Design Tips for Living in Smaller Spaces

Whether you’ve jumped into the tiny living fad, or you’ve recently moved into a small apartment, you know the importance of making the most out of the space that you have. According to studies, the average apartment in 2023 was around 916 square feet.

If you’re moving out on your own for the first time, that may sound like plenty of space. If you’ve been living with your parents with most of your belongings in a single bedroom, the idea of having 900-plus feet all to yourself probably sounds like a major upgrade.

However, when you account for the fact that this 916 feet needs to include a living area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and storage space, that 900-plus square feet suddenly doesn’t sound so large.

Of course, you may not be moving into your first apartment. In recent years, many people have made the decision to give up their large, spacious homes, and move into tiny houses.

Thanks to the lower utility cost and the ability to move around while working, tiny house living is booming in popularity and shows no signs of slowing down.

Whatever the reason for your minimal space, it’s important that you make the right decisions when it comes to design. The wrong decisions can clutter up your space, leaving you feeling like you don’t have enough space to enjoy your home.

Conversely, making the right design decisions ensures that you have a functional, relaxing space that you can enjoy for years to come. Today, learn more about some smart design tips that can leave you living large, even if you’re living small.

Cut Down on Clutter

While cutting down on clutter may not necessarily be a traditional design tip, it’s an important part of tiny living. Cluttered spaces not only make it hard to function but they’ve also been proven to have a negative impact on mental health.

With this in mind, you’ll need to try to cut down on clutter before you formally move into your space.

Spend some time thinking about the things that you need to use every day. Those items should be the starting point for what you take with you into your space. Once you have your needs addressed, you can start adding some items that bring you pleasure.

Moving into a smaller space may mean that you have to cut down on the amount of clothing you keep in your closet, your shoes, accessories, books, and the things you use to enjoy your hobbies. However, it doesn’t mean that you have to completely give up all of those things.

Being deliberate about what you keep in your tiny space doesn’t mean that you give up everything you love. It just means that you’ll need to make good decisions when it comes to what you bring with you and the type of furniture that you choose for your new home.

Implement Multifunctional Furniture

One of the smartest moves that you can make when maximizing space in your small apartment or tiny house is to choose multifunctional furniture.

Every square foot counts when you’re designing your apartment, so investing in something as simple as an ottoman or coffee table that has built-in storage can make a huge difference in your living space.

For instance, if you’re a reading enthusiast, choosing an ottoman that has deep storage not only allows you to have a stylish piece to prop up your feet but also gives you an extra source of storage for your books.

Ottomans are also a great option for seating if you have guests over. This is an excellent example of choosing stylish, multifunctional furniture.

If an ottoman doesn’t really fit your style, or you don’t have a chair that lends itself to an ottoman, consider getting a coffee table that has storage built in. Drawers provide plenty of added storage, and some coffee tables are even designed with tops that you can lift and put things inside.

You can also opt for multifunctional furniture in other rooms. If you’re living in a small apartment, you probably don’t have a huge master suite with a massive walk-in closet.

This just means that you’ll need to be smart when choosing a bed and the rest of your bedroom furniture. You may need to choose smaller pieces, but you can find plenty of beds on the market that have drawers built into them, or that have bookshelves in the headboard.

Look for these pieces so you can have all the functionality that you need without taking up space that you don’t have.

Think Vertically Instead of Horizontally

When you walk into a room and evaluate how large it is, you probably look at the amount of space that exists between the walls. This total square footage is what realtors use when listing a home or apartment.

If you’re moving into a small space, you don’t have a lot of square footage to work with, which means you need to shift your way of thinking.

While it’s certainly acceptable to have a bookshelf, every square foot matters, so you won’t want to go too extreme with multiple shelves. However, you can invest in floating shelves that mount directly onto the wall. If you’re renting a space, you’ll need to get permission from your landlord to install these shelves.

When you’re looking for some organizational tools, consider command hooks and peg boards. Again, these items work similarly to floating shelves, as they allow you to use your walls as storage without taking up valuable floor space.

Pegboards and hooks allow you to store keys, bags, jackets, and other items in a way that maximizes your space without having to put those items in drawers or closets.

It's also a good idea to mount your TV (or TVs) on the wall if you’re allowed to do so. This not only keeps you from having to clutter your floorspace with an entertainment center, but it also draws your eye to a higher position in the room.

Choose the Right Color Scheme

While choosing the right colors does nothing to create more space, it does make your space feel open and airy, which is incredibly important when you don’t have a ton of space to work with. If you’re allowed to paint the space, try to use bright colors where it’s possible.

Dark colors make a space feel much smaller, and if you’re already dealing with limited space, you don’t need to do anything that adds to that feeling.

It’s also important to try to maximize natural light. While you can’t go into an apartment and start cutting holes in the wall to install new windows, you can be mindful of the things that you put in front of your windows.

If you hang curtains, choose thin curtains that are brightly colored. Avoid putting large pieces of furniture directly in front of your windows. When you can allow natural light into the space, it adds to the open, airy feeling.

Finally, try to strategically implement mirrors where it’s possible. For example, hanging a mirror on a living room wall makes the room look bigger, as you’ll get a reflection of the other side of the room. So much of interior design is about tricking the human eye, and these strategic design choices can help.

Create Zones in Your Space

Finally, it’s a good idea to designate different areas of your home for different purposes. Creating these zones is an effective way of keeping your belongings organized and ensuring that you don’t have things that serve no purpose in any given space in your home.

For instance, if you have an exercise bike and a few dumbbells, try to keep them together in an area of your apartment that’s largely out of the way when guests come over. When you designate an area for those things, keep them there.

If you have your personal care products like makeup and haircare items on the vanity in the bathroom, keep them in the bathroom.

As easy as it is to pick something up and carry it to another room in your home, doing so quickly leads to clutter, which we worked hard to eliminate on the first tip.

Living Large in a Small Space

A small amount of square footage doesn’t mean that you can’t feel like you’re living large.

By applying these tips and staying on top of things in your home, you can make your apartment or tiny home feel much larger than it is.

Tiny living doesn’t have to mean that you don’t have the space to enjoy the things that you love.