4 Furniture Ideas to Measure Up for a Small Home

Before ordering a clever table or storage bed, get the tape measure out. The piece has to fit when you're using it, not just when its doors and drawers are shut. These four furniture ideas can help in a small home, provided there's still room to walk past the sofa, sit at the table and reach whatever you've stored.

A Table That Changes With the Task

What would you use the extra surface for? A family meal needs seating space; working from the sofa may call for a different height. Tables that extend, lift or fold don't all offer the same functions. Hidden storage is another feature to check, not assume.

Put the open dimensions on your room plan. Leave space for chairs and for people to pass. Choose around the meal or task you do often, rather than buying the most complicated mechanism.

A Sectional That Fits the Room

Draw the sofa's full shape on a plan of the room, including the chaise. Then add doors, windows and outlets, as IKEA's sofa-planning guidance suggests. You can use that approach without choosing an IKEA sofa.

Is there still a way past the seats? Can the sections come through the delivery route? Check the model's layout as well. Some sectionals let you rearrange modules, while others have a fixed shape. Don't count on swapping the chaise to the other end unless the maker says you can.

Storage You Can Reach Under the Bed

Bedding under the mattress saves a cabinet elsewhere, provided you can reach it. With drawers, measure the clearance on the side where they open. Include the bedside furniture in that measurement. You shouldn't have to move a table every time you want a sheet.

If the base lifts instead, look at its particular instructions and mechanism. Don't treat it like a drawer bed with a different lid. Pick the arrangement that makes your regular storage easy to use.

Shelves With the Right Fixings

Wall shelves can free some floor space and give small objects a home. Their useful load depends on the shelf, the fixings and the wall. A row of books is a different load from a few lightweight ornaments.

For example, the LACK shelf instructions specify different fixings and limits for different wall materials. Read the instructions for your chosen shelf and wall instead of copying a room photo. Position it where you can reach it without obstructing the furniture below.