Not enjoying small space living? With these 21 life-changing small space living tips & small apartment ideas (design, decor & organization), you can easily change that! Read & learn how!
Small apartment living is a real nightmare if you’re a beginner. No matter what you do, you just can’t seem to fit into your space & can’t seem to make it homy.
I totally understand you! With the lack of resources on small space living, it’s challenging to tailor your space to your needs & make it feel like a real home.
But these 21 genius small apartment ideas are real game changers! Read more & learn how to design, decorate & organize your tiny home so that you can finally feel good in it!
small apartment living : the best tips
01. Keep your home clutter-free
If you don’t want to go insane in a small apartment, you gotta treat all problems right before they emerge! And in the case of a tiny home, all problems can be associated with having too much clutter lying around.
So it’s vital that you learn declutter, reorganize & systemize your home like a pro!
But a cluttered home is merely a symptom of a more serious underlying cause: hoarding & poor organizational skills. To avoid the problem before it even emerges, make sure that every purchase you make is justified with a valid reason & that your new belongings will have their own, assigned place in your home!
02. Make sure your furniture are 100% tailored to your tiny place
Lots of small home owners go wrong with furniture! It’s super challenging for some to find the pieces that are best suited to a small apartment in size & design.
But with this guide, you’re definitely not gonna be one of those people! Because I’ll tell you here & now that tailoring your furniture to your space is as easy as it gets!
Scaling down all your furniture is the first step you should take! You can get whatever piece you’d like, no need to sacrifice anything – just make sure you get them at least a size smaller!
Of course, this isn’t going to suffice most of the time! You’ll have to be very strategic when choosing the right furniture: it’s best if you know where you’d like to place it, where you could move it if you weren’t pleased with its placement & so many other things far in advance!
Trust me, such simple considerations will make your day-to-day life in a small space so much easier!
03. Utilize vertical space
Small apartment living requires you to think outside the box. When it comes to utilizing your space to the max, it’s important to think vertically!
Of course, there are items that just need to take up floor space, such as a standing lamp, a magazine holder or a nice decorative vase, your main focus should be on going vertical! Both with storage AND decor!
So if you’d love to save some extra floor space, install floating shelves, get a wire wall grid panel, use wall mounted basket & bins for storage, get a wall mounted shoe rack for your entryway wardrobe & use over-the-door organizers!
And if you’d like to beautify your space instead, opt for 3D metal wall art, framed printable art, peel & stick wallpaper, a boho bead garland or geometric hanging plant holders.
These are just a few exceptional ideas that let you go vertical – not only through utilizing your walls, but your doors, wardrobes & even cabinet doors! -. Definitely go ahead & tailor it specifically to your space, though!
you might also want to read:
| Small apartment kitchen design : 13 inspiring ideas to try |
04. Hide as much of the functionality of your home as you can
Too much functionality showing can really impact the way you perceive a space. Regardless of size! BUT small apartments look especially cramped & overcrowded when you don’t hide the signs of functionality!
What do I mean by that, exactly? Basically the fact that you’ve been using your apartment as you should!
I get it, this sounds crazy, but it really is a factor that can make you feel less at home! The key here is to beautify your everyday items to make them seem less functional!
So get a cable management box & tidy up those ugly cables, get a nice mirrored jewellery box & place your reading glasses in there, buy a rustic wooden tray for your remotes & place a decorative vase, some candles & matches in clear glass jars next to them for contrast.
For your kitchen, you could get a set of cookbooks, an asymmetrical cutting board, a vase full of dried flowers or decorative towels that you’ll place next to your coffee machine, toaster & whatever functional’s in pure sight!
So easy is that!
05. A light, neutral color scheme is a relief for the eyes
If there’s one game-changer to make any space instantly more liveable, it’s most likely a light, neutral color scheme!
Pure white, shades of light brown, light grey or beige can brighten & open up any small space, not only making it look larger, but also more relaxing to be in! And you’ll be totally in love with that!
So make sure you incorporate these airy colors into your paint color, furniture & rug color and even flooring color choices!
06. Prioritize space-saving layouts
The wrong layouts can literally ruin your space & make small apartment living a nightmare! Especially in an open plan apartment, a proper layout for each space is crucial!
There’s absolutely no space here for anything linear! So don’t even consider a linear kitchen layout for example, where you only have a wall of cabinets to work with. Or a living room that’s pushed up against a wall. Both are huge enemies.
The absolute best layouts for your small space are those that let you utilize every tiny nook: L-shaped & U-shaped ones!
These not only help structure your space, so that it feels more pleasant to be in, but they also let you maximize each area!
you might also want to read:
| 24 clever small apartment storage ideas for the most effective small space ever |
07. Scale down on decor
We’ve touched on scaling down your furniture, but I gotta mention that minifying your decor is just as important -if not more!
Once again, it’s not the size of your decorative items that matters, it’s the quantity! We all love hoarding cute items we promise we’ll make use of, but instead, they all end up in our clutter drawer. Or worse, in pure sight! And we end up with a huge pile of decor that we simply cannot do anything with.
Now, this is exactly what you can avoid when you scale down on decor! You can have everything you’d love to, provided that you plan on using it – and will actually use ut! The key is to go multiple sizes down.
So yes, get your home a nice textured canvas wall art, a third decorative vase for your coffee table, an asymmetrical mirror, a decorative tray & bead garland or a beautiful sculpture to put on your window sills, but do so in the smallest size possible!
This will solve your clutter problem & at the same time, create a cozy ambience to be in.
08. Flowers look better than plants
Of course, plants look good anywhere (and also make you feel good!), but in a small apartment, flowers might be the better option!
Why? Simply because flowers are easier to tailor to your own preferences! Plants are simply the way they are & cannot really be altered to fit the overall aeshtetics of your home & you can’t really throw them out either.
But a nice bouquet of fresh, seasonal flowers or a beautifully curated bouquet of dried flowers can bring something new into your apartment! They provide freshness & excitement, unlike plants. Not to mention how much prettier they are with their vibrant colors!
And they are also easier to move around & get rid of, as well as beautify! Unlike plants, flowers can be put in stunning decorative vases & together they create some serious eye-candy, so that’s another plus.
So if you’d love to always have that wow-factor in your home, definitely opt for versatile flowers instead of your regular, boring plants!
09. Work with natural materials & simple fabrics
Simplicity is your ultimate best friend when it comes to small apartment living! You’d be surprised how much airier & expansive your space will look once you start working with natural materials!
Linen, cashmere, leather, velvet, seagrass, rattan & wood are materials that cannot miss from your home! They are so easy on the eyes, making your small space feel inviting & relaxing.
And that’s exactly what you wanna achieve when you live in a small space!
So swap out a marble coffee table for a rattan or wooden one, get a rattan lamp shade for your living room, a rattan headboard for your bed, consider getting a tufted velvet sofa, install weathered wood cabinets, linen bedding, seagrass storage baskets & a leather armchair for your space & see how you can transform it!
you might also want to read:
| How to furnish a small apartment : 12 brilliant solutions for small spaces |
10. Your lighting choices can easily ruin the design
When you have constraints on space, you gotta pay attention to your lighting options! They have a huge impact on both your perception of space AND its functionality, so don’t underestimate them!
Most of us do, though! We never bother to think our lighting choices through & that is a huge problem.
Here’s why: regular floor lamps & table lamps do more harm than good in small spaces. They just take up so much valuable space. Not to mention how they make your home feel overcrowded.
Instead, opt for wall sconces & other wall-mounted lights in a small home for extra surface lighting. Mood lighting is also super important, so make sure you have a few LED candles, fairy lights, LED ball lights & touch lamps in your apartment.
But what’s extremely important, is to have statement chandeliers & pendant lights! Whether it’s a black hat chandelier, Sputnik globe chandelier or modern crystal chandelier for your living room, a farmhouse kitchen island lighting or glass globe pendant lights for your kitchen, it’s crucial to have eye-catching lights if your small home to look its best!
11. Develop a tried & true organizational system for your kitchen
There’s tons of spaces in your home where you can go wrong. But your kitchen might just be the most obvious one.
You might have experienced the struggles of owning a tiny kitchen: you can’t seem to fit all your belongins into your cabinets, or if you can, your stuff seem to take up too much space. There’s tons of items that have no assigned spot & are laying around on your countertops unorganized, making your home feel much smaller.
To avoid all of this, it’s of high importance to develop a tried & true organizational system for your small kitchen! With the right kitchen cabinet organizers, storage solutions & the right pieces of furniture, you’ll be able to create a well-thought out system that works!
12. Be careful with rugs
Not really into interior design? If there’s one principle you HAVE to learn to make small apartment living easier, it’s definitely “the rug” principle!
That is, to pay enough attention to your rug choices! You gotta find the perfect size rugs for each area! It’s really important!
See, when you accidentally go a few sizes down, your space will start looking disproportional. And when you choose an area rug that’s too large, it’s going to narrow down your space, making it seem even smaller. You definitely don’t want that!
As a general rule of thumb, an area rug is the perfect size when it’s just a few inches bigger than the furniture it’s under. But here’s a more detailed guide to help you make the perfect decision!
you might also want to read:
| 16 space-saving small apartment closet ideas to make your life easier |
13. Play with shapes bravely
So if you must prioritize simplicity in a small space (as we’ve talked about earlier), that means you can’t play around, right? Not exactly!
One thing you can & should be brave with is shapes! When you have multiple differently shaped items in your home, the eyes will be naturally drawn to them! And that’s great news, because such natural focal points help make your home feel larger – & more fun to be in!
Of course, there’s no need to go overboard here either! Swap out a few decorative items to more distinctly shaped ones & alternate them bravely to bring an eventful, eye-catching design to life!
A curved sofa can be complemented nicely with a round nesting coffee table & a leather butterfly chair, for example! An asymmetrical cowhide area rug, a rectangular bubble candle, a hollow donut vase paired with a rustic, irregular wooden tray are perfect decor options to consider in this case!
14. Window sills can & should be utilized
If you’re leaving your window sills empty, you’re doing it wrong! They are there for you to utilize, so take the opportunity & expand your apartment with the help of your window sills!
Whether you decide to use it for purely decorative purposes, or practical ones, the advantages are clear to see either way. You’ll have more space for yourself!
So go ahead & line up your favourite decorative vases on your window sills, stack a few books on each other, place a decorative tray & bead garland on top just because & complement the look with some candles. Store your reading glasses, notebooks & whatever you can’t seem to fit elsewhere on your window sills.
And see how your space looks instantly brigther, bigger & more liveable!
15. Don’t leave your corners empty
When it comes to small apartment living, every inch of space must be cherished! Sometimes we underestimate what our corners could do for our homes, but this time, let’s not do that!
Your corners hold so much power: they can be transformed into focal points with the help of a standing mirror, a fuzzy rug, an ottoman & a decorative fashion book on top, but they can also be turned into a mini home office! Whatever you can imagine!
So start thinking about what you still need in your home & how you could solve that in a corner. A wall-mounted folding desk can help you create a tiny home office or a rolling kitchen island cart could fill that empty corner near your kitchen with much practicality.
If you feel like your home’s not missing anything, definitely don’t skip utilizing your corners, either: a simple magazine holder, multiple tier ladder corner shelf, a corner cabinet or a side table provide that very much needed extra storage space!
you might also want to read:
| 22 life-changing small apartment kitchen storage ideas |
16. Multifunctional furniture will literally save your home from looking cramped
Struggling to fit into your space? That is completely natural in small apartment living! And there’s one simple thing you can do to change that: invest in multifunctional furniture!
Storage ottomans will not only serve you as comfy foot rests, but they’ll also help you hide away your clutter like a dream! A wall-mounted folding desk could be a dining table by day & home office by night.
An entryway bench with a shoe compartment & a coat rack is perfect for tiny entryway. An expandable dining table will serve your day-to-day needs perfectly, but will help you fit all your guests for Thanksgiving! A sofa bed could also be a great choice for studio apartments instead of the regular couch-bed combination. It looks so much better as well!
17. Optimize your decor with the doors open
If you’re a small space owner, you probably leave your doors open at all times just to make your home feel bigger. I get it, I do that too.
But there’s one thing you gotta pay attention to when doing this & it’s rarely talked about. But for a harmonious, continuous design, you’ll want to optimize your decor with the doors open!
You’ll want to think of your home as an integrity of different areas that is continuous & flowing. This requires you to open all doors when decorating & try to include the same shapes, materials & colors into each room. Have reccuring elements, but also something new in each of them!
Since you’re going to leave the doors open anyway, it’s better if you also decorate with the doors open! This simple tip will instantly transform your space into a coherent unity that just feels GOOD to be in!
18. Round is sometimes better in a small home
Not only because of their high aesthetical value, but also because of their practicality are round items a must for small apartment living!
Round items counteract the generally rectangular & linear design of any apartment. But this is especially obvious in small size apartments! Not only that, but because of their round design, they are much more space-saving & easier to find a spot!
So ditch a basic rectangular dining table & swap it out for an extendable round one! Consider a curved sofa instead of a 2 seater couch. A round side & coffee table might also be better than a space-demanding rectangular one!
you might also want to read:
| Small apartment living room design : 17 life-changing ideas you’ll want to try |
19. Build around your bed
Do you sometimes feel like your bed takes up an unnecessary amount of space without providing any value for your home? That is actually true!
But not if you were foreseeing enough to get a platform storage bed! And most of us are not. So how can you compensate for all the space your bed takes up?
It’s so easy! First, get a set of bed risers. Those few inches of vertical space under your bed are perfect for storing your unused bedsheets, shoes & clothes!
Then, start building around your bed! Use high cabinets, floating shelves, wall cabinets or wall cube shelves to provide some extra storage space for yourself!
And that’s how you work with what you’ve still got to create a practical space that feels great to be in!
20. Expand your storage space using foldable rolling carts
If you’re still lacking storage, foldable slim rolling carts are going to save your home! They basically only have advantages!
So go & get yourself 2-3 just in case! They won’t take up much space: since they’re foldable, you’ll be able to store them under your bed, under your sofa, in your closet & in any tiny nook! Even on a bookcase!
But their space-saving design is not their biggest benefit! It’s the fact that they are there for you & can be used whenever you need some extra storage for your stuff, but are easy to pack up & hide away once you don’t need them anymore.
21. Put up many mirrors, so that your space feels bigger
Sometimes mall apartment living gets on our nerves. The tight, cramped space can really make you feel less at home. Of course, only if you haven’t learned about the best small apartment tips!
One of the most useful tips you HAVE to know about to make living in a small space a little more enjoyable is to put up many mirrors!
Due to their reflective properties, mirrors will make your home seem at least twice as large as it actually is! And they also double your decor, meaning that you see twice as much of your home as you would without mirrors.
Which is great, because it helps create even more focal points that help you forget about the smallness of your apartment!
So hang a few round mirrors onto your walls, create a DIY full-lenght mirror with the help of mirror stickers & use mirrored trays for decoration & see how effortlessly you can transform your space with that!
This post was all about small apartment living. Use these ideas to make small space living more enjoyable!
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