As a working designer in the suburbs of NYC many of my clients are dealing with teeny tiny spaces. Many times you are dealing with one main room that is functioning as a bedroom, dining room, living room, and even kitchen! This is the time when hiring a designer becomes a must, because they can really help you get the most of our space.

One of my tricks for working with small spaces comes to play when sourcing furniture. Don’t be so strict in what you are searching for. Since you need to think small, traditional items like a media console or nightstand might not come in the proper petite size. In cases like this I search for entry way consoles or sideboards instead of media consoles and look for nightstands that are available for nurseries or teen rooms, because they come in similar dimensions. I’ve even picked up thrift store finds and cut them down to size to make them work!

Take a peek at a recent small space I completed where we used a sideboard instead of media console below the flat screen TV.

Since I had to make the most out of the space I sourced two ottomans to go in the living room that would provide additional seating and storage. The ottomans worked out great for the clients needs, but made us lose space on the wall where the media console was set to go.

Enter the Manchester Sideboard from Home Decorators instead. A sideboard had the perfect dimensions in length, but was a tad high for a media console.

Here is how we worked with the sideboard:

The main appeal of the sideboard was that the doors had a combo of the clear and solid on the door.

This meant we were able to place the cable box on the shelf with the acrylic and then use the covered door area to hide things like DVDs and gaming controls, etc.

Now that all the mess was hidden we had to decide what else would go in the acrylic section. Since my clients would like to entertain we made a little bar section in the acrylic section and added some rustic boxes that we filled with wine glasses, cocktail napkins, seltzer sprayer and decorative dishes for snacks like nuts, pretzels, etc.

Full view:

For the top of the sideboard we didn’t have a lot to work with since the sideboard height is so high, but since you aren’t always watching TV I wanted to utilize it. The key to making this work is to not overcrowd the top and pick accessories that are easily removable so that when you want to watch TV it will just take a couple of seconds to clear the space.

Enter a vintage inspired record playerthat can also play music off of an mp3 player or cell phone and catch all tray that can house your remote controls, add a touch of color and of course my favorite a decorative accessory like an elephant!

Full view:

It’s the perfect fit for a teeny space. When you want to watch TV you can easily place the sideboard top accessories on the tops of the ottomans that flank the sideboard.

Can’t wait to share the rest of this 400 sq ft space!