25 Ways to Make the Most of a Small Room| Hour 3

Dean continues his guide to maximizing small spaces with smart design choices. In this episode, he explains how scaling your furniture, choosing multi-purpose pieces, and avoiding oversized, showy items can make a big difference. Dean also dives into flooring tips—why uniform tile sizes can backfire, and how keeping floors open and furniture low can enhance flow. Plus, he emphasizes the importance of simple layouts and letting each area serve a clear purpose.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp the
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Yes, if
you are one of our faithful podcast listeners. I say
every weekend, because the live broadcast that becomes this podcast
is in fact a thing that happens Sunday mornings from

(00:22):
nine to noon and also up in the LA area
Saturday mornings from six to eight. So here we are,
here we are, and today we are taking on taking
your house to the next level by talking about my
list of twenty five ways to make the most out
of a small room. And it's time to return to
that conversation. Now, great calls today, By the way, great

(00:45):
calls loved, all of our callers, Thank you so much
for being so enthusiastic and for taking your time to
wait and to get on through the air. It's just
part of what makes the show as magical as it
is is your calls and the topics that you raise
along the way. All right, let's get back to our list.
Where are we at here? Let me just see bum

(01:07):
bum bum boom boom boom boom. Okay, I think the
last thing we talked about was going bold or going
home when it comes to daylight or darkness. If you
have a dark room and there's no getting around it,
embrace the darkness and make it work for just that.
If there is a way of bringing natural light into

(01:28):
that room by all means, do so and go for it.
And that includes my suggestion about using oversized windows relative
to the size of the room. Okay, just can make
a dramatic, dramatic difference. That is, assuming that you've got
a view outside, and even if you don't have a
view outside, assuming that you can create one. I always

(01:50):
think of windows in a home as Vista points out
to some form of diorama. Okay, you may have a
view home or you may not, but either way, look
out of every window and think, what do I need
to do out there to make this view absolutely beautifully pleasant,
and then work toward that end with your exterior landscape

(02:14):
plans as well. Okay, couple of notes on colors. Now,
I'm not going to tell you what color to paint
your room, how could I do that? But I will
tell you this truth. Lighter colors colors that are in
that are lighter and cooler, meaning that they are in

(02:34):
the blue end of the spectrum. Not the red end
of the spectrum. Lighter, cooler colors, they recede away from you. Okay,
there's a lot of science behind this that I will
not waste time to tell you or to back it up.
Just trust me when I say this. Lighter, cooler blue colors,

(02:55):
like the blue sky, they recede away, they open up. They,
as a result, make a room a larger, feeling cooler, lighter,
bluer colors. The opposite is true with darker and warmer colors.
Those colors advance toward us, They reach out towards us,

(03:18):
They appear to move towards us. And I'm not talking
about you being attacked by a room or a room
running a running away from you. Just understand, these are
subtle ways that our brains process these colors, Okay, evolutionarily,
and so they're true inside a room. So if you've
got a super big room, one of the things we

(03:39):
do is we try and take spaces and warm them
up with colors on the warm side of the color spectrum.
And if we've got a very small room, we tend
to lighten them and to push them towards blues and
greens and so on, because those colors naturally make a
room feel larger. So there you go. Those are two

(04:00):
items on my list number six and seven. Here, darker,
warmer colors come towards you. Lighter, cooler colors move away.
Another point on the list here plants. Plants. Plants. Plants
invite nature into the room, especially if you can't get
the room out into nature. And this simply means if

(04:21):
you can't or don't want to spend the money to
take that small space and like follow through with my
suggestion about the oversized window, more glass and more nature
coming inside visually, then get some plants in that room.
Small rooms, love houseplants, love it, love, love, love, and

(04:43):
you will find that the room just becomes more natural, softer,
and more pleasant as you go. I already covered this one.
I jumped ahead talking about letting the outside in with
more glass, more natural light, the amount of natural light
that you've already got in the room. Mirrors, now understand mirrors, Yes,

(05:08):
large mirrors like free standing, sitting on the floor, kind
of leaning up against the wall. Mirrors by all means
framed on the wall. Yes, mirrors increase visual space because
they basically like there's a window to another room there
and they literally recycle light, okay, because light bounces off

(05:30):
a mirror and stays inside the room instead of being
absorbed into darker areas or colors or leaving too quickly.
So they make a room brighter, and they make a
room seem more spacious. I am not though, I am
not talking about mirroring an entire wall with the mirrors

(05:51):
so that when you walk in there's another you standing
over there in another room. Okay. That almost always, with
very few exceptions, unless we're building out a gym room. Okay,
we're building out a gym, we can mirror the whole wall.
Otherwise it's not always the best. In fact, it's usually
not the best decor effect inside a room to have

(06:12):
an entire mirrored wall, but a large mirror on that wall,
hanging on the wall or leaning up against it. Yes, yes, yes,
the whole wall. No no, no, okay, let's talk about
the ceiling. Small room. If you've got a tall ceiling, fantastic,
I mean great, let's utilize that as much as possible.

(06:33):
But assuming that the small room also has a regular
height ceiling, or what by today's standards, is a lower
ceiling like an eight foot ceiling, keep the ceiling clear.
I really mean this. It will only help the room. Okay,
don't fill it up with recess can lights everywhere. You
don't need that much for that room to begin with.

(06:54):
I'm not against having some up there if they are
close to the walls, light up directionally, lighting up the
walls and the stuff that you have on the walls. Okay,
just remember the number one rule of lighting design for
a home is this. We do not light rooms. We
light things. We don't light rooms, we light things. So

(07:15):
you got art on the wall, I'm gonna put a
recess can light up on the ceiling. I'm gonna point
it toward the art and light up the art. You're
gonna ignore the can light. You're gonna focus on the art. Okay.
You got anything of value up against the wall that
we want to light up, that's fine. But we're not
gonna light up all the space in this room. Lighting
it all up only makes it appear smaller. Okay. I

(07:39):
would rather light a small room with floor lamps and
table lamps and have some shadow and some depth in
the room and not light everything, because that makes it
seem further away, more intimate. More shadows. Shadows are key
to beautiful lighting design. Don't obliterate the shadows from a

(07:59):
room you're trying to jug up. You want shadows, you
want the texture that they bring along the way. All right,
more on lighting after our break, and then we'll get
right back to this list. Your Home Dean Sharp, The
House Whispers.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
That's what we're doing every weekend here from nine to
noon on Sunday mornings and via our podcast. Every live
broadcast is converted into podcast once we go off the air,
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is how the podcast you're listening to right now came
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(09:24):
and you will get every episode notified every time it
uploads and is ready to rock and roll for you.
All right, we're talking about my list of twenty five
ways to make the most of a small room. Let's
continue on. I gave you some lighting advice about small rooms.
It's very consistent with the lighting advice I always give,

(09:45):
which is, don't overlight a room. Don't light the room itself.
Light things in the room, especially with a small room.
Soft lighting, light things, Let the recess lighting wash walls,
leave the floor soft and full of shadow and texture
and all of that. All right, let's continue with our
thoughts on the ceiling. I said keep the ceiling clear.

(10:08):
I also part of that is two things. Number one,
ceiling fans. Not a fan of ceiling fans in real
small rooms. Not a fan of ceiling fans that are
hanging down any measurable distance on a room that has
a regular eight foot ceiling. The exception being if this
is a bedroom and the ceiling fan is over the bed. Okay, fine, fine,

(10:29):
But and by the way, I love ceiling fans. Okay,
it's just this principle, that's all. The principle is when
we have a short ceiling, we don't want to draw
attention to it. Okay, this is something we're trying to
de emphasize in making a room feel larger. We don't
want to de emphasize. We don't want to emphasize the ceiling.

(10:51):
Some of you have thought, Hey, I'm going to make
my house with its eight foot ceilings feel like one
of those grand houses, and so I'm putting molding up there.
Not a fan. I'm not a fan of the crown
molding on the eight foot ceilings. Why because crown moldings
are things that draw attention to themselves. Their job is

(11:12):
to jug up a place, all right, drawing attention to
the crown molding at eight feet by the way, I'm six',
three the drawing attention to the crown molding THAT i
can literally reach up and touch on your eight foot.
Ceiling not exactly emphasize de emphasizing the ceiling. Height is
it better than? That would be a cove. MOLDING a

(11:36):
cove molding is simply a, curve, okay a concave curve in,
which if you really want to get, fancy you can
plaster this into the room so you don't see the
molding as a separate. Piece and some Century spanish revival
homes have, this by the way here in Southern, california love,

(11:58):
them which in which the wall plaster just rolls into
the ceiling without a sharp. Corner, that my, friend is the,
finest most effective way of making ceiling height, irrelevant because
it's essentially a small version of what marketing and studio

(12:19):
people use whenever you see a person standing there on
camera and you notice that there's really no nothing behind
them and there's no sense of where the floor ends
and the wall. Begins that's called a psych. Screen and
the whole point is that it's a concave curve that

(12:40):
hides the corner of the wall to the, floor therefore
giving you a sense of limitless open. Spaciousness all, right
the same can be achieved on the. Ceiling but let's
say you don't want to go into all. That all,
Right let's just, say, Listen, DIAN i don't want to
rebuild my ceiling right to just try and make it
go away more, Fine just don't put a bunch of

(13:04):
stuff up, there drawing our attention to. It that's All i'm. SAYING.
Ok we could go, further but you don't need. To all,
right more tips on the. Way You're home With Dean
sharp the House.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
Whisperer you're listening To home With Dean sharp on demand
FROM KFI am six forty.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
And, hey if your home needs some personal House whisper,
attention personal meaning you know what we. Need dean And
tina standing here staring at the problem because if they saw,
this they would be like us and not know what to.
Do that's not. True we would not be like. You
we would tell you what to. Do that can happen.
Though you can book an home design consult with. Us

(13:43):
just go to House whisper dot, design House whisperer dot
design for more info and to request a. Consult all,
right let's get back to our list of twenty five
ways to make the most of a small. ROOM i
KNOW i was breaking hearts all over the country in
the last segment WHEN i, Said, hey crown molding on

(14:07):
an eight foot ceiling not my. Favorite you don't have
to tear down your crown. Molding i'm just being honest with,
you as a designer who knows what he's talking. About lower,
ceilings we just we don't want to go out of
our way to draw attention to. Them and some of
you are gonna, say, Hey dean hates crown. Molding, YEAH

(14:29):
i get that all the. TIME i get, that just
LIKE i get people Saying dean hates recess can lights
and ceiling. FANS i do not let the record STATE
i have no problem with any of those things in
the right. Context All i'm saying is simply. This you
got an eight foot ceiling in a small, room and
you want that room to feel more. Spacious even if

(14:51):
you have an eight foot ceiling in a big, room
you want that room to feel more. Spacious get stuff
off of the, ceiling because the more stuff's up, there
the more Or i'll, Look and the MORE i, look
the MORE i, Realize, hey that's not there very far
away from. Me is? It just the opposite is true
for tall. Ceilings you got a twelve foot, ceiling celebrate.

(15:12):
It throw in a, chandelier put in a big ceiling
fan up, there put in a big crown, molding show it,
off not a short. Ceiling short. Ceiling we have other
goals in mind with our. Designs that makes, SENSE i.
Hope So, okay here's a trick with curtains in that
small room and that low. Ceiling run them all the

(15:34):
way to the. Ceiling, now, yes you're not going to
find the curtains That i'm talking about at targe or
at the department, store or at the bed bath beyond
or the linens and. Things are those places still around
the one in our town went out of. Anyway the

(15:55):
point is you don't find these off the rack or
off the shelf very often because your standard curtain out
there is set up to just go right above a
six foot eight door standard door, height AND i get,
it but a horizontal line they create lower than the
eight foot, ceiling AND i don't want. THAT i want

(16:17):
a pillar of curtains to run from the floor all
the way up to the. Ceiling it's going to make
the room seem, taller more. Spacious and by the, way
while you're doing, it if you really want to get
that sexy design, look then you order those curtains to break.
Break that means one to two inches extra length so
that they actually touched the floor and break a little,

(16:39):
bit like a tailor would do to a classic man's suit. Trouser,
right it breaks on the, Shoe it bends a little
bit and. Breaks that's, different by the, way than. PUDDLING
a break is one to two inches of extra. Material
if you want to create a, puddle a puddle of

(17:00):
curtain on the, floor then we're talking three to four
and sometimes a little bit, more but typically three to
four inches extra at the, floor just saying there you,
go all. Right next on the, list be careful about door. Swings,
okay door swings into a small space mean that you've
got to use at least a nine square feet of

(17:20):
that space for nothing but the door opening and closing
and small. Room we want to utilize as much wall
space as possible and not have things. Intrue so if
there's a budget for, it maybe maybe the door into
that space gets turned into a pocket. Door AND i
know INSTANTLY i hear people every TIME i say the

(17:43):
word pocket door in my entire, CAREER i get the same.
Thing oh, no, no pocket doors, suck they break. Down
i've had one in my house into like our laundry
room that nobody has opened or closed in the last
thirty five years BECAUSE i don't think it will open or.
Close it jumped the it's stuck. IT i get, IT
i get, IT i get. It please understand. This it's

(18:06):
not about the pocket door. Concept it's about the cheap
builder hardware that went into that pocket door when it
was built into the. HOME i just have two words for,
You Johnson. Hardware just write it, Down Johnson. Hardware Johnson
hardware is a company that has dedicated themselves to building

(18:28):
pocket door pockets the right. Way you want A series
fifteen hundred or, more But series fifteen hundred will take
care of. This Johnson. Hardware i'm handing your pearls, here all,
Right please grab the. Pen i'll. Wait you got, it,
Okay Johnson Hardware series fifteen Hundred soft, clothes soft open pocket.

(18:53):
Door it's gonna run you about two hundred dollars for
the pocket not the door. Door there's nothing special about
a pocket. Door do do you realize that it's just a.
Door it's just a door without hinges on. It so
it's the same door that can match all the other
doors in the house or be better than the other
doors in the. House it should be a solid core
door to get the most sound resistance out of. It

(19:13):
so it's not the, door it's the, hardware it's the pocket.
Itself we're talking about eight well bearinged wheels on a
track that they cannot. Jump it will not get. Stuck
it's soft, closes which means you can yank it and
pull it closed in the last three. Inches it slows
down and just think and it soft, opens which means

(19:36):
when you throw it, open it doesn't bang inside the.
Track last three inches of. Opening it slows down and
just tucks away into the. Pocket it will outlast everything
else in your. House that's All i'm. Saying Johnson, hardware
soft close pocket. Doors maybe a pocket door or a
barn door something like that is the better answer for

(19:57):
saving space in that. Room maybe it's. Not seriously all,
right we'll talk about the scale and the size of
flooring for that room when we come back from the.
Break Your home With Dean, sharp The House whisper more to.

Speaker 2 (20:13):
Come you're listening To home With Dean sharp on demand
FROM KFI am six.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Forty we are definitely a design show, today for. Sure
for sure we are talking about the uh, well my
list of twenty five ways to make the most of
a small. Room let's finish out that, list shall. We
here we are nearly at the end of our three hours.
Together just a few more to. Go here we. GO
i mentioned before the break about scaling the. Flooring the

(20:40):
size of the flooring in. There whatever the flooring material may,
be just don't overdo the size of the. Material the
size of the pattern is WHAT i. Mean, okay a small,
room you should probably not be laying down the four
foot by four foot you, Know italian tie because that's

(21:01):
a big pattern for a small. Room it will make
the room feel like it's not fitting the. Flooring, okay
you don't have to go microscopic with the floor pattern.
Either just keep it, reasonable, Understand keep it scaled to
the size of the. Room same with the. Furniture scale the,
furniture but don't shrink the. Furniture nobody wants to sit
on extra small. Stuff, okay but if the, room remember

(21:27):
the rule of. Thirds if the room can't HAND i,
mean if it can't handle more than a six foot love,
seat then don't put in more than a six foot love.
Seat if it can handle a little bit more but
still have, space around. It, fine don't overdo the. Furniture
don't shove huge furniture into a small. Space you're only

(21:48):
gonna make the space feel. Smaller, Right better to have
more multipurpose pieces or chairs small. Rooms love, chair. Okay
in a small room can be a visual focal. Point,
Okay but an overly showy sofa can cause too much.
Attention drug over to, it okay it Will remember WHAT

(22:11):
i said, Before an overly showy and too large of
a sofa will tip the, canoe and you don't want. That,
okay keep it. Balanced let furniture as a, Rule i'm
going on to our next point. Here let furniture as
a rule do less in the room and let the
decor do. More, okay let the furniture do less and
the decor do. MORE i know you've been trained and

(22:33):
taught throughout your life that the, furniture like in a main,
room like your family or your living, room the furniture
is the, is the is the, show, right and that's
not necessarily untrue for a large. Space but in a small,
space let the furniture just be what it needs to.
Be let the decore of the room move your eyes,
around and the room will feel. Larger. Okay on the

(22:56):
note of, furniture my next point is consider keeping the
sea eating. Low, okay a lower sofa kind of set
up in chairs and any other furniture like tables or
anything like, that keep those a little. Leggy keep them,
leggy leggy simply meaning instead of big blocks and, boxes
that we see more. Floor even though you can't walk

(23:18):
on the floor underneath the, table if you can see
floor underneath the, table the feeling of the room is more.
Spacious anything you can see through and under more. Spacious
so set the furniture low so it's not challenging the
height of the, room and let the accessory, furniture the
tables and end tables or coffee table or whatever the

(23:40):
case may, be think about it being leggier so that
we can see. Underneath same as true with like a, bathroom,
right we keep things as leggy as. Possible one of
the things THAT i love about wall mount toilets in
a small bathroom is not only does the toilet bowl
get closer to the wall because you don't have the
tank sticking, out but also we can lift it off

(24:02):
the floor and you can actually see and clean under. It,
right seeing that the floor underneath the, toilet even though
you're never gonna step, there makes the room feel more.
Spacious same, rule different, Rooms it all. Applies keep the
layout simple in the. Room spatial comfort is about view and.

(24:22):
Flow it's not about square. Footage it's about view and.
Flow so keep the layout simple and let it flow.
Right don't make me feel like the SECOND i step
into this, ROOM i have to sidestep around a big
piece of furniture in order to get WHERE i need to.
Go even in the largest, spaces IF i have to
sidestep around, Something i'm already thinking this is. CRAMPED i

(24:44):
talk about this in, entryways by the, way you may
have a little entryway or you may have a huge.
Entryway if you have room in your entryway that WHEN
i come in the front, door there can be like
a little buffet or a little side table off to the. Side,
great as long AS i don't have to step around.
It but if it's sort of in my, path it
shouldn't be. There, okay that's, flow visual and actual physical. Flow.

(25:09):
Okay dedicate the space in a small. Room dedicate. It
don't go multipurpose with a small. Room small, rooms don't
do well handling ten different. Tasks let it be one
thing or another or, another but let it just be
what it's going to. Be give it an identity and
hold to. It don't ask too much of it because

(25:31):
guaranteed you're going to start shoving too many things in,
there and things are going to feel tight in a small.
Room this might surprise. You wallprints or patterns or. Wallpaper
don't hold. Back oh, yeah especially like on a feature.
Wall let it. Go it's an item of. Interest it
draws you over to a. Wall let it, be don't hold,

(25:52):
back get creative with. It and here is two last
things to potential open up this. Room get rid of
the entry. Wall, yeah you heard me, right get rid
of the entry if we really want to remodel a small. Space,
Okay tina AND i have an example of this in
our own. Home we have this third bedroom that we

(26:14):
use as our design, studio not our recording, studio but
our design. Studio it is not a big room at.
All when we remodeled our, house we, decided you know,
what we're just going to eliminate the wall into this
room from the. Hallway it doesn't need to be somebody's private.
Bedroom anymore does need to be a private office for,
us because you know we're it in the. House and guess.

(26:36):
What we got rid of the, wallway the, wallway the
wall between it and the, hallway made the hallway. Brighter
and now this dedicated, space it feels much larger than it.
Is get rid of the wall and open it to
the rest of the. House it's the old shower curtain.
TRICK i like shower curtains in small shower in small

(26:58):
bathrooms because when you pull them, back there's nothing, there
not even the. Glass even a glass surface limits the
sense of spaciousness and volume in a. Room so we
got rid of the. Wall and we've done it before for,
clients and sometimes it is the game. Changer think about,
it think about it and along those, lines last bit

(27:19):
number twenty five on the. List is it a guest,
room is it an? Office is it a? Den if
it's a space that is not a sleeping space or
a private, room get rid of the. Closet that, closet
if it goes all the way across the, room it's
taking up anywhere from sixteen to twenty square feet of

(27:41):
space in that. Room get rid of the, closet set
a piece of furniture there to hold your stuff or
to file your things. Away lose the, closet open up the,
room make it as large as, possible and then reapply
all the rules that we've talked about throughout the. Show all,
right my, friends we've done. It we did. It we
made it through the entire list of twenty five ways

(28:05):
to make the most of a small. Room if you
joined us later in the, show make sure you catch the.
Podcast you can go back and listen again and again and.
Again write all the pearls of wisdom. Down but here's the.
Point don't let space or budget limit what it is
that you want to do to transform your. House because

(28:25):
creativity with, constraints, man all that does is it catalyzes.
Success if you are willing to accept it a small,
room all it really needs is you following the rules
and you'll get it, done Right. Neil the other, thing
they won't cost that much to, do because it's not
a big. Space all, right, y'all get out there in

(28:46):
this beautiful first weekend Of august and get busy building
yourself a beautiful, life and you'll find us right back
here next. Weekend we'll see. You, then this has Been
home With Dean sharp the House. Whisper tune into the
live broadcast ON KFI am six forty Every saturday morning
from six to Eight pacific, time and Every sunday morning

(29:07):
from nine to Noon pacific, time or anytime on demand
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