Apartment living, how to make the most out of limited space

The high cost of renting and living in the city means that most apartment dwellers have to find ways to get the most out of their limited living spaces. Are you wondering how to organize your apartment and make the small space more livable? We prepared the following seven savvy tips to help you plan your décor, layout, storage, and accessories so it can feel and appear bigger. There’s a caveat though; if you’re to make significant changes to the house, you might need to consult your landlord or property management company for authorization.

Declutter

This will probably sound like a no-brainer but decluttering is without a doubt the most effective way to create more space in a small apartment. From those clothes you haven’t worn in months to the cute kitchen appliances you bought impulsively during the last Black Friday, it’s time to let go of anything that’s needlessly congesting your apartment.
Decluttering offers you an excellent opportunity to get rid of non-essentials so you can keep only the items you value and use regularly. However, if it pains you to let go of some of your valued belongings, consider renting a separate but inexpensive storage space where you can place them as you prepare to relocate to a bigger house.

Repaint the house

Painting is a highly underrated tactic for transforming the look and feel of a house. For example, lighter color shades give your living space that airy effect and make it feel bigger. On the other hand, darker colors on your walls add depth to your house and help to create an allusion of expanded space. To avoid making the apartment feel tinier than it really is, steer clear of loud patterns and large prints as they can shrink your space.

Go for multi-purpose furniture and household items

An effective way to make the most out of your apartment space is to avoid unitasker household items. These are items that only perform one or very limited tasks. In their place, pick those that serve multiple purposes or offer additional storage spaces.

Blueground, a trusted real-estate tech company that provides fully furnished apartments in Chicago and several other top cities, serves as a great example of how to use this strategy. For example, in some of its latest properties, you’ll find large kitchen islands that double up as dining tables whereas others feature sleeper sofa and fold-out desks.

These multifunctional home furniture not only helps to add functionality to homes but are also creative and trendy.

Maximize vertical space and corners

When living in a house with limited space, corners and walls are some of your best friends. You can install open shelves that climb walls all the way to the ceiling. Use this vertical space to hold books, decorations, and also serve as your home’s entertainment center. For corners, you can get the most out of them by placing makeshift closets, bookshelves, or flower vases there. All that’s needed is a bit of creativity to ensure that every bonus storage space in your house is properly utilized.

Let in as much natural light as possible

Another effective way to make your space feel bigger is to maximize the use of natural light whenever possible. If you consider your house to be in a private location, foregoing the majority of your window curtains and blinds may be a good idea. If this is not possible, use very thin and preferably white window dressings to allow in as much natural light as possible.

Opening windows can also have a bonus effect as it tricks your mind into expanding the scope of your room. Finally, you can employ another little optical illusion technique by hanging a large decorative mirror just opposite one of your windows to multiply the amount of light coming into the room.

Use fewer but more elegant décor items

One mistake that most apartment dwellers make is to fill their walls with pictures and other similar items. The problem with this is that it makes your room feel tighter and crowded.

A more recommended approach would be to choose the classiest and most meaningful items from your collection and stick with those. If you have to, consider rotating them instead of having all pinned to the wall at once.

Enjoy the outdoors

Feeling the pressure of being confined in a small living space? It’s probably a good time to embrace the great outdoors and let out some steam. Sure, your house won’t grow bigger when you go out, but you will likely appreciate it more once you’re back home.
What are you doing to get the most out of your limited apartment space? We’d love to hear your feedback.