I’ve just received the kyes to my small house about 490 sqf. I notice the swing doors cut into the apartment’s functional space, so I can’t bring any big furniture in, Any suggestions?

Borrow ideas from the many developers’ showrooms around town, and remove all the swing doors and door frames. Depending on the space available, ask your designer for pocket (hidden) or plain, top-hung sliding doors. Except for the bathroom, you can even do away with all the doors to make your tiny home feel more spacious.

To make your rooms feel even bigger, you might even want to replace some walls with glass so your space is visually “doubled”. Curtains or blinds over a glass wall between the living and bedroom, for instance, are enough to ensure privacy when needed.

In this 484sqf condo show flat, the interior designer from Su Misura removed the non-structural walls and replaced them with glass to “open up” the compact space. Taking advantage of every available surface, the designer even hung prints on the back of the main door. Stained a dark tone and given a contrasting white trim, the door became a striking “photo gallery”. 0

My bookshelves look messy side by side due to the gaps in between them. How can I make them fit better together?

This may be an impossible task if your bookcases have edging trims that jut out from the top and base. If your bookcases’ corners are square and clean-lined, the gaps (especially if they’re only at the top) may mean that your floor isn’t perfectly level. Use a spirit level to check.

If your floor is level, you can try to hold the side frames of the bookcases together tightly with a metal clip. Look for them at builders’ stores and DIY shops.

If you are going for an industrial theme in that room, you could use small clamps that can be tightened with screws.

If your floor is uneven, you should consider custom-making a set of bookcases as the carpenter will adjust and realign the base boards so all your bookcases will sit level with one another.

If budget is an issue, ask for shelving in inexpensive MDF board instead of teak ply. Medium density board is made of compressed wood chips and widely used in furniture manufacturing. MDF’s natural colour is wood brown, so it blends easily with furnishings.

You could even ask for the shelf edges (MDF edges are raw-looking) to be covered with wood veneer for a look-alike effect.

Even a small bathroom can make a large impact. Start with clever storage – stash your toiletries inside a wall-hung bathroom cabinet with a mirrored door.

Invest in a new vanity counter with a solid-surface top as this hardy material is impervious to stains and knocks.

A cabinet beneath the washbasin will hold all your cleaning gear and ensure that the tight space stays neat and uncluttered. Ramp up your bathroom’s style quotient with unique wall tiles and a strong color scheme.

There are amazing new tile collections with striking graphics and even reflective neon-type effects on the market.

But if bold treatments are not for you, check out the new mosaics. Muted patterns with textured finishes exude a subtle sense of elegance.

In this narrow bathroom by Space Matters, the rounded profile of the tiny mosaic tiles gives the checkered pattern on the walls the feel of an intricate basket weave. Even though the color scheme is a simple white-on-white, the ambiance is luxurious and chic.

Assuming you have a standard-size home, the shape of your dining table will largely be determined by the shape of your living-dining room. If you have a square room, you can consider either a round or a rectangular table.

A round table is great for Asian dining where dishes are shared, and you can squeeze in more people around the circle. If you have a long, rectangular layout, you’d be better off with a rectangular or square (extendable) table that you can place against one wall.

When you need to accommodate more guests, just pull the table away from the wall. Do look for a table top with rounded edges to let guests seated at the corners dine comfortably.

Another shopping tip: Buy a table with legs that are well inset beneath the top, so they don’t obstruct diners who need to squeeze in at the corners. The best design is a table top with a central column base or legs that extend out from the center

It’s easy to see why designers fall back on yellow time and again, for the color has the ability to inject a sense of high-spiritedness into the dullest of spaces. This year, the sunny hue graces furniture, lighting, decor accessories and wall treatments, conjuring up images of the romantic Tuscan countryside.

Yellow works equally well in both contemporary and country-style settings. Canary yellow is a great accent color with which to make a bold statement. Lemon (a softer shade of yellow with a dash of white) lends a fresh, sophisticated vibe. Being a primary color, yellow mixes easily with most other primary colors such as blue and red to great effect. It also goes well with a whole range of colors such as grey, hot pink and violet. As a representation of life, vitality, happiness and optimism, yellow is a timeless shade indeed.

The fabric Omi pendant light rocks the color-block trend, www.bouf.com.

Grey, black and white provide excellent backdrops for a hint of bright yellow in the form of soft furnishings, lamps, ceramic or porcelain accessories, and rugs. Soften the stark look with hints of pastels such as lilac or powder blue. Amy Patricia Urguiola’s Husk chair for B&B Italia makes for a great accent chair with its tufted seating. From Space Asia Hub.

Accent color

Yellow has such a striking personality that too much of it will either overwhelm you or make your home look too rustic. For a modern look and a warm, enduring appeal, try yellow tinted with gold or green on your walls.

Vitra’s cosy mustard. yellow Suite sofa is ideal for small spaces. From Proof Living.

Dip dyeing is a great way to subtly introduce color into your interiors

The practice of dip-dyeing has come a long way from its boho-chic beginnings. Staining the ends of, say, a piece of fabric with dye and letting the color spread with decreasing intensity creates an effect known as ombre (also a trend du jour, incidentally).

On furniture, dip-dyeing creates an effect somewhat starker than that on cloth. There are examples that stay true to ombre. Dutch designer Aldo Bakker’s Treated line of stool-inspired seating is colored most intensely at the base and gets lighter moving up the piece, representing a more subtle take on the deep-dye look.

For something with zing, US design duo Curtis Popp and Dustin Littrell’s Pop stool (which has a dip-dyed leg) would jazz up any austere setting with their bright hue. Casamania’s Philippe I side table also has legs dyed in matte lacquer at one end, but with the coloured portion at the top.

Blu Dot’s Splash coat rack, on the other hand, does look like its rustic, utilitarian form has been dipped into a vat of paint, leaving only the top bare. Seattle-based design outfit Ladies & Gentlemen Studio’s range of color-dipped tableware adopts the same treatment. Not using paint but a material made of cellulose fiber called Zelfo, French designer Elise Gabriel has created a range of tables and chairs with a similar concept — Zelfo clings to the frame like a second skin when water is applied, partially coloring the piece.

Curtis Popp and Dustin Littrell’s dip-dyed Pop stools are a fun way to play with color, www.curtispopp.com

The ombre effect on the Treated chair by Aldo Bakker is inspired by fashion trends, www. pldobakkercom.

The Philippe I table by Casarnania is a refined manifestation of the popular trend, www.casamania.it.

The Embrace table Elise Gabriel utilises Zelfo cellulose fibre technology for the desired effect,
www.galeriectosserez.com.