Smaller places have their advantages: lower costs of renovation, lower electricity bills and less time to clean the mess. And no mater the size, small spaces can have incredible charm, coziness and hospitality vibe – if you know how to style it right. When renovating a smaller place, people often decide to be as rational as they can be and use the space they have. However, who says you can’t play with furniture and colors – and still have functionality? If you think that small apartment is hard to keep that designer’s sleek look, here are some creative small space design ideas. In this way, you can get a better idea of how to grow your personal aesthetic – and make your apartment a true, comfortable home.

Carefully divide areas in your place

You may think that open space is the best solution when it comes to small spaces, as it may seem that the place will appear bigger. In some cases this is true, but this doesn’t have to be the case. By leaving the space too open, your home may look out of order and be too much for the eye. That’s why it is important to carefully define different areas and rooms in your house. Each corner should have its own purpose. For example, put coat stands and shoe closet next to the front door to create an illusion of an entrance hall. If you are just moving, here’s how to prepare for relocation stress. 

Invest in multifunction furniture

When it comes to small places, you probably already know that every inch counts. Get the maximum out every corner by investing in furniture that has multiple functions. For example, bedrooms and living rooms can both have multipurpose beds. Get the bed that can turn into a sofa, or maybe has drawers to put things away. You can also get a smaller table that can be stretched when you have guests. Also, the space between the kitchen and the dining room is ideal for a house bar, which can perfectly separate these rooms. Bar can also serve as a place for additional storage, because in the lower part you can install shelves, drawers and doors. The one thing you have to be careful is to take the exact measures so it can all fit into your place.

Use the unused

After some time in a same place, you can just get into a habit of doing the same thing over and over again. This can especially happen if your home is styled just too rational so you may get the feeling you don’t have any more creative ideas. However, try to look at your space carefully and see how many unused space do you really have – especially in the upper walls. Think how you can use these unused corners and turn them into your advantage. In this way, they can be both functional and stylish. Corner shelves are good example, along with wall hanging shelves for your TV or computer screen.

Use the light in your space

Think vertically

One of the key things when it comes to small space design ideas is to focus on vertical furniture. As we already said, the more you use the upper space of your room, the more space you will have to make better arrangements in the lower. So tall, narrow pieces of furniture are your best allies to make a lot of space in small surfaces. For example, you can create two identical narrow bookshelves that can be on both sides of your living room door. Then add one shelf above the door and create an image of a bigger door by still using all space. If you are just moving, here’s the ultimate moving checklist that can help you before you move.

Get some advice from custom-made furniture designer

People who make custom made furniture can be the best people you can turn to and get a useful advice about what you can fit into your place. Go to a custom-made furniture store and ask to see designers or experts that you can talk to. You will be surprised how many impressive solutions they can offer. And who knows, maybe they know how to fit drawers into your coat hangers, or have an idea on how to make a better use of your kitchen utensils. Possibilities are surely endless, you just need to ask.

Light rooms help you create more space

Choose light colors

Ok, one thing is a fact: smaller places just have to be in lighter tones. You already know that light tones give visual wideness to the space, while dark are narrowing it. But don’t be fooled – bright orange may seem like a light color, but better solution is surely light gray or any other pastel tone (like baby blue or dirty pink). Also, use only up to three colors in your place and only from the same color palette. Two lighter colors should be dominant (like yellow and pink) and one can be more darker (like blue). Still, if you really like darker and contrasting colors, use them in a specific place (like one piece of furniture). You can also use darker tones in small details. Besides this, make sure to use darker tones in just one part of the apartment do it won’t be too colorful. For an extra touch, try getting a sofa in an unusual, inspiring color that separates it from the rest of the furniture. This will immediately draw attention to your living room.

Avoid massive furniture

Maybe you like massive furniture, but it surly not the solution for a smaller place. These pieces will just take away too much space – not to mention they look pretentious. So instead of a giant sofa, get a smaller couch with matching armchairs and instead of big closets, make an American style closet with a discrete print. You can also pick round shaped corner of furniture instead of the sharp ones. Besides this, if you have an interesting hobby, you can place the items connected to it in your living room (i.e. fishing rods). This will bring focus to your individuality and at the same time make you feel complete in your home. Here’s how to get rid of the things you don’t really need – remove junk from your attic.

As you can see, it is possible to be inventive with a design and style and change the overall picture of your apartment. Just because your place is small, it doesn’t mean that that functionality has to overrule the style.