Furnishing a small apartment with all the luxuries of life can be a tricky project. You need to have enough room in there for the essentials, and you need to make sure you don’t take up too much space either. Then you have to figure out a way to make sure that you still have enough space left for storage, for things like your clothes and all the kitchen utensils.
It can be tricky business, but furnishing a small space to look open and spacious is all about using the right tricks and optical illusions. Interior decorators know all about this stuff, and they don’t hesitate to give us plain folks some pointers now and then.
If you want to know what these tips and tricks are, keep reading.
Keep the Decor Simple
It can be really easy to make an apartment feel like it’s stuffy and too small if you’re working with limited space, and you need to be mindful of how you decorate it. Now is not the time to bring in the vases and the tabletop decorations – in fact, this is the time to be scaling down on your decor and keeping it simple.
The same goes for color as well. You need to lean towards plain and neutral colors to give your apartment an airy, light, and spacious feel.
If you want to throw in some color though, you can get one bold statement piece and hang it on the wall – but avoid letting it take up any extra floor space, which brings us to the next tip.
Clear the Way
When arranging furniture in your new space, make sure you’re not putting anything near the doors, and that you have a clear path for people to walk through.
It won’t hurt if you just group all your furniture to a single side of the apartment as long as no one’s bumping into anything.
Clear the Floor
A great tip to help make a room feel open is to be careful about how much floor space your furniture is taking up. Even if you have a chair to place at a certain place, get a sleek one that leaves the floor visible under it, and has narrow legs.
Enough floor space being visible will make the space feel much more open and will help you avoid feeling claustrophobic in your new place.
Avoid Bulky Furniture
Sleek and minimalist furniture is the way to go for small spaces, but when we say minimalist not only are we talking about the design but also the way it’s built. A wide chair or slim wooden sofa will be able to seat just as many people as a puffed-up couch, but it will take up much less space – and will leave the floor visible under it.
This needs to be a rule for all the furniture you get for your new place or any that you alter for it. Don’t underestimate how much space just one or two bulky items can take up when it’s already limited.
Vertical and Horizontal Lines
Remember when we talked about how maximizing space is all about creating a big optical illusion? Well, you can have a little help from straight parallel lines in creating that optical illusion.
If you add any kind of vertical lines on the walls of your apartment and then add tall and slim furniture along the walls, you’ll have a really easy time making the room look like it has a higher ceiling than it actually does.
Applying the same theory to horizontal lines, combining them with low and wide furniture can make the room itself look wider.
Don’t Block Out the View
Heavy drapes or curtains block out natural light and make the area look closed off and small even when it’s really not getting any smaller. This is why vertical or horizontal blinds or shades are a much better idea.
Going on this same advice, we suggest opting out of anything with heavy fabrics and drapes. Instead, go for sheer fabrics or none at all for a nice, light, and airy look.
Use Mirrors
A strategically-placed mirror on the wall can help make your apartment look spacious and roomy – it gives the illusion of extra space.
This is why putting up mirrors on the wall, or even getting a closet with mirrors on the doors is a great idea to give yourself the illusion of space.
Leave the Floor Bare
The more floor space that’s visible in your apartment, the better. This is why we suggest opting out of using any kind of carpets or floor coverings – it’s basically the same thing as making sure you use furniture that allows the floor to stay visible.
Decorating your new apartment can be hard, and you might not get it right the first time. Don’t be scared to move things around until they feel okay, and remember to keep your decor from becoming too overpowering or taking over the space.
