7 Low-Cost Design Ideas for Small Retail Spaces

Neutral-colored furniture with accent pillows and accessories doesn't overwhelm shoppers. An end table creates a divider between displays at Cocobolo Interiors in Armonk, N.Y.

Credit: Tom Anckner

When Julie Owen bought Cocobolo Interiors in 2008, she set about adding more contemporary items to the Armonk, N.Y., shop. But with only 3,000 square feet, she struggled to figure out where to put her expanding line of furniture, lighting fixtures and accessories. Her solution: create sections within the shop and arrange the furniture the way customers might imagine it at home, using low bookcases and folding screens as dividers.

As Owen discovered, making the most of a small retail shop means being strategic about how you design the space and organize your merchandise. Here are seven other simple and affordable ways to maximize a small retail space:

1. Paint an accent wall.Painting one wall a bold color is an affordable and effective way to not only spice up the space, but also to make it look larger. A bold colored wall creates the illusion of receding in space, says Libby Langdon, HGTV design expert and author of Libby Langdon's Small Space Solutions (Knack, 2009). Putting colorfully printed fabric or wallpaper on one of your walls is another way to achieve the same effect, while adding eye-catching textures and patterns to your store.

Related: Creating Shops from Shipping Containers

An old bed serves as a space-saving and creative way to display tea towels along an orange accent wall at Poppyseeds in Stanwood, Wash.

Credit: Amber Strehle, Tres Birds Photography

2. Create window-like effects. Windows can open up a small space and make it seem larger. At Poppyseeds, a vintage decor and fashion accessory shop in Stanwood, Wash., the owners cut window spaces into the walls separating two small rooms to create a more airy feel. In another room, co-owner Marybeth Sande put white linen panels across an entire wall, creating the illusion of windows. Hanging drapes around tall, skinny mirrors is another way to create a window effect, Langdon says. "That gives an illusion of more light and movement in a small space."

3. Think vertically.Displaying items on various levels maximizes space and is visually appealing to customers, says Jerry Birnbach, a Somers, N.Y., store-planning consultant. Hanging shelving at different levels is the easiest way to achieve this effect. You also can mount drapes and other items from the ceiling to the floor to draw the eye up and create the sense of a larger space, Langdon says.

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7 Low-Cost Design Ideas for Small Retail Spaces