HAVE you been dreaming of sprucing up a small space in your house but just can’t seem to get it done? Are you worried about the cost, the time it will take, and who will actually do the work?

Ilia and Kane Tomlinson transformed what used to be a single-car garage into a gorgeous studio. It’s a 265-square-foot space on the ground floor and it took them about six months of steady work, in-between their full-time jobs, to get it done.

Firm believers in doing it yourself (DIY), they estimate they did 70 per cent of the upgrade and called in professionals for things like electrical work and tiling. It took them a while to build up to doing an entire studio, and it’s been an interesting journey.

“Kane didn’t just jump up and decide to build a kitchen counter or a ceiling in the space. He started off with a dining room table, and then he realised that he had some equipment that was useful for other projects. Then he built our back deck, and then eventually he just kept on working and adding to his equipment list and learning new tasks and skills,” said Ilia.

The Tomlinsons told the Jamaica Observer how they pulled off upgrading a small space on a budget.

Q: What are the most important things to bear in mind when sprucing up a small space if you don’t have unlimited funds?

The Tomlinsons:

Flow

The first thing we agreed on was the flow of the space and what goes into it — you don’t want to just place things haphazardly. When someone comes into the space, it has to feel natural. We also took into consideration where the space is located in relation to where the sun rises, where the sun sets, where we put windows; that also played an important role in the flow.

Can’t live without

Identify your ‘must haves’. For example, if we’re having a kitchenette we need to have a microwave and a refrigerator. What size would that refrigerator be, based on the space that we have? We need to have somewhere for guests to cook. How is that going to fit into the space?

We are big on space saving and maximising space so from floor to ceiling, vertical space is important. We had to look at what is available in terms of space-saving appliances, and how we could utilise them.

Lighting and colours

Because the space is small, the tone of the walls — even the floor and the ceiling — is so very important. We went with a lot of natural shades, with some bright pops of colour and a lot of white. We have a low ceiling and our tile is white as well. We wanted to ensure that there was a contrast on the walls, but then we had those bright pops of colour.

It’s not just about choosing the type of colours and paint but the type of finish. Is it going to be satin with a gloss? Is it going to reflect the light? Is it going to absorb the light with a matte feel? We decided all of that based on the different aspects of how we wanted to lay it out in the space.

And then, of course, lighting those spaces. We chose to go with a lot of light and a lot of different style lights — fan lights, wall lights based on a specific proximity from the wall — so that it’s actually making an impact. We also used track lights, recessed lights — we thought that was super important.

Positioning of the light and how much lighting you have in the space helps get rid of dark areas in the room. When you have that illumination it creates an illusion that the space is much larger than it is.

Our ceiling is actually about eight feet or less. We went with the white ceiling, so when light reflects off it that gives the illusion that it’s much higher.

And, of course, dropping in a few mirrors doesn’t hurt.

We have a large mirror that gives you a reflection of the room and creates the illusion of the space being much larger than it is.

Define the space

We chose to use a slat-style separator in the room, and that was really just to ensure that the open-style concept was not interrupted by a solid wall. That allows us to differentiate the spaces without permanent divisions you’d have to literally walk around. The slats give it room to breathe, it doesn’t take away from the space itself; it makes it feel airy.

Q: For anyone thinking of upgrading a small space at home, please share three tips, based on the lessons you learned from doing your studio.

Ilia: If you’re going to be doing a renovation or any kind or refreshing of a space, personally do as much of it as you can. Obviously, that’s better for the budget. Do your research; invest in equipment and in yourself. Don’t shy away from online training. We’re big on DIY so a lot of what we did in the space was done personally — mostly by Kane, because he’s a woodwork person.

Kane: Watch a YouTube video and learn; that’s what I did. I’m a commissioned land surveyor by profession and my passion is architecture. A project like this was never part of my skill set but it’s just how you view it and how you apply yourself. You can’t go into this with any fear that it will be impossible to learn the skills you need.

Hardware stores usually have a section where they sell damaged material for a lower cost. See if you can utilise that kind of material without compromising quality.

I used mostly pallet wood to do most of my work in the area — that is a key thing you have to look into — but you have to invest in the equipment and in yourself.

Ilia: You need to be flexible throughout the process. We had a vision when we started. We’re very happy with the outcome but in a lot of cases, we had to pivot. We didn’t let our frustration of trying to be fixated on what exactly we wanted stop us from getting the job done. We worked with the process as it unfolded.

We went with the ultimate goal of quality in the look and feel of the studio, so we made sure that along the way we were flexible throughout the process.

And then, last but not least, we wish we had documented more of the process. If we had taken some videos and did a little bit of documentation along the way — filing every little cost, not just the major ones — we would have a better idea of the process. We did it over time. We were in no rush to get it done. We were just in a rush to get it done properly. We made sure that we just paced ourselves and let the process work.