It's never too early to start planning for Christmas, but gifts and turkey aren't the only things that need a bit of thought. Have you considered making the most of the space you've got to avoid the usual gridlock round the buffet table? Or maybe your home gets turned into a veritable B&B over the festive season and you'd rather guests didn't have to fight for the spare room? If moving house or building an extension is out of the question, taking a fresh look at what you already have is the way to go. Look at your home from a new perspective and don't be afraid of adapting and changing things to make the best possible use of the room you already have. The attic, cellar and garage often get used as a dumping ground for all sorts of junk, but they can easily be made into another very usable room. Some houses have integral garages which can be converted for use as a bedroom, study or granny annexe, which is a far cheaper option than building an extension. Try having a bit of a clear out while thinking of ways to maximise potential. If this isn't an option, think about simply opening up rooms. The obvious ones are the dining and living areas which can be united as one large room. Or if the dining room adjoins a tiny kitchen, why not consider making the two of them one, to create a large airy kitchen-diner. Hallways can often be quite oppressive and gloomy, especially if they are narrow, but this can be sorted by knocking through to an adjacent living room. This may mean your front door ends up opening straight into the living area, often this is a feature of terraced cottage-style properties, so can be quite attractive. Removing doors is another way of creating space and doing away with the one to the kitchen can often work wonders because you can then use every bit of the walls for fitted units, without having to accommodate the door clearance. Replace ordinary doors with trendy beaded curtains or sliding doors that take up far less room. Use hanging rails for storage and put a few space-saving kitchen gadgets on your Christmas wish list. In a small house, living rooms often have to accommodate a variety of different activities and may be used for hobbies, homework, dining, socialising and even as a home office or guest bedroom. With this in mind, the layout of furniture is really important and needs to be flexible and multi-functional. Go for furniture that can serve more than one purpose such as sofa-beds, a nest of tables rather than one large one and folding tables that can be collapsed and put out of the way when not in use, then quickly opened up at meal times. In the bathroom, a corner bath will make the very most of available space, or you could do away with it entirely and opt for a shower cubicle instead. Attach cabinets to the walls, put up shelving and buy a laundry bin that can double as a stool. Fitted wardrobes in bedrooms make excellent use of space but can be expensive. Cheaper alternatives are ready-made fittings than can be adapted to fit any room. A shoe-rack, storage boxes and laundry bin are all useful space savers, as are bedside tables that incorporate drawers or cupboards. Make sure you make good use of the area under the bed and on top of wardrobes too. You may not think landings and halls will provide any extra space but there are often ways of adapting a corner or adding a shelf to help use every inch of available space. A good size mirror will make the darkest of halls look bigger and brighter and a row of hooks keeps coats and hats tidy. Fixing shelves high on a wall to store books you don't need all that frequently is a good idea too. | 
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