Jazz up those awkward nooks and corners of your home and give them a distinct character
The Trouble with a house or flat is that unless you actually design it yourself (with the help of an architect, of course), you find yourself stuck with various nooks and crannies that you just don’t know what to do with.
What do you do, for instance, with the space beneath a staircase if there is a staircase in your house? Or, suppose you’ve moved into an old, high-ceilinged apartment. So much space on top, so (relatively) little in your actual living area. Then there are those strange quirks of room design that some architects of apartment blocks tend to indulge in: peculiar bits of say, a living room, jutting out into space; a sudden curved wall…. How on earth do you manage to create a functional, yet aesthetic look for that room?
You could, of course, fill these odd areas with the junk you’ve accumulated over ages, or just leave them be, But wouldn’t you rather make the best of them? If you do, read on.
Staircases
If there’s a staircase immediately outside your house, you could have a bit of a problem. If it isn’t directly in anyone’s line of vision, most people tend to turn the space beneath it into a storage area. That’s what home maker Sunaina Lmba does at any rate: she stores brooms, dusters and crates of cold drinks in that space. This is sad, because it could be utilized better.
If storage space is really required then a cabinet or cupboard should be constructed beneath the stairs. The space beneath a staircase is generally large enough for a cupboard. The cupboard could have sliding or folding doors depending on the space available. And whatever you store inside it brooms, crates or even shoes-the room as a whole will look neater.
If you already have enough storage space however, the space beneath the staircase could be turned into some thing rather more aesthetic. Try a little bit of landscaping centered round a small, electrically operated fountain.
If the staircase is in your house, you could make it a happy, cosy corner. A few potted plants and good lighting can open up the space, and if it is near a window and reasonably well lit, half your, job is already done.
All you need to do then is throw in some vibrant floor cushions and put in a small table or shelf to stack your books and magazines. Put in a small seat on the side where there is maximum height to save yourself from constantly bumping your head.
Smart pullout trolleys can also be fixed under the stairs. They can be converted to stack anything- books, shoes, makeup and accessories or even a bangle stand.
Quirky Spaces
When Maria shifted to her new apartment, the only thing that troubled her was the strange shape of her living room. Thanks to the way the building was designed, one corner of the room was triangular.
“It was a weird shape and I didn’t know to do with it,” says Maria. “And it meant less space for my furniture. My sofas and settees fit in well enough, but I had no space for the dining table. The triangle couldn’t take it. And I couldn’t ignore that area because it was an extension of my drawing room.”
To deal with this, Maria did away with her dining table and chairs. Instead, she fitted a wooden dining runner at one end of the triangle, and placed a low divan at the other end, with a big teddy chair at the tip for her two-year-old son.
“The flat top wooden runner is ideal to serve food,” says Maria “with the TV and sitting arrangement just around it, it serves as the perfect buffet table. It occupies less space than a dining table and the drawers and the shelves accommodate all my extra books, linen and crockery. And the low divan is not just comfortable seating. It also doubles up as a bed when I have lots of guests.”
Maria’s story had a happy ending, but what are you to do when there’s an old space right at the entrance of your apartment? That’s the problem John had. To deal with a small squarish space right at the door of his residence. The area led to the living room, but it was not an extension of it, and it was not entirely separate either.
“It was too small a space to make any seating arrangement and I didn’t want to block the passage,” says John. So he did up the walls in the most dramatic fashion. He bought black and white pictures of some of the most stunning Bollywood actresses, from Meena Kumari to Madhuri Dixit, had them framed, and hung them on all four walls. The effect was classically different. “I am a film buff and I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful.” Says John.
Corridors
Remember how, in your school days, you ran between classes down corridors? A corridor is a very functional space, and if you have one in your home, it’s difficult to know what to do with it.
Long corridors are essentially spaces of transition. There is constant movement, and they are very visible. That you treat the corridor in your home as a photo / painting / mural / mask gallery. Dramatic lighting such as hanging lamps at even intervals could add to the effect. Also, if it is wide enough, you could install narrow shelving for books and / or artifacts.
Still a “gallery” could come across as cold and boring. That you create colorful niches in the corridor, where you can place small artifacts or vases of flowers, illuminated with small, warm yellow lights. Experts and interior designer Tessa in her own house transformed an otherwise regular wooden door into an art piece. “I didn’t want to shut the door as it connected the three floors of my home,” she says. “So I added two pillars on the sides and a sort of semi circular ledge instead of a door knob. A small pot placed on the ledge added to the royal look. It gave a majestic feel to the door and the corridor looks like a work of art.”
At the very least, a few dramatic drapes hung at the end of the corridor can add depth and warmth to an otherwise wasted space.
