About House & Home: Easy Designs for Small Spaces

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House & Home From Diane Schmidt, your About House & Home Editor A friend recently complained about the lack of design information for people who live in small spaces. She has a point. Most design manuals concentrate on the minority of the world's population who exist in large spaces while forgoing the vast majority who live in condensed urban areas where a home can be less than 500 square feet. So this week's newsletter is dedicated to my friend Dani, and others like her, who want to enhance and celebrate their unique small spaces. Garden Design for Small Spaces Dani's garden consists of her fire escape, her kitchen windowsill and a few cracked clay pots. Despite the limited space and supplies, she's determined to grow her own salad fixings. As this article states so nicely: "Gardening in a small space has its limits, but it need not be limiting." How to Organize a Small Living Space The other problem Dani suffers from is how to organize the space in such a way that she can manage all her roles in one place, without succumbing to the fear of many studio-dwellers: that the bed is no longer a place of rest and retreat but the space for eating, working and answering email. Tips for Smarter Small Space Living Part of the trick of small space living is knowing what not to do, what colors work best to create the sense of space and how to arrange your stuff in order to maximize your home's, or a small room's, potential. Small Kitchen Ideas My first apartment had what I liked to call a kitchen-for-one. That's because only one person could fit in it at a time. While I never had the problem of too many cooks spoiling the broth, looking back it could've been a very effective room if I'd had this easy-to-follow guide to designing small kitchens. House & Home Ads Interior Designs Interior Decor Home Decorating Home Interior Interior Decorator Featured Articles How to Paint a Room How to Store Spices and Herbs Tips for Planting Flower Beds Make Your Own Stepping Stones Painless Ways to Cut Your Spending Is Your Bird Sick?   More from About.com Disney Trip Planner Everything you need to plan the perfect Disney vacation -- from when to go and what to do, to saving money and picking a hotel. More > Join About.com's User Panel! Share your opinions and help us make About.com more relevant, informative and enjoyable to use. More>   Sign up for more free newsletters on your favorite topics You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the About House & Home newsletter. If you wish to change your email address or unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2010 About.com   Advertisement