Archt. Ilmi Dissanayake
- Aug 8, 2022
- 3 min read

Modern Interior Design Ideas for Small Homes in Low Budget

Are you looking for modern interior design ideas for small homes on a low budget? Then this article can help you.

In this article I'm talking about the interior project "Modern Elegance".

Modern Elegance

Here the client came to us to get the interior design done for her existing house. The main structure was completed and the house was at the finishing stage.

The main challenge was responding to the existing spaces

It is because the house design was not done thinking ahead of the interior furniture arrangement. Some areas had odd shapes and some spaces couldn't fit in normal furniture.

The designer always has to have the furniture layout in mind when designing a house. Planning everything ahead can save you a lot of money and hassle.

Our concept was to reduce the chaotic nature of the existing built form and introduce calm and cosy spaces with functional furniture and fixtures for the users.

After analysing the built layout, we proposed custom designed furniture to fit in each and every space, considering the odd corners and dimensions into the design. We used curved forms, edges, light fittings and soft rugs to achieve our concept.

Furniture Arrangement: Lower Ground Floor

A neutral colour palette was selected for the ground floor to give elegant and calming feelings.

Entry Foyer

Right after entering the house, the living area was scattered and had a small pace that didn't serve any prominence.

So we divided this area from the living room creating an entry foyer, separated it from the TV lounge with a timber screen and placed a Buddha statue to create a space for worshiping.

Living Room

In the living room, the sofa and the bookshelf were designed following the dimensions of the existing layout. We created two accent walls at the back of the sofa to give a separate cosy feeling.

TV Lounge

The TV Lounge had the staircase which leads to the lower ground level. The staircase has been originally planned to take a curved shape. Therefore, the floor slab had an odd angular cut.

We designed the Sofa for the TV lounge responding to this existing angle. The sofa is designed to fill the odd corners creating an attached side table.

The TV lounge had a height of 4m. In order to scale it down and create a more cosy feeling, we added a back panel for the TV console to maintain the heights of the doors, openings and bookshelf.

Kids’ Room

Requirement for the Kids’ Room was a bunk bed and study for two children.

The tables and shelves are pushed on either side of the room creating space in the middle. The bunk bed was designed with shelves under the stairs optimizing space. We also created a climbing wall and an accent wall to add a bright playful feeling.

Master Bedroom

The main problem the client had in bedrooms were having not enough space to place the wardrobes. This is because the original house design was not done after thinking of the furniture arrangement. Here we had to reduce the standard width of the wardrobe in order to give proper circulation space for the master bedroom.

Here, the client’s only option to include the bedspace and extra furniture in the bedroom was to go for a custom furniture design. These kinds of problems arise due to poor space planning done by unqualified people.

Check this article to find more about the mistakes you have to avoid when designing a small home:

5 Common Small House Interior Design Mistakes that You Don't Know You're Making

Terrace

For the terrace we added a canopy roof, a flower trough, and a hanging chair with additional seating.

The terrace can be functioned as an extension for the living area when there is a special function in the house. On a typical day, the terrace can be a great place to read a book.