Jennifer Sheahan: The best gadgets for small-space living

Sat, 04 Jun, 2022 - 10:48

Jennifer Sheahan

Living in a tiny space can become problematic when you’re a gadget geek — the proliferation of exciting tech is both hard to resist and hard to fit into your little home.

When space is at a premium, you have to forego buying the latest version of everything. However, the good news is that great gadgets are constantly getting smaller, and there are many out there that will greatly enhance small-space living.

Here are my favourites for freeing up space in my small cottage.

Short-throw projectors

Companies such as Optoma, LG, and Epson make excellent ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors.

If you’ve followed my Instagram account @workerscottage for any length of time, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of projectors in place of TVs. TVs take up way too much permanent space, and I personally don’t like them being the focal point of a room.

This is especially true if you prefer a large screen. Enter the projector — in recent years they have come on in leaps and bounds. Companies such as Optoma, LG, and Epson make excellent ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors, where the projector can be placed right up against the surface or screen it’s projecting onto.

Projectors now have much better image quality and can project huge screen sizes while taking up minimum space.

High-quality UST projectors start at around €1,500.

They now have better auto-focus, colour-correction, and keystone adjustment — all of which means they are quick to set up and can be projected onto a much wider range of surfaces, such as your wall (even if it’s not white).

This also makes projectors much more maneuverable — because they’re quick to set up, you can put them away and out of sight when not in use.

High-quality UST projectors start at around €1,500. My top three recommendations are: LG Cinebeam, Optoma UST projectors, and Epson EpiqVision.

In the past year, there have been even greater advancements in portable short-throw projectors. These may have lower quality image resolution, but offer great quality at a lower price point. The Samsung Freestyle projector made a big splash at CES this year, and other brands such as BenQ, Nebula, and XGIMI all have excellent projectors for under €1,000.

What to look for when choosing a projector:

Throw distance: Minimum distance from the surface it’s projecting onto.
Lumens: This will tell you how bright the screen will be. If you want to watch in a bright daylit room, you’ll need at least 2500 lumens.
Resolution: Many offer 4k/1080p image quality.
Sound: Make sure to read the reviews, because not every manufacturer manages to fit a good speaker into a small projector.
Fan noise: Also read the reviews because they can get very noisy.

Small vacuums

A huge bonus of little houses is that there are fewer floors to clean! This also means you likely don’t need a big heavy-duty vacuum cleaner either. Luckily there are little ones available that won’t take up much storage space. I’ve done just fine in my little cottage with a robot vacuum cleaner and a handheld dust buster.

Robot vacuums are a no-brainer — they’re tiny (mine lives under my couch) and they do the hoovering for you. Praise be to the tech lords.

Prices have come way down too — my model, the Kyvol E31, is less than €300, and Eufy has a well-reviewed one for €220.

My recommendation is to get one that will mop too — it’s not fantastic, you’ll still need to scrub some areas, but for regular upkeep, it does the job just fine.

One place your robot won’t vacuum is the stairs, and so you’ll need a handheld vacuum for that and other hard-to-reach areas.

I got a generous housewarming gift of the Dyson V7 Trigger, which I’m happy with, but depending on your standards of cleanliness you can get a great handheld vacuum for €70 and upwards — Black and Decker models always get good reviews.

Smart home hub

When it comes to space-saving gadgets, it’s hard to argue with smart home hubs such as the Amazon Echo, the Google Home, or the Apple HomePod.

Smart Home Hubs save space by doubling up as speakers, radios, alarms, device controllers, even lamps in some instances, and offer a hands-free response to “how many grams is in one ounce” when busy in the kitchen.

Some worry they are an invasion of privacy, but frankly, I think my phone has already removed any pretence of personal privacy anyway so if Big Tech wants to know the detail of my shopping list or how many times I ask “is it OK for my dog to eat xyz” then they can have it.

Handheld steamer

Steamers are brilliant little wrinkle removers and are super for freshening up clothes quickly.

Aside from a TV screen, the other gadget I refuse to allow in my small cottage is an iron. This is primarily because I detest ironing, but also because irons and ironing boards take up too much storage space for my liking.

While I generally avoid fabrics that require ironing (hello linen bedsheets!) there are some items, such as shirts, where it just can’t be avoided.

This is where a hand steamer is your best friend. Steamers are brilliant little wrinkle removers and are super for freshening up clothes quickly. The beautiful Steamery Cirrus is currently very popular, and Tefal steamers always get good reviews. Mine is a Beldray and I find it perfectly adequate, though be warned my personal standards for ironing are not that high.