by SamInterior Design Ideas for Your Portable House
Demountable, modular, or relocatable home: regardless of what you choose to call it, a house constructed off-site won’t be any less practical and eco-friendly. Most people who choose modular housing options opt for tiny homes–usually 80 square metres or less. This movement embraces living a minimal and clutter-free life, free from unnecessary consumption.
But living minimally is only half the challenge. With very little space in a tiny home, you’re going to have to find creative ways to fit in the bare necessities while making your portable house feel large and spacious. Choosing the right interior decor can be a headache–but we’re here to help.
Opt for Multitasking Furniture
There are plenty of portable homes for sale, but they’re only fun to live in with the right interior. And in a tiny relocatable house, every piece of furniture needs to do twice the amount of work. That means going for ottomans and sofas with compartments, tables that open up to reveal hidden storage space, and bedframes with extra room underneath. By opting for multitasking furniture, you can reduce the number of storage units in your home, giving you more space to move around.
Make Use of Vertical Space
Most furniture is wide. And wide things don’t go well with small spaces, as you’ll run out of room very quickly. Instead, set your sights high by making good use of vertical space. For instance, if a table occupies a corner of your room, find ways to use the walls within the same space by adding shelves or cabinets. That way, you don’t have to sacrifice any more floor space to tuck in all your things!
Additionally, consider building lofts, which are additional “floors” that live between the main floor and the ceiling. It’s a great way to incorporate play or work areas or fit in another bedroom without giving away actual floor space.
No Bulk Allowed
Grandiose looking furniture can be eye candy, but they aren’t practical in a small relocatable home. Opt for pieces with a slimmer, more minimalistic silhouette to prevent spaces from looking too cluttered. While a giant bookshelf might be a cool piece to store your book collection, built-in wall shelves with a thinner frame will be a better use of space.
Try Partitions Instead of Walls
It’s not rare for families to choose to live in a relocatable home, and while it’s great to downsize, figuring out the room arrangements can be a struggle! That’s especially since a 2-bedroom portable home eats up plenty of space. If you insist on separating living spaces, such as the kitchen and the dining room, or the living room and the recreation room, consider using partitions instead of walls.
Walls are thick and immovable unless dismantled, so you lose space and flexibility. Having freedom over these two factors is extremely important in a smaller house, as it’ll allow you to move things around easily. Rather than walls, opt for glass partitions, which seamlessly separates spaces and make them feel larger. Glass partitions have a modern look-and-feel and can be moved whenever you choose to do so.
Colour Coordinate
A portable modular home decorated with mismatched colours can feel disjointed, less put-together, and a lot more cluttered than it really is. It’s important to settle on a colour scheme and try to stick with it to give off a cleaner feel. But it doesn’t mean you should completely skip out on personality–incorporate pops of colour with paintings, sculptures, and other decorations. Be strategic about your decor, though! Otherwise, they can take up plenty of wall and floor space.
Lighting is Your Best Friend
A well-lit room offers more than wonderful photos. Good lighting will visually enlarge your space while giving you enough natural and artificial light to work through the day and night.
One thing you can do is to find relocatable homes for sale with plenty of large windows. And if you’re ordering a new moveable home, you can inform the contractors of this specification in advance so they can cater to the request during the initial build. That will help you save on new window work later on. As for decor, choose ceiling or wall-mounted lighting with a good balance of warm and cool tones. Even the smallest kitchen lights can do wonders in making your space feel twice larger!
Learn to Let Go
Downsizing your life involves more than just getting rid of existing things you realise you don’t need. It’s also about choosing not to include new unnecessary things into your life. When it comes to decorating a tiny portable house, it’s essential to fight off the temptation of purchasing a horde of furniture that won’t add value to your space. Too many paintings and too little space? It may be time to let go of some. A six-seater dining table for a family of two? You may want to replace it with a smaller option.
Decorating a relocatable home is a little challenging, but there are always workarounds to everything! If you’re interested in living the modular lifestyle, get in touch with us to talk about the perfect tiny home for you.
