10 big ideas for small spaces

Buy adaptable furniture

When your home is small and it\'s also your office, clutter and disarray are unavoidable - or are they? Not for Linda Burgess and her daughter Jasmine, who run their own greeting cards, prints and posters business from home - and manage to keep the house looking fabulous...

The living / dining room

‘Because I use this room as a studio I need to be able to shift things around to create space, so I chose portable, collapsible furniture,\' says Linda.

The kitchen: Deep drawers and tall stools

‘Everything has to earn its place in this room. I need endless space for props,\' says Linda, who has deep drawers full of bright jugs and glassware.

Tall stools give extra value. Long-legged chairs enable work surfaces to double as tables for eating and desks for working - but the stools need to be comfortable. Linda bought hers at Peter Jones.

Extra space, extra light

It\'s worth considering whether there\'s any garden space that you can claim as extra house room - as Linda has done with the dining room that doubles as a studio. The extension incorporates a huge architectural pitched-roof skylight by Kömmerling (www.kommerling.co.uk) - an inspired addition that lets sunlight flood in.

Remember the mirror trick: Here, more light is reflected into the room by a massive carved mirror. Linda found it being used as a prop on an exhibition stand - it was a bargain buy.

The deceptive pillar

A double function is the best small-house trick of all. This is a perfect example - an RSJ (rolled steel joist) gives essential support for an exterior wall and conceals a cupboard that holds an array of photographic props. The inside of the door is used as a scrapbook, pinned with images and ideas.

Double doors work wonders

Double doors let more light into both rooms. The props on the shelves are from boot sales, trade shows, Habitat, Zara Home and Bicester Village. The silk hydrangeas are from Sia (www.sia-homefashion.com).

Don\'t miss an inch!

Here\'s proof that every bit of potential storage is realised in Linda\'s house... Bookshelves have become part of the architecture. ‘I painted the shelves white as it\'s the neatest way to keep everything simple,\' she says. The shelves vary in size from ceiling to floor and house a variety of different-sized objects.

Maximise light

No fussy window treatments here. Linda and Jasmine need constant ambient light for their work, but they also need privacy. These attractive half shutters, from www.shutterworld.co.uk, filter the light during the day and can be closed, along with the pull-down blinds, at night. Both the shutters and the blinds are white to maximise light. Hanging on the wall to the right of the window is one of Linda\'s orchid paintings.

Even the smallest room...

The bijou loo is an extension built into the side return of the house. Cupboards built under the basins make the most of the narrow space. Floodlit by a deep skylight, the room opens off a corridor fitted with five full-length cupboards. ‘It\'s one of the features that sold the house to me - all that prop room!\' says Linda. Her Blue Heart artwork hangs above a row of bright stackable pots.