Make Your Apartment Feel Like A Spacious Palace, Even If It Isn’t!
Finding a home with a lot of space isn’t that easy these days, particularly if you live in a city. Space is at a premium, and just a few more square feet can end up costing a few thousand dollars. It’s not exaggerating to say that the lack of space in our accommodation can aggravate stress we are already feeling. No-one wants to feel closed-in all the time.
That lack of space is hard to overcome. Paying out extra for a larger apartment or house isn’t something that we can all do easily. And especially when it’s your first place, it can be hard to wait for a bargain to come along. So when you simply have to choose the less spacious area, it helps to have some decorative ideas to hand on how you can make it feel bigger and less cramped.
- Paint The Ceiling, But Not Just White
Painting the ceiling of your apartment in a brighter color will draw the eye upwards. This makes the space feel taller and gives you more of a sense of space. Anything that pulls the gaze up will have a similar effect. Wallpaper on the ceiling also works, as will placing shelving on the wall high up.
- Buy Glass (Or Glass Effect) Furniture
Unless you’re going down a really minimalist route, you can’t go unfurnished in your new place. However, one trick you can go with is freeing up visual space. If you have glass effect furniture, it doesn’t block out light in the same way as solid materials will. More light can move around the room, and you will feel less crammed in.
- Pick Blinds Instead Of Curtains
You may well notice when you open the curtains in the morning that everything suddenly feels more expansive. The basic fact is that by letting in more light, and extending what you can see, you have freed up visual space. Similar effects can be achieved by favoring blinds over curtains. Yes, you need to shut light out at times, but custom made blinds which fit the window do this without blocking everything off.
- Make Furniture Pull Double Duty
Multi-tasking is our way of freeing up time in a busy day. In a busy apartment or home, multi-purposing has the same effect. Except with space, obviously. A coffee table with shelves below it, freeing up storage, is beneficial. An ottoman which can be pressed into service as seating is good too. If it’s a studio apartment, a sofa bed is a good way forward.
- Less Is More
To be more accurate, fewer is more in this case. Instead of picking a few chairs and setting them out around the place, picking one sofa (and maybe a chair) will afford the same seating. Crucially, it won’t cut off as much space in the room, thus making it feel more open and airy.
When it comes to space, in an apartment or in a house, judgement is important. What it says on the floor plan is one thing. How it feels to live in is another, and matters more.
I love your tips and pointers on making the apartment feel more like “home”. This is a truly great hands-on method to do so.
I love the tips. They would be great for transforming a small apartment.
I really like the idea of glass coffee tables to make the space look bigger.
Good tips..another I’ve utilized and works is to hang curtains or drapes all the way up to the ceiling. Or even open up the ceiling to rafters.
I love these tips! My house is super small and sometimes I feel so cluttered but I’m going to use the tip about furniture pull double duty!
These are all great tips and I really like the blinds instead of curtains one.
What fantastic tips! Love the blinds vs curtains idea!
I like all the suggestions – the problem is that old habits take a while to change
I like the tips. Sometimes you have to bend the rules for what works!
Thank you for the information. We just bought a house. It’s very small like an apartment, But it is big enough for me and my husband.
Great tips, when I was younger I remember mom painting the ceiling then dusting it with sparkles.
I like white
I have used one of your hints. I changed from drapes to blinds. My living room is so much brighter using the blinds!
These are all fantastic tips! I love using glass and mirrors to make a space look bigger. 🙂
You give a lot of helpful tips. Not that I am in an apartment. The tips are good for any home too I would think. The room pictured above does give the appearance of a lot of space. I have always thought for some reason if you use a lighter color furniture you will appear to have more space.
Good tips! I had no idea blinds would be better than curtains for making a space feel larger. I also like the use of white.
Good ideas for making an apartment feel larger that it really is. We need to do the less is more part since we have entirely too much stuff in our place. I need to put up a lot of shelves so we can get things put away instead of being in boxes on the floor.
More is less is always a good policy. I also prefer blinds over curtains and drapes. Thanks for the tips.
Very informative tips, thank you.
Love these tips. Especially use blinds instead of curtains.
These are some great ideas!
Awesome tips! Some of these I never would have thought of. I had no idea painting the ceiling could help with this. We may have to try this trick.
This is much needed and wonderful advice! Thank you!
Good ideas no matter where you live. I have a room where a brighter color ceiling would really help…never thought to do anything but white, don’t know why though, habit I guess.
Good suggestions here. They can be applied to houses as well as small apartments.
Such great advice! Super helpful 🙂
These are good ideas for making any space feel larger and more roomy. I love open space and bright light.
These are wonderful ideas, I will keep these ideas in my head for the future! Thank you!
Love those blinds in the kitchen!
Good tips. This is a lovely apartment wherever it is. I think it is key if youre somewhere small to keep things at a minimum.
I love had a challenge affording that of such an elaborate makeover! The professional stature of appearance has been what I want others (viewers) in my family see when having over as guests!
I like Paint the Ceiling idea a lot.
I have a very small apartment, so this post was especially helpful.
These are some great ideas for helping make the appearance of a small space bigger. We live in a small apartment and these tips will come in handy.
These are also great ideas for a smaller home! I never thought of painting the ceiling a different color and I love the idea of blinds instead of curtains.
We own a home. It’s too much for us. The kids are grown and married. With five bedrooms, and two baths the spare rooms have basically become attic space. I wish we had a smaller place. But, I’d hate to have monthly rent payments to make again.
This is great! Thanks!
I love the open feeling of the room and those blinds are amazing looking, I like what they did with that coffee table.
@tisonlyme143
I love those blinds! I also second the less is more tip. Too much clutter can make even a huge home feel small!
These are very good ideas. Our home is a doublewide, we decided on it because we loved the land we found. I love where we are but space is definitely at a premium.
Very good advice. Another tip is to add “4-D” art on your walls to give the illusion of added space 9 such as nature scenes).
I love the open space and bright lite in the room.
These are good ideas even for an old house.