They say a change is as good as a rest. Well, they're right. My wife and I have had the same living room layout since we moved into our home. As our home is small, we just assumed it was the best arrangement for the space we had to work with. Then, one night as I steam-cleaned the carpets, my wife had a moment of inspiration that made all the difference.

As I'm sure you know, steam-cleaning requires the furniture to be moved from the area you're sprucing up. Usually, we move it out of the way, clean, and put it back right over the indents left in the carpet. One thing we do not move is the upright piano, because it weighs about as much a baby elephant.

"What if we put the piano in front of the window?" my wife said. I scratched my head, and thought it was never going to work. After all, the living room doesn't get much light and blocking some of it with the piano wouldn't work, right? Wrong.

The new arrangement worked. We suddenly had more room, more places for our girls to play, less clutter and a lot of brand-new looking carpet. The old arrangement had basically put the loveseat out of commission for watching TV; it was almost impossible to see the screen. Not so with the new layout. In fact, I was left wondering why we didn't do it this way in the first place. And the cost of this fresh new living space was nothing. Not one cent on anything new, we just moved things around and created a fresh new living space.

This may seem like common sense to many of you, but I just thought we were stuck with the old layout because nothing else would work. And I was SO wrong. Now, at a time when money is very tight and moving out of a smaller home may not be possible, this may be a great alternative to buying anything new, be it a home or a small table.

Take a look at any living area in your home, from the bedroom to the back yard, and see if there is another way of making it work. Don't be afraid to move things around, if it doesn't work you can always move it back. You may be surprised at what you can create when just look at your old living spaces with fresh eyes.

If you don't want to move things around, do a quick sketch. Use a tape measure to make things will fit. You can even use software to see it in 3D before you ever move a thing. But the point is, your oldest, lived-in space can be given a brand new lease of life by simply swapping a few items of furniture around. So, give it a try. You have nothing to lose but the old cobwebs under the coffee table.

Oh, and for some ideas, check this book out:

500 Ideas for Small Spaces: Easy Solutions for Living in 1000 Square Feet or Less

Great ideas for anyone looking to rearrange in a small space. It's available from trusted seller Amazon.