Bengaluru: Just the other day, my friend was complaining about her pigeon hole. She quipped how people living in megacities are space deprived and how her mother enjoys a big house with a porsche back in her village. “There is no denying that, some of us aren’t that fortunate to buy big houses–so we have to best utilise the space available to us,” says Shiva, Interior Designer. And that requires design sensibility. Here are five hacks to use space effectively. Go for it.

Large windows make your space look bigger

Keeping your window-to-wall ratio high can effectively open up your home and make it look bigger. More light into the room can create an illusion of space, and therefore make it look bigger and brighter.
Quirky storage adds dimensions to the room

“A lot of furniture on the ground makes a room look cluttered. So, to avoid clutter, the house should have storage spaces on the wall. Hanging storages, baskets and pulleys suspended in rooms to free up more spaces–is the ideal way to do up small houses. Using the little space underneath the stairs, floor to ceiling storages ideas are effective way to use spaces,” says R. Sasikanth from Sasikanth Interiors.

Mirrors help in create visual space

According to Rajan Interiors, mirrors have been used time and again for tiny homes. Placing a mirror in a strategic position gives an illusion of space, lights up a dark room. “Mirrors can work magically. For a dark room, we placed a mirror right opposite the window, and instantly it worked. The reflection of light fills up the room now,” says Shanthi Manoj, a resident in Mahaveer Rhyolite.

Use Dividers to Separate Rooms

Fancy dividers are a good way to separate different areas of the house, instead of walls.Curtains can also be used as a divider. In studio apartments , rugs can be used to separate one room into smaller spaces, which is especially useful for studio apartments.

Add lofts, they are big storages

A loft in a bedroom is a popular strategy to maximize limited spaces. These vertical spaces can be installed virtually everywhere in your home — from your kitchen, to living room and even bathroom.