How to Furnish a Small Apartment for Maximum Comfort and Functionality

Living in a small apartment can be a challenge, but with a bit of ingenuity and efficient use of the available space you can create a stylish environment that will be both highly practical and very comfortable. We’ve prepared a few useful tips for you that will make furnishing your interior easier and raise it to a new level. Let’s take a look together at how to furnish a small apartment and fill it with every comfort.

Lighting Can Do Wonders in a Small Apartment

Lighting plays a very important role — done poorly, it can significantly shrink the perception of space in an apartment and spoil an otherwise pleasant atmosphere. Give preference to natural light, which brings life to an interior and connects you with the outside world. Don’t block the windows with curtains and blinds. Install spotlights on the ceiling and put small lamps on surfaces like nightstands and coffee tables. Avoid chandeliers — they needlessly lower the height of your ceilings and make a small apartment seem even smaller to the eye.

Color Is Crucial in a Small Apartment

The choice of a good color scheme is crucial when furnishing an apartment. In a studio or one-bedroom apartment, forget about dark colors that absorb the light and shrink a space. Go for light tones like beige, grey, pastels, and light-colored wood in your interior. Follow the rule that the floor should be the darkest element in an interior, with lighter-colored walls and the ceiling lightest of all. You can liven up a small apartment with colorful decorations, but they shouldn’t clash with the interior, rather they should perk it up to perfection.

Put Only the Most Important Furniture into a Small Apartment

We believe that moderation is key. Of course, if your finances permit, have your furniture made to measure and tailored to your individual needs. But if you have no funds to spare, it’s better to leave the space empty and furnish it gradually. Avoid brash colors and massive designs.

A Sofa for a Small Apartment

Say goodbye to sectional sofas. It’s better to choose individual pieces of furniture that stand on legs and aren’t overwhelming in size. A seating unit with storage space is definitely a good idea. The best is a fold-out sofa where you or your guests can sleep that will save you a lot of space.

A Bedroom in a Small Apartment

Do you want to create a “separate bedroom”? Yes, it’s possible even in a tight space. Just divide the interior horizontally and build in a raised loft bed. Many people leave just enough room up there for a mattress, but ideally there should be at least 80 cm of headroom. You can put a desk or an armchair with a coffee table under the loft to use the available space to the max. If you prefer a classic solution, consider a wall or “Murphy” bed that you can pull down to prepare for sleeping. The disadvantage is that you have to put it back up every morning along with all your blankets and pillows.

Storage Space in a Small Apartment

You should try to use every corner of your apartment and every inch really counts. Custom-made furniture isn’t the only way to do that effectively. Shelves hung on the walls and mounted above the door can be practical helpers, as can pull-out drawers under the bed. Modular storage systems that can be tailored to individual needs are also available in the form of shelving, wardrobes, or chests of drawers. You can get fabric organizers that can be moved or flattened. They can be used in both the bathroom and kitchen.

Bathroom with wallcovering, floor, and sink made from engineered stone in the Crystal Calacatta Silva décor, from the KRINTERIOR design studio.

A Home Office in a Small Apartment

Are you working here and there in your home? Do you want a stable place where you have everything you need at hand? Ideally, a home office should be located in a place that’s a bit out of the way, for example, under a loft bed. If you really lack space, install a folding table that can be built into the wall and “opened” as needed. One stop-gap solution that makes a virtue of necessity is taking a chair from the dining table. You just have to move it to the working area. But if you work in a home office a lot, you’ll need one indispensable piece of furniture — an ergonomic chair. There are also multi-functional cabinets in which you can store everything you need for work.

A Dining Table for a Small Apartment

Since only one or two people live in the typical small apartment, a big dining table isn’t needed. A small table and two comfortable chairs are just right for a couple. If you’re really struggling for space, the chairs can be foldable so at times you can use the table without the chairs. A bedside table is another useful piece of furniture. You can “make” one from a window sill that otherwise would go unused. If you have a window in the bedroom, have the sill extended and put your favorite book, a small reading lamp, and some candles on it. That way you’ll save a few inches that would otherwise be taken up by yet another piece of furniture.

A Kitchen in a Small Apartment

Not enough room in the kitchen? For some that’s a nightmare, for others, it’s one more reason to spend less time cooking. But we have some practical ideas, thanks to which you’ll enjoy cooking and won’t feel hemmed in. A custom kitchen is all but essential. You really can’t avoid that in a small apartment. Choose materials that offer you a long useful life and won’t require you to remodel the kitchen in a few years. Engineered stone is the perfect choice — light decors like Crystal Calacatta Silva or Altamonte optically enlarge a space and in themselves are aesthetically beautiful elements that take an interior to a new level. An engineered stone surface is waterproof and resistant to scratches from sharp objects. When furnishing a kitchen, be sure to think about having enough storage space. Don’t bother to keep what you can’t fit into a drawer or cabinet. Get a wheeled organizer that you can push up against a wall, under a window, or under a countertop and use as necessary. Say goodbye to that big refrigerator and get a small one instead. That’s enough for a one- or two-person household. Think hard before you buy a dishwasher or other appliances that will take up precious space unnecessarily.

A kitchen countertop made with engineered stone in Taurus Terazzo Grey. Private residence, Chiaro & Oscuro Projects

Decorations That Create a Pleasant Atmosphere in a Small Apartment

Mirrors are essential decorations for a small apartment. They not only reflect light, but also optically enlarge a space. You can hang them on a clothes closet, over a bare spot on a wall, or in the bathroom. We don’t recommend free-standing mirrors that take up a lot of space. Forget about lots of small decorations. They make an interior feel untidy and disorganized. Rather choose plenty of green plants, which you can hang or place on shelves. Art and posters are other excellent decorating ideas. Put a couple of pillows on the sofa and don’t forget a warm blanket as well.

In Conclusion, a Few Tips:

• Paint the heating units in the apartment the same color as the walls.
• Keep a small apartment clean and get rid of things that you haven’t used for a while. Remember that a small space gets untidy much more quickly than a big one.
• Don’t put up shelves in a white color. Chose grey, for example, which leaves a smaller impression.
• Furniture made from glass is perfect for a small apartment for two reasons: not only does it look great, but it also enlarges the room and blends in with the wall.
• When furnishing the interior of a small apartment, rely on a proven style — don’t experiment. A mistake like mixing a retro with an industrial style will stand out much more in a smaller space.
• A small apartment is an opportunity to try out any number of innovative gadgets that will make life easier for you. One example of many is a folding mop set that you can flatten completely and store behind your washing machine. Another is a hanging rack for drying dishes that you can put over the sink to save even more space.
• Do you want to block direct views into your apartment from the street? Put minimalist shades or sheer drapes over the window. Fabric blinds are also excellent choices because they don’t look bulky and allow daylight to enter the room.
• If your windowsill is wide enough, you can not only use it as a bedside table, but also as a dining table or worktop.
• In the kitchen, you can easily save space by hanging a rod under the upper cabinets. Then you can hang kitchen utensils or spices on it.
• Don’t be afraid of open shelving. Such shelves open up a space and make it feel airy. Of course, you have to keep them tidy and organized.
• You’ll have to install storage space wherever you can. There are mirrored cabinets and benches with storage that can serve you very well in the “dining room” and built-in wall systems for storage that can be made to measure.

Finally, it’s important to mention one thing that can make an otherwise pleasant stay in a small apartment very inconvenient. That’s the classic kind of door, which needs 90 cm to open. Sliding doors are much more practical in a small apartment, for example, the door to the bathroom. They take up minimal space. If you really want an unobtrusive door, install it flush to the wall with a so-called hidden frame. Such concealed door frames unify the interior and make it look more airy.