Speaking from experience, I know there’s an instinct to maximize every square inch available when you live in a home with a tight footprint. If you’re not utilizing one spot or another to its full potential, you feel like you’re losing out on a much-needed place to store, display, or organize belongings. Here’s the truth, though: the most gorgeous small spaces aren’t designed simply around storage — and they look, feel, and function a whole lot better for it.
I’m not denying that storage ideas are important in small homes (in fact, I think they’re essential), but what I do know is that planning around them reduces your space to mere function. When you design an apartment or small home around bookcases, cabinets, and shelving units, you’re neither accounting for aesthetics nor leaving room for real life. “When storage becomes the primary driver of a home’s layout, it stops being about how you live and more about where things fit,” agrees interior designer James Huniford.
