By Lisa Neff

Contributing writer

Before I could read, I learned from my mother the Little Golden Book story of “Mister Dog,” a dog who lived a simple life, with a place for everything and everything in his small space.

Some years later, when I could read, I learned for myself the story of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and while he took a fantastic journey, I was most fascinated with his fantastic little hobbit hole.

More years later, when friends daydreamed of striking it rich and living big in a mega-mansion in Lake Forest, I dreamed of striking it rich and living small—on a houseboat, in an RV, in a cottage in the woods or on an island. Whenever I accumulated more stuff than I thought I could fit in one of those eventual homes, I unloaded on Howard Brown. That made the move from Chicago to the island cottage much easier—though my partner and I continue to work at setting up home in our small space on Anna Maria Island, Fla.

Living well in a small space can be as much—maybe more—of a challenge than living well in a large space. Perhaps you need more cash to decorate and fill a loft in River North, but you need creativity and ingenuity to decorate and not fill a small studio in Uptown.

CFP offers some ideas…

For the shelf: Look this fall for “Downsizing your Home with Style” by Lauri Ward from Harper Collins. Ward offers space-saving advice for creating comfortable homes with “what you have” and even less. She begins with a rundown on the most common mistakes people make in setting up house: not defining priorities, creating uncomfortable conversation areas, misarranging furniture, creating a room that’s off-balance, lacking cohesion, improperly using artwork and lighting. The book, due out in November, is a good guide for beginning decorators and downsizers—and doesn’t take up much space at all.

For the wall: For those who want to make their space seem larger, more luxurious, try the wall art from Murals Your Way. The murals, which come packaged in panels with glue, go up easy and create the illusion that the living room lies on a deserted tropical beach at sunset or the bustling Las Vegas strip at midnight. The murals can provide a room with color, depth, atmosphere and attitude. Murals Your Way’s database of images exceeds 5,000, but murals can be made from submitted photographs as well—maybe you want to bring the Halsted Street strip into your bedroom? www.muralsyourway.com

These days, an average-sized television set can take up a hefty chunk of a small living space—or, with a flat screen, hardly any space at all. Hitachi’s fall line of HDTVs includes feature-rich flat panel displays like the 60-inch plasma TV in the Director’s series for consumers with a sharp eye and a discriminating taste. Two new 55-inch plasma displays, one H-Series and one T-Series, offer 1.3 million pixels and best-in-class resolution (1280 x 1080) that render sharper detail than conventional plasma displays. A selection of three 50-inch plasma displays, one S-Series, one V-Series and one Director’s Series model, offer consumers a range of features and options.

Prefer stretching out with a good read rather than a good watch? Switch out that flat screen TV for an almost flat fireplace. Lennox Hearth fireplace manufacturers have two new catalytic vent-free gas fireplaces on the market—the Radium and Scandium. Both are slim—the Radium is about 7 ½ inches deep and the smaller Scandium is about 7 inches deep. “The thin design…allows easy installation almost anywhere a gas line is available,” says LHP’s Scott Andrunas. “No special framing is required. Their sleek look is much like a plasma television and the view is equally entertaining.” www.lennox.com

For stowing away: Storage in a small space is often scarce. Experts suggest selecting storage that serves additional purposes, especially decorative pieces that can add to a room rather than take up closet space. The Art of Storage gets its purpose across in the names of its products—the Cezanne, the Monet, the Degas, the Gauguin. The Art of Storage by Delta Design Company offers innovative storage products that maximize the use of space and blend with modern design. You can put a Monet bike storage rack in the garage, but you can also put a Monet bike storage rack in the living room. The Monet, Vincent and Gauguin are folding bike racks with extra shelves for helmets or water bottles. The Cezanne is a multi-use storage system for bikes, skis, baseball bats, snowboards and accessories. The Degas stores a kayak and the Vermeer is elegant shelving. www.theartofstorage.com

Remember the milk crates you “borrowed” for your dorm room stash of shower gear, bar ware and dinner dishes? Storvino’s wine storage modules are reminiscent of the style, but they connect—no toppling of treasured bottles of Three-Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s. Entrepreneur Bob Stonhaus invented the Storvino system after he moved to a small house several years ago and was stuck with nowhere to store 250 bottles of wine. Rather than drink them all, Stonhaus developed his modular system—a finalist for the 2007 International Housewares Design Award. www.storvino.com

For living spaces that lack a second bedroom to stow away a guest—or even those that lack a first bedroom for the primary residents—Aerobed makes a variety of durable but stylish air mattresses. Aerobed’s Premier twin mattress has air coils for firmness, tough material for strength, a washable mattress pad for hygiene and comfort, a built-in pump that inflates and deflates the bed in less than 60 seconds and a control device to make “making the bed” easy. Aerobed also makes an all-terrain mattress that’s perfect for the camper—even comes with a built-in pillow. www.aerobed.com

Sometimes the contraptions we most hate to use take up way too much space. The new Electrolux Intensity vacuum is an upright vacuum with a collapsible handle—the vacuum folds down to 14 inches for storage-challenged spaces. A bonus is the vacuum’s unique design means a shorter air path, providing 50 percent more suction power than the average upright vacuum.

For the desk: Envision Peripherals’ new HD monitors, the hard-to-remember L19W461-661 and L15X661, serve double duty. As Vista-certified LCD monitors, they serve computer needs. And, with great imaging capabilities, they serve TV needs.

For the air: In cramped quarters, some scented candles, incense and perfume can overpower like Lysol in the bathroom. I’d choose eau de cat litter over Glade or Febreze in a studio. But Aroma Naturals candles and electric diffusers seem natural, soft and subtle scents. Aroma Naturals’ word for its product is “aromatheraperfect” because the candles are made with 100 percent essential oils to reduce stress and balance wellness. The candles also are green friendly, using lead-free wicks and vegetable and soy waxes to burn clean. Two favorites—the lavender-scented “tranquility” candle and the peppermint and eucalyptus “vitality” candle. Breathe deep. www.aromanaturals.com