Living in the city requires a lot of sacrifice and compromise on your part. You think you’ve hit gold when you find an apartment that’s near the office and all your favorite haunts, that is until you see the tiny space you have to live in. And if you’re the type who enjoys decorating, making your mark on such a small space often seems like an impossible task. How can you design a home if the living room barely has enough space for a couch?
There’s no denying that the city’s good properties are hard to find, and apartments in desirable buildings like The Masonry don’t remain empty for long. Your options are limited, and even if you do find a place, you’ll have to make a long list of compromises. But a good designer can work with whatever is thrown at them, and a studio apartment is a blank canvas.
Your success lies in making the right design decisions. Today’s trend is all about hybrid spaces, which allow you to extract more utility from your limited room. For instance, you can choose multifunctional furniture like convertible chair beds. Creative placement can also make a small space look and feel bigger. And just because you live in a studio doesn’t mean there isn’t space for art.
You’d be surprised by what you can achieve if you tried. Here are a few tips and tricks that will help you maximize your limited space.
1. Use small furniture
Most furniture available on the market is geared towards people with lots of space. You won’t fit many pieces in a small room, so you might want to look for smaller furniture instead. An exception can be made if a large piece serves more than one function. Some furniture stores have sections dedicated to apartments, but if that isn’t an option, thrift stores and vintage shops are good places to start as well.
2. Use a multipurpose desk
So you’ve put a desk by the window to soak up the light. Nobody wants to work in a dark corner, and the window is the perfect spot for your work table. But you can make your space functional by using a multipurpose desk.
Look for a table that can both serve as a desk and a console table. For instance, you can use the table for work during the day, and with a few choice decorative accents, also turn it into a natural focal point for the room.
3. Designate separate zones
Instead of distinct rooms, we usually have to settle for one big space to accomplish four different things at once. All too often, our living room also doubles as the dining room and the office. To bring some order to the chaos, consider separating the space into separate zones.
For instance, you could have the living room in the middle, the dining room on one end, and an office table on the other. That way, your hybrid space looks more organized and you know what to do in which area.
4. Keep the center free
What do you do if your apartment looks cramped? One easy solution is to push to that problem is to push furniture against the wall, freeing up valuable space in the center. A couch and a rug in the middle of your room might look good, but it’s not the best use of your space. Push the couch against the wall, and your living room will instantly feel bigger. Do the same for bigger pieces such as cabinets and bookshelves.
A final word
Just because you have a small apartment doesn’t mean you have to live small. These four tips will help you extract more design and functionality out of limited space. With some creativity and hard work, you can turn a studio into a cozy space.
