Love Your Little House: Smart Furniture

William Morris said, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
But when you have a small house, the furniture has to fall into BOTH categories – useful and beautiful.
This dresser in my dining room falls into that category. It holds my sewing machine and sewing supplies, Isaac’s bibs, and Adam’s dress up clothes. And doubles as a buffet when necessary.
(notice the tulip bulbs we forced? Planted them at the same time, same depth, and it’s a mixture of bulbs from two different packages…so why is one side growing so. much. faster? As Nester says, it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful!)

**Updated pictures of the tulips and a how-to can be found here.**

Besides being useful and beautiful, furniture should also be appropriately sized. My couch is a terrible example of this. Although it has its redeeming qualities, the arms take up almost two feet of space.
But this sleek sectional offers plenty of seating and maximum use of space.

Source: houzz.com via Katie on Pinterest

Here, the loveseat takes the place of a larger sofa, and the bookshelves provide a ton of storage.

Source: houzz.com via Katie on Pinterest

There is no doubt that this cabinet is beautiful and functional.

Source: konfetti.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

A bench or windowseat at the dining room table can free up some floor space and add
storage.

Source: flickr.com via Katie on Pinterest

In a small bedroom, these space saving bunks are genius!

Source: blogs.babble.com via Katie on Pinterest

A bed with pull out drawers, play table that doubles as a coffee table, and a shelving unit that takes advantage of vertical space all make this small room work!