We recently had to downsize into a much smaller, albeit more beautiful apartment. We fell in love with the layout, the large balcony with a beautiful view, and the surrounding neighborhood that has everything you could possibly need, all within walking distance. But the apartment itself is teeny, and we weren't sure how we were going to make it work. We have had one year in which to settle in now, and I can honestly say that it is more fabulous than our previous bigger apartment. The main thing we had to do is to get rid of a ton of our stuff. If we didn't absolutely need it, or absolutely love it, we got rid of it as quickly as possible. We discovered that the fewer items we owned, the larger our space would begin to feel. That was the first thing. The second thing was we embraced a more Scandinavian style of decorating. Bright white walls, or soft light blue or grey walls, depending on the rooms. Lots of white furniture mixed up with natural wooden furniture for a touch of warmth. And plants throughout. All that white and light colors really brightened up the space, making it feel even bigger still. We used pops of fun color within the artwork and throw pillows. So it all still feels very colorful, despite all of the white. Lastly, we became really creative and meticulous with organization. We know exactly where everything is, and it's all hyper organized. That helps a ton, too.

We still have some work to do. It's not all finished, just yet. But we see the light at the end of the tunnel after only one year, and downsizing has become an enormous blessing for our entire family. We have learned to live with significantly less, and to prefer living this way. Best of luck to everybody who is embarking on a similar downsizing endeavor.

I'm moving to a small space, and this post is exactly what i needed. Thanks!

Ah, thank you so much for this post. In a month I'll be downsizing by a 1/3rd and that scares me a bit. I've always lived in small spaces, but I got a bit spoiled by the 1500 sq-ft of my current space. I'm really excited about the move, but I'm going to be nervous until I see how my current furniture does or does not work.