How to Downsize Your Space in Style

Are you moving into a smaller home? If so, you don’t have to sacrifice luxury and style along with square footage.

Downsizing is a popular option these days, as people move from larger to smaller houses for a variety of reasons. Some are empty nesters, looking for a more manageable home when children fly the coop. Others might be college graduates, moving from their suburban childhood home to their first apartment in the city. No matter what the reason, a smaller space can be just as comfortable and elegant as the larger one left behind.

Many downsizers opt to change their design style when they move. Lauri Ward, a designer and author of “Downsizing Your Home With Style,” says her clients often swap traditional furniture and design for cleaner lines that are more eclectic and sleek.

The biggest design challenge for those who downsize: storage. Many smaller homes lack garages and basements.

What to do? - Ward recommends closed storage—a trunk rather than a coffee table, for example—to do away with what she calls “visual chaos.” She also makes extensive use of built-ins, which save space.

In living areas, avoid cluttering the floor space with tables that have no purpose or with stacks of magazines. Opening up the floors makes the space appear larger—and in any downsized home, every piece needs to earn its keep by having a purpose for being there.

Rooms in a smaller home need to serve double duty. Combine a home office with a guest room, for example. Or purchase a dining room table that can double as a desk for a home office.

“People often think they’re compromising if they go smaller, but good things come in small packages,” Ward says. “You can really have a beautiful home—even more beautiful than your last. It’s more about quality than quantity.”