The most popular ways to make your small apartment look bigger – Part 1

Apartments are relatively small in size. We have no choice but to manage our small habitable space in our dwelling. Yes, living in small apartments can be challenging. Nobody wants to live in limited space. Anybody would like to stretch their arms and live comfortably without feeling claustrophobic. But can we do this without stretching our budget?

Yes, we can! Like any other challenge, this challenge to overcome limited space without actually having to physically expand our ‘lebensraum’ can be successfully achieved. For this, the apartment has to be carefully furnished taking into consideration every minute detail. If we think cleverly and innovatively we can create a lovely apartment.

If we are to enhance space in our apartment we have to use space saving ideas. We don’t have to look too far. It’s not rocket science but definitely food for thought. The two most popular and well-tested ideas are ‘color’ and ‘furniture’. If we can take care of these two entities we can easily achieve our goals.

First and foremost, we should take some time and clear our apartment off unnecessary items. These could be things we don’t use or may be used and redundant goods. We should clear our cupboards and drawers off things we don’t need. We might even feel good if we can donate these to more needy people. Once all the clutter has been put away with, we should scrub the floor and all other surfaces to give it a fresh look. The apartment would look spacious already!

Now comes the best part. Let’s paint! Without doubt you too might agree that the best color to enhance space is ‘white’. It’s important to use bright, light colors and shades of white such as cream, beige, peach, light brown, caramel, etc. We can use a paint called ‘bright & space’ which can be found in the market. This serves the purpose immensely.

Ideally, we can paint all the walls and the ceiling in pure white. The colors for the accessories and furniture can be painted personalized to one’s taste. However, if we go by recommendation, we could use cream color curtains with a soft small design. We could use a white / cream sofa and compliment it with beige, peach or caramel color for square cushions. It’s good to have the cushion covers a darker shade than the sofa color. A darker shade of white should be used for table rugs and door mats – maybe a light brown. It’s always good to color coordinate to match a theme for the whole set up. But it doesn’t have to be boring. We could always mix and match provided it achieves our purpose – the enhanced effect.

Not forgetting the floor – we can use parquet flooring. This comes in shades of brown. We can choose the design according to one’s taste but a small design with thin lines wide-apart would be ideal to create a sense of more space. Last but not the least, we can use glass blocks to bring in the sunshine and the light to brighten your apartment. Brighter the apartment the more spacious it looks!

More tips on how to enhance apartment space in the next blog J