Make Your Tiny Apartment "Larger" With These Tips

By Francine Fluetsch on November 19, 2016

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

When we are going about getting our first apartments, we usually end up with a small, cozy space since rent is too high to go for anything else. Sometimes, it can be a bit daunting when thinking of how to decorate and furnish your small space since you don’t want to overcrowd it and make it look smaller.

Here are some tips to trick the eye and make your tiny apartment look larger than it actually is.

Don’t overcrowd it.

Many of us get an idea into our heads of all the items that our apartments should contain that it becomes very easy to overcrowd the place. I mean, you totally need that rectangle coffee table and giant overstuffed couch that your grandma is going to lend you, right?

If you want the space to look bigger, you want to try and limit overcrowding of things that you don’t necessarily need. Sure, coffee tables are cute and a great way for you to show off some magazines and books that you are into when you have guests over, but do you really need a coffee table at this point in your life? Probably not, at least not a giant one that takes up half of your living room anyway.

stocksnap.io

It’s not easy to think of things to cut from your place, but the extra walking space will really help your apartment out. Well, not a whole lot, but giving yourself and your guests space to walk around will give the illusion that you have more space than you actually do.

When it comes to dining tables, why not opt for a small one that can be expanded if needed? We always plan for having people over, when in reality, it’s going to be us and our roommates for the majority of the time, so you don’t need to be ready to receive dinner guests 24/7.

Some students even forgo the dining table and just eat at their desks in their rooms, so you can start to prioritize what definitely needs to be in the place and what doesn’t need to be there. This apartment isn’t going to be what you live in for the rest of your life, which should make it easier to compromise on certain items that you won’t need all that much at this particular moment.

Height is your friend.

In order to fit more things into your apartment without overcrowding, try strategically using your wall space to your advantage. Get some cute hanging shelves for storage or decoration, get a loft bed so you have more room underneath, use a thin bookshelf to organize your snacks and cleaning supplies, and so on. With this you do have to be careful not to have too much going on, but some décor and storage options will really benefit your space and put it to its most strategic use.

My bedroom is currently so small that I could hardly fit both my bed and desk in it, but I was able to make it look bigger by making a photo frame collage on the side of the room that the bed was on. With the walls bare, I felt as though the room was going to close in on me any second, but after taking some nails to the walls, it really felt like the walls spaced out a bit.

You can play around with this on the floor of your room to get an idea for the concept before hanging anything, and if you want inspiration, Pinterest has tons of really cool ideas for how to hang things on your walls in creative ways.

Let there be light.

This article on hgtv.com suggests that having something simple like a light colored rug in your space can help make it feel larger. Even if the place you are trying to decorate comes with dark flooring, you can lighten it up with a rug over the dark carpet, or lighten the walls with a tapestry or light colored curtains.

Windows definitely help bring in the natural light and make the space bigger, so any room that has a window should have it open when the sun is out. The rays will help give the illusion that you have more space than you actually do, especially when reflecting on the newly added light carpet or tapestry.

stocksnap.io

Keep it clutter-free.

Clutter can make your tiny apartment lose the little wiggle room that it has, so make sure to keep your place clean and clutter-free. This is a good habit to get into anyway, but is essential when you don’t have a lot of space to work with. It’s fine to have a plant or picture or two out on some counters and things like that, but don’t keep unnecessary things out and about, and try and keep your laundry put away, your dishes out of the sink, and your trashcan from overflowing.

These are just a few ideas for helping you make your place feel and look bigger than it is. There is always a way to work with the space you have, so get creative and have fun!

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