Many doors, few walls: what to do?
Anyone who has an apartment, house or office with a nested floor plan is often faced with the problem that there are many doors and therefore little wall space. Only then do we realize what is otherwise hardly noticeable: wall space is also living space!
Books are stacked on shelves on the wall, clothes hang on hooks, pictures give our rooms character and plants grow up decoratively. When we move house, we have to plan an astonishing number of boxes for everything hanging on the walls.
So what can we do if we don't have enough wall space? One option is to invite Marie Kondo, so that we end up with only the bare essentials at home. Fortunately, there are other options too:
- Use the space above the lintel! Especially in old buildings with high ceilings, there is a lot of space there, but even with "normal" high ceilings, you can still fit a lot above the door. For example, install one or more shelves on which you can place decorations that you would otherwise have to do without, plants or books. Pretty boxes or baskets for small items that are rarely used are also an option. It can also look very nice to have a shelf running through the entire room at lintel height. Then it really looks like a design element and not like a makeshift solution. Another option is to mount pictures or other decorations directly above the door on the wall. They won't take up valuable wall space elsewhere.
- Think vertically! Wall space may be limited, but if you make optimum use of the available space, you'll gain a lot. So buy shelves or cupboards that almost reach the ceiling or invest in custom-made built-in furniture. DIY is also a good option here!
- Move away from the classic furniture layout! Who says that shelves, buffets or cupboards have to stand with their backs to the wall? Instead, they can become wall surfaces themselves: Use high shelves as room dividers or choose room dividers with integrated shelves. If, for example, you place a half-height buffet unit or shelf behind a sofa in the room, you not only gain wall space, but also a storage area for glasses and snacks for those who make themselves comfortable on the sofa.
- Make use of corners! Small, hard-to-reach corners are not necessarily wasted space. A floor lamp can provide light or a tall plant (or hanging plant) can create a sense of well-being. If you want to make practical use of the space there and create order, corner furniture is the way to go.
- Get creative with your decorations! Pictures hung in series one below the other, long, narrow decorations or very narrow shelves with plants or other items add character to even the narrowest strips of wall.
- Use mobile furniture! Mobile pedestals & co. are no longer just available in an office look and can make life much easier with little wall space.
- Make use of the door backs! Doors are ideal for coat hooks, vertically hanging bag compartments or as a decorative surface.
- Make sliding doors disappear into the wall ! Hinged doors have the disadvantage that the space behind them is often not easily usable. Sliding doors conceal the wall when they are opened. Sliding doors that disappear into the wall are the solution to both problems: regardless of whether the door is open or closed, it does not cover any valuable wall space.
