Make Your Studio Apartment Feel Like Home
If you’re the type to drool over lavish home design spreads, it can be hard to envision yourself feeling totally comfortable in a space as small as a studio apartment. However, if you’re up on the latest design trends, you’ve probably noticed the rising popularity, especially in urban areas, of extremely small spaces that are designed to take full advantage of the available space. This means that there are lots of great ideas and strategies out there that can help you turn a very small studio apartment into a place that feels like home. The only challenge: the name of the game is minimalism, so if you have a tendency to overcrowd yourself with purchases, now’s the time to kick the habit.
Maximize the Space
There are all kinds of ways you can manipulate your space to make it feel bigger than it actually is. At the very least, you can certainly organize things in such a way that you find room for everything. Here are a few ideas to get going:
- Consider lofting your bed. This will leave you lots more room to spread out and store things. Loft your bed on the wall for the most space potential, or at least loft it a little bit to get more storage room under the bed.
- Consider getting a couch-bed combo: either a fold-out couch or a couch in separate pieces that can be reorganized to act like a bed, to get the most functionality out of your furniture. Use it as your main bed or as an extra bed for guests.
- If you are fortunate enough to have a closet, make sure it is well-organized. Get rid of old clothes and shoes that you don’t wear, and utilize storage containers.
- If all you need in your workspace is a computer and a small printer or some other reasonably small setup, consider using a bookshelf in place of a desk. Get wall attachment bookshelves that you can attach at about waist level and upwards and use the lowest shelf as the surface of your desk and as a bookshelf.
- Be creative with your storage spaces. Instead of a coffee table or an end table, get chests. You can use them in the same way, with the added benefit of some storage space inside. Add some decorative baskets to your bookshelves to add some storage space in a way that looks nice. Many chairs and stools also contain storage compartments.
- Take advantage of the spaces that other people overlook like the space behind the door. Use this wall space to hang up a shoe organizer or some other storage device. Most people won’t see this spot regularly anyway so you might as well put it to good use.
- Go light on the decorations. Too many decorative elements can really overtake a small space and make it feel even smaller. Make your space more functional overall by choosing a few main stars for your design scheme to keep things simple.
Make Your Own Different Rooms
Part of the difficulty of living successfully in a studio apartment is in finding ways to be productive and happy. It can be hard to try and sleep in the same area where you study or to cook, while you watch TV in the same space. Here are some ways to make many spaces out of one.
- Hang curtains in areas that you’d like to make cozier. For example, hang curtains around your bed to make it into a comfy nook. This can also help you separate your sleeping from your working space, which will force your brain into considering these separate places. It can really make it hard to get a good night’s sleep if your brain thinks of it as your workspace. You can also consider hanging a curtain around the kitchen area to set it off, or around a nice reading area to make it into a little study.
- Get a sheet of particleboard and paint it in an interesting color or pattern. Set it up between your desk or your couch and the foot of your bed to create the illusion of a separating wall. You can also achieve a similar separating effect with a bookshelf. You could also try using an L-shaped couch to help you divide up spaces.
- Decorate your “rooms” differently. It can be very helpful to have different design aesthetics that match your intention for your little “rooms.” This can help your brain think of these as different and unique spaces for different kinds of activities. For example, you can decorate your main living room area with some interesting modern items like art books for the coffee table or small sculptures, while you decorate your bedroom area with cozier things like blankets and pillows in warm colors and a few small plants if you get sunlight.
Making the most out of a small living space is all about planning wisely and taking your time with your decorating choices. As things start to come together, you’ll also start to notice even more ways to make your space functional and cozy.
