Spare 10 minutes to check out the corners in your rooms. Check whether they are attractive and well-utilised spaces, or are they gloomy and wasted nooks.

Put in a bit of creative thinking, and these dull corners will get totally transformed into spaces that are decorative, utilitarian, or both.

Living rooms

As one tends to focus more on the seating and centre tables, corners are often ignored in these rooms. This makes the room appear smaller in size and business-like, too. Blend in the corner into the seating with an L-shaped modular sofa — the room will look expansive and the cosy corner seat can be a comfy nook to stretch your legs and watch TV.

If you must have a corner table, don’t make it a boring 18-inch high piece. Go for a taller one (24-30 inches high), throw a bright floor-length tablecloth over it, top it with a thin sheet of glass and use it to display coordinated artefacts. It looks homely, yet stylish.

Bring life into the main corner of the living area with one or more plants. An aquarium on a pedestal is great for a corner here. The fishes add life, their colours and bring in natural hues.

Dining rooms

Dining spaces have plenty of stiff vertical lines created by the legs of the table and chairs, which is why these rooms require a special soft touch. Delicate plants with fine foliage are the logical answers.

A tall statue — preferably taller than the dining chairs, say, 4-5ft high — makes the space more lived in, especially for the lone diner. If you have a shorter statuette, place it on a colour-coordinated pillar.

Try to keep these decorations in pure white or near-white colours that do not distract attention from the colours of the table linen and the food served. Marble statues hold an old-world charm, but, if on a budget, shop around for look-alikes in painted plastered, alabaster and acrylics.

If you find statues passé, replace them with vases and containers. Containers are available in a massive range of materials such as clear glass, translucent glass, opaque glass, crystal, ceramic, porcelain, terracotta and stainless steel.

A low-light corner glass cabinet is a good choice. You could opt for a triangular piece or a square one. These can be around 5ft high and made within a structure of wooden posts, with clear float glass panels on all sides.

Balconies

Large balconies are versatile spaces. You can do anything in their corners — so take your pick from any of the pointers given above for living and dining rooms.

Smaller balconies require more attention. Go for ceiling-suspended macramé potholders made of white cotton or nylon ropes. You could buy them or even make them yourself with a little help from any home decorating step-by-step design book. Design it to hold small pots at varied heights and fill them with easy-to-maintain cascading plants.

(The author is an interior design consultant, specialising in the design of corporate and residential interiors. As a senior faculty member at a Calcutta institute, she has delivered lectures, guided research and conducted projects in the field of ‘Housing & Interior Design’ for over two decades. She can be contacted at kusumsmail@yahoo.com )