How To Decorate a Small Space to Make It Look Larger
There is always a challenge with studio apartments in terms of creating space and creating defined areas that feel “put together”. The two most important spaces for one to feel “at home “ are the living room and kitchen with of course somewhere to eat.
It’s crucial to have a colour scheme along with a specific design style in mind; this really is the first step in taking on the project. Try and focus on light colours such as white, muted greys and beige as they create a bouncing effect for natural light back into the space. White ideally should dominate the space. Fortunately, most rental properties have white walls, which is a great starting point for inserting accent colours throughout the space.
The dining room of interior stylist & blogger Maxine Brady
Minimalism is key to truly maximizing a small space; personal items often require de-cluttering. Design styles that promote a sense of airiness include mid-century modern, rustic and contemporary. These styles can have furniture pieces that have a very simple structure with lightweight materials like metal, wood, and glass. In a living room, most people just have too much “stuff” there are only a few items required; they include a sofa, accent chair, coffee table, area rug, and a floor lamp to give warmth to the room.
Many pieces of furniture are multi-functional, for instance, a chest coffee table is a huge plus and uber convenient! Folding chairs for those occasional guests can be a great space saving idea, keep them out of sight until needed to allow focus on the nice chairs for daily use.
Scale your furniture to suit the room this is especially crucial in a small space, large and bulky furniture generally makes space look and feel smaller.
Keep it simple, both the furnishings and the shopping experience, measure your room before you start to shop and mark out on the floor with masking tape the ideal sizes to “fit “ your room.
Rustic furniture is a great fit for small spaces. Most rustic living room furniture has metal legs and a wooden top allowing for a mix of warmth and charm with an industrial “edgy” feel, ideal for a condo in today's modern world. Don’t forget about a mirror or two, they can hugely enhance the look of the size of the room and add a great deal of interest; a suggested read is our blog on Mirrors.
Studio apartments do not have a wall separating the kitchen/living room from the bedroom. The bedroom area should ideally be segregated from the main living area and kitchen. Yes, that can be difficult but if space permits an easy solution is to create a partition using a bookshelf between the living area and the location of the bed. Rather than a typical white wood bookshelf, use a rustic bookshelf that has wood dividers, steel frames, and no backing, which will let light into the sleeping area yet cause enough of a visual break line to make the sleeping area far less obvious.
A pop of colour along with statement furniture pieces can go a long way to improving the overall ambiance and sophistication of the living space.
Furnishing a small space with style and flair is far from an insurmountable challenge but rather one of those moments in life to be savoured in getting it “just right” to truly enjoy you time in your own personal space … Enjoy shopping.