave your surfboard and wetsuit here before settling into one of the many hammocks. There’s a living area, shower, and bathroom tucked under the eave, while a big bunkroom, two bedrooms, and the entryway make up one long side of the rectangle. There’s also a galley kitchen across from the bath. Minimal exterior windows shutter the house completely from the outside.

This cabin is nearly 100 percent self-sufficient, with solar panels, rainwater catchment, and a composting worm farm to treat sewage. Basic materials and construction techniques were used to reduce cost, prevent corrosion, and take advantage of local resources.  

A sanctuary like this isn’t inexpensive: the New South Wales cottage cost $300,000 to build. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether your privacy is worth it.  

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A cabin should take you away from the stress of the digital, hyper-connected life. But that doesn’t mean you have to rough it.   

For me, a backcountry cabins should offer simple, modern luxury. Take this , which takes advantage of its surroundings while still offering all the comforts you’d expect in the city.    

Located near orchards and fields of grain, the cabin mirrors the color of the site—yellow. In spring, canary flowers cover the nearby meadows, while in autumn, golden ash leaves linger on the trees.

The house itself—more like a covered pass than a true cabin—is nothing but an enormous room with sliding glass walls facing east and west. It’s wrapped in yellow wood planks, and connects seamlessly to timber decks outside. 

There’s a tiny built-in kitchen on one side of the room with a contemporary fireplace on the opposite wall. Bedrooms flank both ends of the cottage (one of these wood-covered nooks has only a sky window to let in light). Tucked into the hillside, there’s also a full-length playroom and library for browsing on lazy summer nights.  

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That’s what the owners of this Finnish island getaway did. to build this project, which is designed around the outdoor rec opportunities in the area: fishing, swimming, hiking, and, uh, relaxing in a sauna.

Wood was used for both the interior and the exterior of the house—a smart choice, because it’s easy to work with and, when left untreated, weathers to a silvery grey. Corrugated sheet metal covers the single slope roof, another low-maintenance feature. The main house has two bedrooms that flank a glass entrance, a loft, an open space for living, dining, and eating—and a deck that’s larger than all of those rooms combined.  

That deck stretches as close as it can to the sea. Angled walls along the sides protect you from winds and offer cubbies to store firewood, gear, and furniture. My favorite detail? The sunken central fire pit, which is covered with a wood hatch when not in use. 

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Massive windows, sheltered decks, and rooftop seating are all features you might expect in a house that celebrates nature. But sliding glass walls and slatted wood screens aren’t exactly standard.

That said, this is no ordinary cabin. The , which overlooks an estuary in Brittany, has two levels with bedrooms and baths cantilevered over an open living space below. On the ground floor, three poured-concrete walls carve into the wooded slope. And there are windows everywhere, including narrow clerestory ones set in the back wall. But it’s the walls of sliding glass up front that blur the lines between inside and outside.

Architects used low-maintenance materials when designing this house. Stone slabs in the interior lead outside where they meet concrete pavers, while wood planks cover the ceiling and the simple kitchen island. On the top level, two light shafts flood the kitchen and living area with natural light. The central stair is surrounded by horizontal wood slats supported by vertical black limbs—an artistic and practical setup.

Then there’s the private upper level, clad in untreated chestnut planks. Cork bark cushions the floors of the bedrooms and baths, and the sleeping spaces make you feel like you’re in a private tree house. Catch a glimpse of the estuary through the screen of vertical wooden slats that rest on black steel pipe.

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“Minimalism” is one of the outdoor-gear industry’s most pervasive buzzwords, and it’s invaded more than just running. People are adopting the idea of eschewing clutter in their homes, too. 

The Volga Dacha, located outside of Moscow in the country, is one of the best examples we’ve seen of an efficient four-person home. Even the getaway’s shape avoids frills: a simple gabled rectangle with blackened-wood cladding. When the family’s away, shutters cover the windows and doors.

Architects from the firm  used a grid based on building-material sizes to plan the house, which measures just under 1,000 square feet. A small wood stove and radiant concrete floors heat this well-insulated home during Russia’s brutal winters. In the summer, the floors stay naturally cool and are easy to clean.

The cabin has two sleeping spaces, living and dining rooms, a kitchen, a bath, and generous terraces. A shed—essentially a smaller version of the main house—forms the courtyard. Even the lawn, surrounded by wild grasses, is maintenance-free, thanks to the geotextiles that were placed on a sand bed and then covered with gravel. 

The main floor’s living, dining, and kitchen areas are open to one another and to countryside breezes. The only deviation from the cabin’s standard grid? The minimal outdoor shower adjacent to the house. 

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How do you build an energy-efficient home on an island that’s 20 miles from civilization—and electricity? Let’s just say you’ll need some creativity, and a lot of time.

The owner pondered how to build this private home, located on a remote island off the coast of Maine, for 30 years. The first challenge? Establishing the boundaries of the three-quarter acre lot, which the locals call the “floating island.” Next, the team had to determine the perfect spot to lay the home’s foundation.

Take note: if you’re building in a remote area, you better follow energy-efficient best practices. This cabin’s design is deliberately compact and efficient. The island has no electricity, so only battery-operated power tools were an option during construction. Now, four solar panels power the lights and refrigerator, while the stove and water heater run on propane. The owners even collect rainwater for drinking and washing dishes.   

Most of the materials for the home were gathered on the mainland, shipped to the building site on an amphibious truck, and then moved to the job site on a converted lawn mower. (Remember how we mentioned the need to be creative?) 

When the cottage isn’t in use, the windows are covered with sliding metal panels to protect them against the often-ferocious weather. Smart storage units are concealed under the sofas, beds, and dining benches, while a sleeping loft is tucked under the single slope roof.

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When you only have 150 square feet to work with, you better understand efficient design. 

So before breaking ground on your next dream home, take a few cues from the architects who created this Finnish cottage. In Finland, officials include spaces for urban parks in their city plans. The result? A family can build a cottage within city limits, close enough to their main home to pick up forgotten necessities.

Just about a mile from the family house, this 150-square-foot cottage (which sleeps a family of four!), at least feels like it’s left the city behind. Located down a secluded path, the rectangular retreat is sheltered in the woods with a sea view. 

The architect stole design elements from ships to make this home as efficient as possible. The kitchen does double duty as a home- and work-station, and it’s naturally lit with a wall full of windows. One step up, the living area has U-shaped sofas that rest over concealed storage units and sleep three. An open loft, accessed by a rope ladder, serves as another tiny bedroom. Finally, there are hidden storage compartments over the windows and the large glass door.

The cottage, designed for year-round use, is small enough to be powered solely by solar panels. A central cast-iron, wood burning stove heats the home. Plus, building costs were relatively low (about $42,000 including all interior furnishings) thanks to the cabin’s small size and smart design.

In fact, , disassembled and without windows or furniture. It’s an almost perfect example of an environmentally-friendly getaway that won’t break the bank.

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The Janda Baik forest in Malaysia is a great place to be active, with its backpacking trails and mild climate. But it’s an even better place to be inactive, especially if you can hole up inside this tree house.

Architects faced plenty of challenges when they designed the Deck House, a spacious 4,000-square-foot getaway that sits above the sloped site. But by distributing the three bedrooms and the three baths over two levels and anchoring the house on concrete foundations, they made the steel and glass structure appear light and (relatively) unobtrusive.

A bridge crosses over to the upper floor where there’s a large entrance and a master sleeping suite with its own tree-top balcony. Open the room completely to the forest by pushing the glass doors aside.

The top of the staircase gives way to high ceilings with filtered light coming through two levels of glass. There are operable windows on all sides, while aluminum louvers under the roof overhang let hot air escape. A wood floor extends to the infinity deck, which is nearly as large as the home’s interior and open on three sides. 

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