Want to learn the best small apartment tips that’ll get you through small apartment living? Here are 11 life-changing small apartment tips & small apartment ideas every small space owner should know about!
Finding the right small apartment tips is so hard! Especially if you’re new to small apartment living & don’t know where to begin.
But don’t worry! This post was made specifically for YOU! I’ve been there, and experienced it all. From small apartment organization, through small apartment design, to small apartment decorating, this post has ALL the best small apartment tips you’ll ever need!
THE BEST SMALL APARTMENT TIPS
01. Prioritize multi-functional furniture for a space twice as effective
When you live in a small space, you really gotta think about how to make your space much more effective. You won’t be able to bring in as many furniture as you could into a medium sized apartment, but you probably want to achieve the same level of functionality. Am I right?
Of course, I’m right! Who would want to have less just to have a bit more space?
With multifunctional furniture however, you’ll be able to multiply the effectiveness of your small apartment!
Whether it’s a lift-top coffee table that acts as a home office, dining table or a regular coffee table all at once, a sleeper sofa, a drop-leaf rolling kitchen island or a bookcase that can be converted into a dining table, you’ll be able to have it all, no matter the size of your home!
If you’d like to know all the useful details & more small apartment furniture ideas, read this post I’ve made on the best small apartment furniture.
02. Try to create a design where the most important rooms get the most light
Not only does a well thought out design make your small apartment look pretty, but it’ll also make it much more practical! Practical for YOU!
That room should get the most natural light in your apartment, that you spend the most time in. At first, this might not make any sense at all, but let me explain!
Here’s an example: if you spend most of your time in your living room, place it right next to your windows / balcony! Definitely don’t try to hide it in a dark corner of your home! You and your guests won’t feel good there either!
A layout that lets the most important room in your apartment is beneficial for multiple reasons.
Firstly, all that natural light will illuminate your living room SO well! No matter if you’re working, hosting a game night or having a self-care evening, you’ll be able to enjoy the sunshine from sunrise to sunset & have the most perfect surface lighting all day long!
Secondly, it’ll also make your living room stand out more, turning it into a really strong focal point! And as you might already know, focal points effortlessly enhance your small apartment design!
So be aware of your habits & how much time you spend in each room and design your space according to that. If this is your first apartment, try to remember which room (excluding your bedroom) you were in most of the time in your parents’ house. This is gonna help a ton!
03. Utilize wall space for decoration & storage
If there’s only ONE advice on this list that you take, make it this one! One of the most useful small apartment tips EVER advises you to go vertical & utilize your wall space.
And that’s something worth following through with!
If you’ve been living in a small space long enough, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Your floor space is SOOO precious! It should be left for furniture & other essentials, NOT for decoration or storage, because these take up much space without giving your apartment extra functionality in return.
So try to go vertical as much as you can to preserve your floor space – this is one of the most powerful small apartment tips ever! Floating shelves are great for both decorative & storage purposes, wall-mounted shelves for storing your stuff, prioritize printables, paintings, metal wall art, but even wall-mounted planters for your decor.
04. Be smart with your kitchen storage
If you’re not on good terms with your kitchen, don’t expect your small apartment design to be good! One of the easiest places to go wrong is undoubtedly your kitchen, but why?
Well, organization is key, as you’ll see later. But this is acutely true for your kitchen! If you don’t use the proper storage solutions in your kitchen cabinets or on your countertop, your apartment will look messy & overcrowded. All that clutter will be in sight. You definitely don’t want that!
So take the initiative to sort things out in your kitchen. If you can, try to buy expandable & stackable storage solutions, since they provide the most flexibility for your changing needs.
And if all’s organized, you’ll see how much airier your small apartment becomes. You’ll feel like it’s at least twice as much bigger than it was before!
If you’re interested in more small apartment kitchen, click here for design inspiration, here for the best small kitchen ideas or here for the most useful small apartment kitchen storage ideas!
05. Make a list of your belongings & review it every now & then for decluttering purposes
Clutter is a huge enemy in small spaces. But if you’re familiar with small apartment living, you probably know that once it’s there, it’s REALLY hard to get rid of. And it looks absolutely horrendous to say the least.
The absolute best way to get rid of clutter however, is to stop it from even emerging. I know it’s easier said than done, but let me show you how I did it – and how YOU can as well.
First things first, make a list of ALL your belongings. It can be a phone note, an Excel sheet or a handwritten list, what’s comfortable for you. If you know instantly how frequently you use each item, don’t hesitate to write them down! My personal favourite is Excel, since it’s easy to manage & update.
I suggest you wait at least one month! During that month, you’ll be keeping track of how often you actually use your items. I usually just add up all the hours I’ve used each item or worn each piece of clothing during that one month, but you can also make the final decision with the help of averages.
Once you can see the results, make a decision on how many items you’d be willing to donate or sell. 5-10 is a decent, doable amount at first in my opinion. I just change the background color from green to red for my least used items in my Excel sheet, as you can see.
For best results, keep track of your items all year long! Of course, you won’t be needing to throw out 5-10 items each month, you can decrease this amount to 2-3/month after a year of doing this. But I guarantee that with this very strategic idea, you’ll be able to get rid of clutter in your apartment FOREVER!
06. Organization is key!
I’ve mentioned a bit earlier that organization is key in small spaces. But it is honestly one of the most highly recommended small apartment tips ever, so it’s worth a whole paragraph -if not a whole post! I’ve actually written a post on small apartment organization. You should definitely take a look at it, it gives you a great headstart when it comes to apartment organization.
But to summarize what I’ve already talked about in this post, here are a few key takeaways you should know.
So that one thing that could make or break your small apartment design is actually the storage solutions you bring into your home! Try to keep your home looking both practical AND pretty with the help of decorative baskets, floating cabinets, lift-top coffee tables, storage ottomans or benches, as well as storage beds or sofas with built-in storage.
These all let you hide your stuff & are much easier on the eyes than a simple bookcase & shelves.
Another thing to look out for is to mobile, multifunctional storage solutions! Rolling carts, a folding laundry hamper, a wall-mounted drop-leaf table & rolling kitchen islands are much better than their regular counterparts, that can’t be moved around easily.
And finally, I also highly recommend that you try to work with what you’ve already got instead of buying new storage solutions for your home. You could place over-the-door organizers on your doors, get a magnetic spice rack or knife holder to put on your fridge, or DIY an undercabinet coffee pod holder. These brilliant ideas all let you utilize surfaces in your home, that otherwise couldn’t be utilized well & you also won’t be hoarding stuff & creating more clutter just to organize your home.
07. Optimize your appliances for small apartment living
Some of you might not be used to small apartment living. If you’re moving into your first apartment that doesn’t boast much space, this tip is for you, so keep reading!
Most of us don’t take into account the size of our apartment when choosing our appliances. Which is weird, but it is exactly like this! We somehow fail to realize that we won’t be able to fit regular sized appliances into a tiny space.
So I’m here to remind you to do your research before moving in! Take a look at all the resources you can find before choosing your appliances, so that you won’t have to sacrifice an inch of your precious space with the wrong choice.
I’ve written about the best small apartment refrigerator, the best small apartment coffee table, best vacuum for small apartment & the best small apartment sofas, so go ahead & check them all out! They are full of appliances and furniture that are 100% tailored to small spaces both in functionality & design.
08. Keep your home looking as simple & natural as it gets
When it comes to small apartment decorating, keep this one adive in mind: everything should be simple & natural! A small apartment is definitely not a place you can mix & match colors, textures or patterns in, so don’t try to go overboard!
Instead, work with light colors, neutrals and only incorporate pastels into your design! These are SO stunning choices for small spaces! See, light hues & basic neutrals contribute to an expansive space that feels tranquil, yet energizing. They’ll open up your space nicely, creating the illusion of a much bigger apartment.
But colors only play a small part in natural design. Most of it can be achieved through the right material choices. The absolute best materials to have in your small apartment are wood, seagrass, rattan, velvet, linen and cotton. Since these are all natural looking materials, they help create an airy design that just feels GOOD to be in!
Trust me, this works! Here’s a more extensive guide if you’re interested. So go ahead & transform your apartment with a simplistic color & material scheme.
09. Scale down your decor
Who said decorating a small apartment is impossible? It really isn’t, if you’ve learned one of the most life-changing small apartment tips: to scale down your decor!
I’ve always said in my previous posts regarding decorating a small apartment that you can have EVERYTHING you want when it comes to decor without having to sacrifice your space. You only have to be mindful of your space & choose items that are 1-2 sizes smaller than your home could actually fit.
This way, you’ll be able to include lots of different shapes, styles & designs into your apartment, but you’ll do it in a very space-saving way!
10. Put on a show: hide the functionality of your home
Want to make the most of your small apartment? Put on a show! And if you’re not sure what I mean, keep reading, because it’s honestly a real game changer tip!
Putting on a show is essentially faking that there’s no functionality in your small apartment.
The signs of everyday use / functionality really take away from the aesthetics of your home. The remote control left on the coffee table, your supplements on the countertop in pure sight, or a bed that hasn’t been made all seem like small details, but they have a HUGE negative impact on your space! They make it look more overcrowded, visually narrowing down your apartment.
So I want you to get cable management boxes & organize your cables, I want you to hide that nasty blank TV screen, I want you to make your bathroom look staged, I want you to hide everyday items away from the eyes, and I also want you to ALWAYS make your bed & freshen up your sofa. Make your whole apartment feel like a 5 star hotel room that’s beautiful, but looks like it’s not being actively used.
11. Clean, clean, clean as if someone was watching
Just like organization, cleaning also plays a huge role in how you perceive your space. A clean space is a literal haven both for the eyes, and the soul.
But I know exactly how hard it is to motivate yourself & get to work! Especially on a daily basis.
This is how I personally tackle all the cleaning: I always imagine that someone’s watching me do the chores. Matter of fact, I like to think that there’s a secret crew waiting to break into my apartment & inspect the cleanliness of my apartment (Sign of a mental illnes? Probably). This way, I feel like I have to get the cleaning done perfectly & without procrastinating.
This post was all about the best small apartment tips.
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