small space refresh – Your Design Guide

Day 5: Style One Surface and Take the Photo

Your Design Guide title card for Day 5 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint: small space styling, style one surface and take the after photo

YOUR DESIGN GUIDE | 5-DAY SMALL SPACE REFRESH SPRINT

Day 5 of the 5-Day Small Space Refresh Sprint. Catch up: Day 1 · Day 2 · Day 3 · Day 4.

Monday you took three things out.

Tuesday you measured the walkways and moved one piece.

Wednesday you repeated one color three times.

Last night you turned the ceiling light off and the lamps on.

Today is the part that makes it look finished.

Small space styling guide: style one surface in a small living room with a tall, a medium and a low piece, then take the after photo from the doorway — Day 5: style one surface, then take the after photo from the doorway.

Today’s task (15 minutes):

Pick one surface: the coffee table, the console, the dresser top or the entry table
Clear it completely
Put back three things at three heights
Take the after photo from the doorway

1. One surface, not all of them

In a small room, one styled surface is enough. Two is good. Every surface styled is clutter with better intentions.

Pick the one you see first from the door.

2. Clear it completely

Everything off. Wipe it. Look at it empty for a second. In a small room, an empty surface is doing real work, so you’re only putting back what earns the spot.

3. Three things, three heights

Something tall: a lamp (you placed it yesterday), a vase with branches, a tall candle.

Something medium: a stack of two or three books, a small plant, a framed photo.

Something low: a bowl, a tray, a small dish.

Group the small things on the tray so they read as one. Leave empty space on the surface. If you can’t set down a cup of coffee, take one thing away.

The color from Wednesday? Put one of the three repeats here.

4. The photo

Same spot as Monday. Doorway, same angle, lamps on.

Then put Monday’s photo next to it.

You didn’t buy anything this week. You took things out, moved one piece, repeated a color, added light and styled one surface. That’s the order I work in on every project, and it’s the order most people do backwards.

What to do with the three things you took out

You lived without them for five days. If you didn’t miss them, they don’t go back. Move them to another room, or sell or donate them.

If you missed one, bring it back, and now you know it belongs.

Post your before and after

Comment with both photos, or just tell me what changed.

And if the sprint helped, the most useful thing you can do is send it to one person with a small space. That’s how this little publication grows.

November 1: the monthly room challenge returns

This was the short version. On November 1 we go back to the full 30-day format, and the room is Dining Nooks + Dining Rooms, just in time for Thanksgiving and holiday hosting.

Thirty days, one short lesson a day, for paid subscribers: the table size that actually fits, how many chairs, the light over the table, the rug (or no rug), the sideboard, the walls, and a plan for the one dinner you’re hosting.

If your dining room is a nook, a corner of the living room or a table against a wall, that’s exactly what the first week is about.

If the room still doesn’t sit right after this week, it’s usually the layout, not the stuff. The Room Layout Fix is my 7-day course for making a living room work with the furniture you already own: five layout formulas with plans, the spacing guide, the rug cheat sheet, the room editing checklist and a printable planning worksheet.

Get The Room Layout Fix ($27)

Want help with your own room?

If you’d like a second set of eyes on your room, book an online design consultation with me. Send your photos and we’ll go through the layout, the color and the styling together, so you know exactly what to do next.

Book an online design consultation

Small space styling: FAQ

How many surfaces should I style in a small room? One is enough, two is good. Pick the one you see first from the door. Every surface styled is clutter with better intentions.

What should go on a coffee table or console? Three things at three heights: something tall (a lamp, a vase with branches, a tall candle), something medium (a stack of two or three books, a small plant, a framed photo) and something low (a bowl, a tray, a small dish).

How do I know when to stop? Leave empty space on the surface. If you can’t set down a cup of coffee, take one thing away.

How do I take a good before and after photo? Stand in the same spot as your before photo: the doorway, the same angle, lamps on. Then put the two photos side by side.

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Originally published on Your Design Guide. Read the full post and the comments on Substack: Day 5: Style One Surface on Substack

Stuck on your own room? I’ll design it for you. See my online design services →

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

Visual guide to small living room walkway clearance: 30 to 36 inch main path, 14 to 18 inches from sofa to coffee table

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.

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.

Get the Drawings + Layouts — $9.99

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Want help with your own room?

If your walkways still don’t add up, this is exactly what I draw for clients: a furniture layout on paper, to scale, with every clearance marked before anything gets moved or bought. My design drawings, plans and furniture layouts are $150 an hour.

See my online design services

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)

Visual guide to editing a small living room in 20 minutes by taking 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.

Setting up a small space? My Apartment Setup Kit (the apartment guide plus The Room Layout Fix lessons and workbook) has everything you need to set up your place.

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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.

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.

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Want help with your own room?

If you would rather do the edit with a designer looking over your shoulder, my Room Refresh service is a one-room accessorizing refresh ($350 per room): I tell you what to take out, what to move and the few pieces worth adding, so the room finally feels finished.

See my online design services

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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