Tag Archives: 5-day sprint

Day 4: Light It Like a Designer (Three Lamps, Twenty Minutes)

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 4 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint. Catch up: Day 1 · Day 2 · Day 3. Missed the plan? Start here.

Turn on the ceiling light in your small room tonight and look at the corners.

They’re dark.

One overhead light lights the middle of the room and leaves the edges in shadow, and your eye reads the room as ending where the light ends. The room looks smaller than it is.

Three lamps fix this, and you probably own three lamps.

Visual guide to lighting a small living room like a designer: three lamps, three heights, warm 2700K bulbs
Day 4: three lamps, three heights, warm 2700K bulbs.

Today’s task (20 minutes):

  • Count the lamps in the room (and in the house)
  • Place three in a triangle, at three different heights
  • Check the bulbs for the one number that matters
  • Turn the ceiling light off tonight and look again

1. Three lamps, three heights

In almost every room I design, I plan three layers of light: something high, something at eye level, something low.

In a small room, that’s:

High: the ceiling fixture, or a wall sconce if you have one. Leave it.

Eye level: a table lamp on a side table, console or dresser.

Low: a floor lamp in a corner, or a small lamp on a low shelf or the floor behind a chair.

Put them in a triangle across the room, not all on one side. The corners you’re lighting are the ones that were dark.

2. Borrow from the bedroom

If the room has one lamp, the house has more. A bedroom lamp works on a living room console for a week. A desk lamp works on a bookshelf.

You’re testing whether three lamps change the room. They will. Then you decide what, if anything, to buy.

3. The bulb number

Look at the bulb box or the bulb itself for a number followed by K.

2700K is warm white. It’s what I use in living rooms and bedrooms. The room feels like evening.

3000K is a little cooler. Fine for a kitchen or a bathroom.

4000K and up is office light. It makes a small room look like a waiting room. If one of your lamps has it, that’s the lamp that’s been bothering you.

Mixed temperatures in one room read as “something’s off” even when you can’t name it. Make them match, warm.

4. Mirror across from the window

One more move while you have twenty minutes. If there’s a mirror anywhere in the house, lean it on the wall across from the window, or across from one of the lamps. It doubles the light you just added.

5. Tonight: ceiling light off

Turn the three lamps on and the overhead off. Stand in the doorway.

That’s the room. That’s what it was supposed to look like.

If you only do one thing

Put a lamp in the darkest corner and turn it on. One lamp in a dark corner does more for a small room than any piece of furniture.

Show me before and after

Comment with your lamp count, before and after, and the bulb temperature you found, on the Substack post. If you found a 5000K bulb in a living room lamp, you’re not alone.

Know someone whose apartment has one overhead light and nothing else? Send them this one.

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Lighting a small room: FAQ

Why does my small room feel smaller at night? One overhead light lights the middle of the room and leaves the corners dark, and your eye reads the room as ending where the light ends.

How many lamps does a small living room need? Three, at three heights: the ceiling fixture or a sconce up high, a table lamp at eye level, and a floor lamp or small low lamp in a corner. Place them in a triangle across the room.

What bulb color is best for a living room? 2700K, warm white. 3000K is fine for a kitchen or bathroom; 4000K and up reads as office light in a small room. Keep every bulb in one room the same warm temperature.

Do I need to buy new lamps? Not to start. Borrow lamps from other rooms for a week to test the triangle, then decide what, if anything, to buy.

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Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-4-light-it-like-a-designer

Day 3: One Color, Three Repeats

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 3 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint. Day 1: the edit. Day 2: the walkways. Missed the plan? Start here.

Here’s something I do in almost every room I design, and almost nobody does at home.

I pick one color that’s already in the room, and I make sure it shows up three times.

Not everywhere. Three times.

Once in something big. Once in something medium. Once in something small.

That’s it. The room reads as planned, because now it is.

In a small room this matters more, not less. There’s less space to hide a color that only appears once, and a lone color is what makes a room look like a collection of things instead of a room.

Visual guide to pulling a small living room together with one accent color repeated three times
Day 3: one color, three repeats, placed in a triangle.

Today’s task (20 minutes):

  • Find the color that’s already in your rug, art or sofa
  • Find it twice more somewhere in the house
  • Move those two things into the room
  • Take out anything that’s the only one of its color

1. Pick the color that’s already there

Look at the three biggest things in the room: the rug, the sofa or bed, the art. One of them has a color you like. Not the main color. The second one.

The rust in the rug. The green in the painting. The navy in the pillow you keep.

That’s your color.

2. Find it twice more

Go room to room. You’re looking for two more things in that color, in two different sizes:

Medium: a throw, a lampshade, a chair cushion, a stack of books with that spine color, a vase.

Small: a candle, a bowl, a picture frame, a single pillow.

They don’t have to match. A rust throw and a terracotta bowl count. Same family is enough.

3. Place the one color in a triangle

Big thing on one side of the room. Medium on the other. Small somewhere between.

If your eye moves between the three without stopping, it’s working.

4. Take out the orphan

Now find the thing that’s the only one of its color in the room. The lone teal vase. The one red pillow.

Out it goes, into another room. (It might find two friends there.)

If you only do one thing

Move one throw or one pillow in your rug’s second color onto the sofa or the bed. One move, and the rug finally looks like it belongs.

Show me the three

Comment with your color and where it shows up three times. Photos are welcome in the comments on the Substack post if you’re in the app.

If someone you know keeps buying pillows and the room still doesn’t work, send them this. It’s probably a repeat problem, not a pillow problem.

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If you want a whole palette to work from instead of one color, The Big Book of Mood Boards is 100+ designer mood boards across 122 pages, every room and every style, with the palettes, furnishings and finishes shown together.

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If you can’t decide which color in the room deserves the repeats, or the palette never quite settles, that’s what my color consultations are for: we look at your room together and I pick the colors, the paint and where each one shows up. Color consultations are $150 an hour, online or in person.

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One color, three repeats: FAQ

How do I make a room look pulled together without buying anything? Pick one color that’s already in the room and make sure it shows up three times: once in something big, once in something medium, once in something small. The room reads as planned, because now it is.

Which color should I repeat? Look at the three biggest things in the room (the rug, the sofa or bed, the art) and take the second color in one of them, not the main one. The rust in the rug, the green in the painting, the navy in the pillow you keep.

Do the three pieces have to match exactly? No. A rust throw and a terracotta bowl count. Same family is enough.

Where should the three go? In a triangle: the big thing on one side of the room, the medium on the other, the small somewhere between. If your eye moves between the three without stopping, it’s working.

Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-3-one-color-three-repeats

Day 2: Measure the Walkways (Then Move One Piece)

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 2 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint. Yesterday: the 20-minute edit. Missed the plan? Start here.

Yesterday a lot of you took out a chair. Good.

Today, grab a tape measure. This takes fifteen minutes and it will change how you see the room.

Small rooms don’t feel cramped because they’re small.

They feel cramped because you can’t walk through them without turning sideways.

Visual guide to small living room walkway clearance: 30 to 36 inch main path, 14 to 18 inches from sofa to coffee table
Day 2: the walkway clearance numbers I use in every small room.

Today’s task (15 to 30 minutes):

  • Measure every walkway in the room: door to sofa, sofa to coffee table, bed to dresser, anywhere you walk
  • Compare against the numbers below
  • Move one piece to fix the worst one
  • Walk it three times

The walkway clearance numbers I use

Main walkway (the path you take through the room): 30 to 36 inches. Under 30, and the room feels tight every single time you cross it. Thirty is fine in a small space. You don’t need 36.

Sofa to coffee table: 14 to 18 inches. Closer than 14 and you bang your shins. Farther than 18 and you can’t reach your coffee.

Around a bed: 24 inches minimum on the sides you use to get in and out. One side can be against the wall in a studio, and that’s a real designer move, not a compromise.

In front of a dresser or a closet: 36 inches so the drawers and doors open with you standing there.

Dining chairs: 36 inches behind the chair to pull it out and sit down. In a nook, 24 works if nobody has to walk behind it.

Write yours down next to the number. Most small rooms have one walkway that’s at 20 inches. That’s the one.

Move one piece

Now fix the worst walkway with one move. Not a new layout. One move.

The moves that fix it most often:

Pull the sofa off the wall 2 to 3 inches and angle nothing. It sounds backwards, but it usually frees the path on the other side of the room because the coffee table and rug shift with it.

Turn the coffee table 90 degrees or swap it for the side table you took out yesterday if it’s smaller.

Slide the bed to the wall in a studio or small bedroom. You get a real walkway on the other side instead of two bad ones.

Rotate the dining table so the long side runs with the walkway, not across it.

Take the second nightstand out. One good one is enough in a small bedroom.

Walk it

Walk the path three times at normal speed. If you don’t turn your shoulders, you’re done.

If you still do, the piece is too big for the spot, and now you know that before you buy anything.

If you only do one thing

Measure the main walkway. If it’s under 30 inches, move whatever is narrowing it, even by three inches.

Tell me your worst number

Leave a comment with your tightest walkway, before and after. The usual culprit is a sectional or a coffee table that’s a few inches too big for the spot, and the usual fix is a few inches, not a new piece.

Know someone who turns sideways to get to their sofa? Send them this.

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Want to see how I plan a room on paper before moving anything? Interior Design Drawings + Space Planning Layouts is my library of hundreds of real floor plans, elevations and lighting plans from my projects, organized by room, so you can see the spacing drawn out.

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Walkway clearance FAQ

How wide should a walkway be in a small living room? 30 to 36 inches for the main path through the room. Under 30 inches the room feels tight every time you cross it; 30 is fine for one person, 36 is comfortable.

How much space should be between the sofa and the coffee table? 14 to 18 inches. Closer than 14 and you bang your shins; farther than 18 and you can’t reach your coffee.

How much clearance does a bed need? 24 inches minimum on the sides you use to get in and out. In a studio or small bedroom one side can go against the wall, and that is a real designer move, not a compromise.

How much room do dining chairs need behind them? 36 inches behind the chair to pull it out and sit down. In a nook, 24 works if nobody has to walk behind it.

Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-2-measure-the-walkways

Day 1: The 20-Minute Edit (Take Three Things Out)

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 1 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint: five free tasks, 15 to 30 minutes each, Monday to Friday. Missed the plan? Start here.

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When a client tells me a small room feels cramped, the first thing I do isn’t measure.

I look for what’s in the way.

An extra side table.

A chair nobody sits in.

A basket that became a pile.

Three throw pillows too many.

A plant stand in the walkway.

Almost every small room I walk into has two or three things that are only there because they were already there. Take them out and the room gets bigger without moving a wall.

That’s today.

Visual guide to editing a small living room in 20 minutes by taking three things out
Day 1: the 20-minute edit. Take three things out of the room.

Today’s task (20 minutes):

  • Stand in the doorway and look at the room like you’ve never seen it
  • Find three things that are in the way, duplicated or just not working
  • Take them out of the room (not “away,” just out, for the week)
  • Live with it until Friday

1. Stand in the doorway

Don’t start inside the room. Start at the door, where everyone sees it first.

What’s the first thing your eye lands on? If it’s the back of a chair, a tangle of cords or a pile, that’s your first candidate.

2. The three I’d look for

The extra seat. A small room usually needs one good place for everyone to sit, not a seat in every corner. The chair nobody sits in is almost always the one taking the most space.

The doubled surface. Two side tables where one would do. A nesting table that never nests. An ottoman and a coffee table. Pick one.

The small stuff that reads as clutter. Five little things on a surface read as a mess. One tray with three things on it reads as styled. Today, just clear the surface. We style it on Friday.

3. Out of the room, not out of the house

Put the three things in another room, a closet or the hallway. This is a test, not a purge.

By Friday you’ll know which ones you miss. (You usually miss none of them.)

4. Take a photo

One photo from the doorway, before and after. You’ll want it on Friday.

If you only do one thing

Take out the chair nobody sits in.

If you can’t decide which one that is, it’s the one with the laundry on it.

Tell me what you took out

Leave a comment with your three. I read every one, and tomorrow I’ll pull a few into the post.

And if someone you know has a room that feels too full, send them this. Day 1 works best with company.

Free, every week: layouts, measurements and the small fixes that make a room look designed.

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Day 1 FAQ

How long does the Day 1 small space refresh take? About 20 minutes. Stand in the doorway, find three things that are in the way, and take them out of the room.

Do I have to get rid of the three things? No. Put them in another room, a closet or the hallway until Friday. It is a test, not a purge, and by Friday you will know which ones you actually miss.

What if I cannot decide what to take out of a small room? Start with the chair nobody sits in. If you cannot tell which one that is, it is the one with the laundry on it.

Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: https://yourdesignguide.substack.com/p/sprint-day-1-the-20-minute-edit