Living in a studio apartment comes with lots of perks. First and foremost, it can save you lots of on rent which you would have spent on the extra space that you don’t even need. Also, small spaces don’t need a lot of stuff, allowing you to save again on furniture. Last but not least you will get to save on electricity and heating because of the small space. However, one of the biggest challenges of living in a studio apartment is decorating it. You have to find a way to transform it into a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and even more, without too much cluttering your space. Having said that, you can still make your small studio apartment look stylish and comfortable, a pace that you will want to spend time in.
4 Steps to decorate a 400 sq. ft. studio apartment
Step #1: Hang a floating art
One way to decorate your studio apartment and make it look elegant is by hanging a floating art in front of a floor-to-ceiling curtain, to create contrast. This will allow you to create a sleep zone that is not visible from the front door. When you use a partition to close off your bed, your house will feel like a Parisian hotel. Just because you are living in a small studio apartment does not mean you shouldn’t have friends over, create a makeshift living room and hang out with your pals as you play games, watch movies, or just drinking.
But remember to stick to the basics when using decorative elements in your studio apartment because the more items you have the more clutter your room will get. Even if you have a great layout plan, more is more when it comes to small spaces. Keep your decoration to a minimum by prioritizing what you need first, and then see if you have space for other items.
Keep in mind that large items such as giant wardrobes will only make your studio apartment look small and overcrowded.
Step #2: Use space available
When you live in a small apartment, you don’t have a lot of space to work with, and as result, you need to make good use of all available spaces. If your house is small and has an unusable cleft, try to find ways to make it valuable or add a piece of art or decoration like a lamp or houseplant. Even if you have tried to purge everything that is not a priority but you still have a lot of stuff, you can turn them into decoration with a small thought behind it. For instance, you can organize your novels and other reading materials by color and size, get some aesthetic storage baskets, and place area rugs in places you want to be a little bit polished. You can pretty much transform any clutter into sophisticated décor with a little thought behind it.
Another way to maximize the use of your minimum space is by thinking up rather than out. If you can think outside the box, you will realize that there are plenty of storage options for small a studio apartment you can take full advantage of. For instance, you can use multi-storage systems that can be workspace and organizational tools at the same time. You can find plenty of modern adjustable desk storage systems that can let you tailor your desk and shelving set up to fully utilize your space and maximize your display potential as well as allowing for a practical work area.
Step #3: Take advantage of functional furniture
Regardless of the size of your home, it needs to be functional in some ways. But when it comes to a studio apartment, it needs to be extremely functional, almost in all ways, meaning you need to take advantage of multi-functional furniture. Consider investing in pieces of furniture that are practical in different ways. For instance, rather than using a plain old bench below the window of your studio apartment, get a storage bench that features various storage compartments. This way, it will not take up more space but it will provide you with extra storage spaces where you can store shores, blankets, or even magazines.
Other examples include getting a bed frame with compartments, a folding table, a sleeper chair or sofa, or any other practical furniture. Just get creative when buying furniture so that it can take the same amount of space but serve different purposes. Some pieces of furniture can serve just a single purpose, but they can be easily put away or folded when not in use, thus freeing you up some much-needed space in your studio apartment.
Step #4: Use lights
When you live in a small house, lights become an extremely important element of decoration. When a living space is filled with enough lights –natural or artificial – it looks bigger and comfortable. Find how you can harness the power of natural light in your studio apartment and avoid leaving your drapes down all day. Alternatively, place lamps in strategic places as well as other extra light sources to make sure that no corner of your home is dark and lifeless.
However, you want to be extra careful when selecting lamps and fixtures for your apartment. But if you just stick to simple lighting and fixtures, you will never go wrong. Avoid fixtures that appear too big and bulky because these will only make your already small room feel even smaller and crowded.
If your home doesn’t have a lot of windows to allow natural lights, consider using mirrors as decoration. Mirrors tend to reflect the natural light that comes in, thus helping illuminate your space. As for your walls, just stick to the light colors because dark tones will make your room feel smaller. Lighter colors such as beige, white, or light gray will reflect whatever light comes in, therefore allowing your living space to feel light and buoyant. Aside from painting your walls with brighter colors, make sure you use only one paint color.