You've finally found the perfect apartment located right in the center of your favorite restaurants with plenty of natural sunlight streaming through your windows. The only drawback? It's tiny. So tiny that you can walk from one end to the other in a matter of seconds and you constantly fear that you may join the 25,000 Americans who sprain an ankle every day from tripping over the jumble of things laying on the floor.
In the interest of both your personal safety and the aesthetics of your space, you need to get your prized possessions off of your floor and neatly stored or displayed in your apartment. These tips for decorating a small apartment will do just that while also giving you a stylish space that you can't stop showing off.
Incorporate Removable Pieces
One of the biggest challenges for apartment-dwellers everywhere is making decorating decisions that won't send their landlord into a tizzy. However, with unfurnished apartment renters in the United States paying a median price of $1,492 per month, you deserve to add some spunk to your space, no matter how temporary it is.
A quick way to make a statement in your space is with removable wallpaper. This isn't the wallpaper that plastered your grandparents' raised ranch. Today's interior designers are going for modern and chic wallpaper that you can easily remove without leaving a trace. You can also switch up the cabinet hardware, lighting fixtures, or window treatments for easily reversible yet stylishly impactful decorating decisions.
Make Your Storage Do Double-Duty
You'll be shocked at how much better your apartment feels when you have a great storage system to organize your space. If you don't have a ton of closet space in your tiny apartment, invest in small baskets and bins to station in strategic locations throughout your home. These tiny organizational tools can sit on floating shelves or on top of cabinets to help hide clutter from view. Just a few well-chosen baskets can make your apartment feel homier.
If you lack the space for long horizontal shelves, try to think vertically. Tall and narrow storage systems are a great option when you don't have a large amount of space in your apartment. Put identical bookshelves on either side of a doorway for a built-in shelving illusion or stack floating shelves from the floor to the ceiling.
Keep It Light
According to designer Libby Langdon, something as simple as a light rug can do wonders to make a room feel larger than it is. Keep in mind that ark, rich colors tend to make a space appear smaller. Even if your apartment came with dark wall-to-wall carpeting, you can cover it with an area rug in a lighter color to open up your space.
When you're choosing the color palette for your apartment, focus on using two light and bright shades for the bulk of the space and choose one darker accent color to keep the design visually interesting. This strategy will help you use the design rule of three to your advantage while enlarging your space as much as possible.
As an apartment renter, you have many different responsibilities to juggle. On one end, you have practical duties such as checking radon levels, which are at or above the EPA action level in about one in 15 homes in the United States. On the other, you have the job of transforming your space into a home. Take a deep breath, tackle one thing at a time, and don't forget to have fun with your interior design choices.
