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Top Tips for Flexible Living

  • 6 years ago

Lots of modern homes are now mixed-use! People work from home, friends and relatives come from overseas to stay for days or maybe weeks at a time, and older children often come home after graduating. All this within the confines of the average UK home makes it necessary for every centimetre to pull its weight (as it were). So, here’s some great tips for making the most of your space.

Have a definite system

If you work from home at least some of the time, you shouldn’t let it take over the dining room table – that’s taking multi-tasking too far.

For this reason, having a system for organising and storing your paperwork, bills, keys and phones will make sure that surfaces don’t become cluttered. Look to handy wall-hanging systems, bowls or baskets with lids.

What you need is a strong system for storing and organising paperwork, bills, files, keys and phones so that your surfaces don’t look like a jumble sale! Wall-hanging systems, baskets and large bowls (or even trugs) can work magic here. Just make sure that each person has their own space, their own drawer or basket and that it’s colour-coded.

Storage is king

This is so no matter how big or small your home is. Storage helps you to make the most of all your space and well-designed and planned storage systems are multi-taskers in their own right – they have a horizontal surface as well as drawers or pockets. The great thing is that good storage doesn’t have to look like storage!

You can always find more storage space if you look up – over kitchen cabinets, above and below the bathroom sink, recessed into walls and built into some or all of your furniture.

Room transformers

The best way for a home office/guest bedroom combination to work is with a sofa bed or maybe a wall- or fold-down bed.

If you have a spare room that doubles as an office and occasional bedroom, then you have to box clever. A fold-down futon that makes way for a fold-out desk which makes way for a chill-out kit of bean bags, throws and soft lighting is just the ticket.

Make your furniture do double-time

When it comes to furnishing, picking the right pieces can make all the difference to how well your home performs for the range of tasks required.

By choosing the right items of furniture you’ll be able to do, store and relax much more. A coffee table that can also store remote controls, charge phones and hold the odd cup is great. Shy away from bulky items, because they take up too much space and don’t leave room for these multi-talented tables, chairs and stools.

Striking a balance

You need to strike a balance between work, family and leisure life, but it needn’t be that difficult – lots of furniture designers know exactly what you need, so you just need to go out and find their work.

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