We stole a few square feet from our master...well heck quite a few really in two projects. We had a 650 ish sq ft space that had a tiny bathroom (one vanity, toilet, tiny shower and a closet). The tub was actually IN the master bedroom. So we took the tub out, and expanded the bathroom by ohhh let's see, about 3' on one side, and five on the other and expanded that closet out another 3' so we could have a tub, walk in shower, two vanities and a laundry (stackable) on that floor. We then closed off 12' of the room giving us a walk in closet that is about 12' x 15'. Do I regret it? I haven't got to live in the suite with the new bathroom yet (tiling starts on Monday) but the loss of sq ft is no biggie. With the closet (full of buildins and a desk area) we lost all of the furniture we had for storage :) So we don't miss that space. With the expansion of the bath and the closet...we brought laundry up five levels (the main level 1 is down five levels where the other laundry is) which is fabulous, and we lost a few sq ft where we once had a dresser with a TV on it. We will instead have that dresser in the closet and hang a flat screen on the wall. Really...we lost a big amount of sq ft, but since it's more efficient, it's not a big deal. And as to the bath, I don't see ever regretting the change :) Not knocking elbows while brushing teeth is a huge change for the good...and showering without seeing DH on the toilet...priceless :oP We had the place appraised with an as proposed appraisal, and while the master floor (top level) didn't change within it's walls in sq ft, the addition to the bath, laundry and master closet, increased our home value on that level alone by over $50,000. (Closet was $25,000 increased value).

I just want to add that this is a great thread full of lots of practical advice. My home is small, 1200 sq ft with the same # of rooms as yours. The room that feel the smallest (IE the Living ROOM) has too much furniture in it, the seating is overstuffed/oversized for the room, and it has clutter hanging around. My boys share a small bedroom (I think it's almost 10x10). We didn't get a bunk bed because they are crazy monkeys, they have matching twin captain's beds that take up almost the entire room. Furniture that has multiple functions (bed/storage) is so practical for a small house. When we moved in ~12 years ago, I didn't fully realize that most new furniture was scaled for the LARGE homes currently popular, hence how I ended up with living room furniture that is inappropriate for the size of the room. I don't have any unique advice to add except that, for me, it takes a lot of self-discipline not to let the day-to-day stuff pile up. And still sometimes it does and i just keep putting it into a big box until I can deal with it. I have made several pocket organizers that hang on the wall and I think they have helped a lot in terms of adding storage/organization without taking up space.

Shades of Idaho, I saw in some TV program, I think BANG FOR YOUR BUCK on HGTV, where a couple had somehow mounted the TV inside a console or buffet, and changed the top of the furniture piece to hinge up like a trunk. They had it at the foot of their bed in a smallish master suite. BUT, I think it would work also between a pair of windows even if they go floor to ceiling or have shutters or drapes. Even a TV cabinet like a bench with drawers beneath it, could have the top set to lift up for a wide screen TV, and when closed there could be a cushion on top for extra seating. Thinking up ideas is always a lot easier than doing the real thing, isn't it!!! And besides, the real charm is in making a less than perfect situation work for you. If you notice, our shutters were ordered with the TV location in mind. Each window has only one shutter and it opens away from the TV, so we can get to the full window for maintenance.

My Chicago studio apartment (where I lived alone, 1992-93) and the first Boston-area apartment DH and I had after we were married (1995-97) were both in the area of 200sf. At the Chicago studio I was in culinary school so I HAD to be able to cook - a lot! - to test recipes for class, in the Boston apartment we were too broke to go out to eat ($10 takeout Chinese was a monthly treat; our grocery budget was a corset-tight $25/week) so we had to be able to cook there too, so cooking equipment took up a good deal of space that could have been used for other things. Had the Boston apartment been in a good neighborhood and had we not been squeezing every nickel till the buffalo farted we'd have stayed a lot longer, as we were quite happy. It gets my hackles up to hear a very small living space described as a "jail cell". You don't need a thousand square feet per person (and I know some of you have FAR more than that!) to be happy! The only mirrors in either apartment were in the bathrooms. I really dislike mirrors in living areas - I don't think they make a room look bigger at all, IMO, I think they make it look even more cluttered/cramped by reflecting all the stuff that's in the room. BTDT (two houses ago an entire wall of the tiny DR was mirrored in a IMO-futile attempt to make the room look larger and brighter), covered the mirrors. I'd much prefer to have a great deal of color and artwork (I was not allowed to paint either apartment but they were a riot of artwork), but they may just prefer minimalism. Oh, and there were cats (just one) in both apartments. Chicago was playing "hide-the-kitty" for a friend for weeks at a time, Boston was when we got Random to keep me company when DH was working double shifts.