apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is great, as I am moving into my first real apartment by the end of this month! We're getting a steal on the rent, on the conditions that we paint it.

Scale, scale, scale! If you have a small space use small pieces that fit the scale of the apartment. A tiny living room has so much more style with a loveseat, side chair and stool than with one big L-shaped sofa...

Keep it clean! Have a place for everything and then everything can go back in its place. The slightest messiness looks way worse in a small space. Freshly cleaned floors with Mrs. Meyers Lavendar scent instantly makes the place feel airier.

In small spaces, there never seems be enough space for clothing, books, electronic media, work areas, etc...

...but rather than lots of traditional freestanding dressers, cabinets, desks, etc. - built-ins and modular furniture systems can be configured to fit your space wall-to-wall and floor-to ceiling and accommodate all your storage needs in one compact area. Consider systems such as PAX from IKEA, the Techline Series 2 Cabinetry System (which includes a wallbed - another great thing for small spaces and studio living) or hire a local cabinetmaker to custom-build a system that will perfectly fir your space and meet your storage needs.

Dual purpose! Look for multiple uses in everything you buy. An ottoman is cozy, but an ottoman with hidden storage is even better.

Also, I find that furniture with legs feels less heavy in a space than pieces that sit directly on the floor.

yes, keep it tidy. even a little bit of clutter will make your space look and feel messy!! stay on top of it.

LilyC gives great advice--try to chose furniture that sits up off the floor on legs, so that the floor is invisible under the furniture. Then, invest in a good mop/dusting system, as you will want be fighting the dust bunnies.

Use the space up the the ceiling whenever possible--shelves and storage that have a small footprint but are tall can really help in a small space.

As for organization, really think about how you use your house. Where do you like to read your mail? Flip through magazines? Pay bills? Then place storage and trash bins in the places where you will be handling paper and other cluttering items.

Lastly, enjoy the cozy feeling of a small space. Who wants to spend all their time cleaning a 3000 square foot house?

Oops, sorry for all the typos.

Another plug for using vertical space. Spend more money on getting one or two taller piece (like bookcases). Try to confine your cluttery possessions (mail, books, ipod, etc) to a few concentrated zones instead of thinly spread out all over the place!

I'm also a huge fan of glass-front bookcases (or barrister bookcases). For some reason things *feel* less cluttered if they are behind glass.

I think all small spaces are unique. I live in 450 square feet, and it already has the most spacious storage of any apartment I've ever lived. My tip would be to draw yourself a floorplan and organize yourself and the stuff you already own with the help of it. Pile up your things as organized stacks of stuff, figure out what furniture you need before you buy "stuff I like" or "stuff that fits between two doors." Since your space isn't like mine, and mine is not like yours, it's hard to say much specific. You do want stuff you like, but plot out owned goods and make measurements on the floor for potential widths and depths of new furniture, depending on your needs, calculated by your actual stuff. DON'T GET A CD/DVD RACK!!!

One thing I think is important (no matter how small or large your home is) is to walk into your apartment and create your space from that viewpoint. You don't want to see the back of your tv from that perspective, and a few other not quite neat sides of things. If someone is entering your home and seeing your whole life at once from the doorway, try to arrange it so when you come in, it doesn't look like you stuffed your life into your apartment haphazardly.

There are practical matters to mind, and not always an option to put things in more than one way. Mainly you want to avoid looking like it's crowded or stifling to the visitor, and you deserve to return home each day to a space that looks put together and welcoming, not careless and sort of doomed.

Your view from the interior should not be compromised by taking care of the view from the door, and if it could be, try not to let it be. If it will anyway, interior functioning is more important overall than first impressions. I think if this happens, you might have more stuff than you need anyway, but I can't fault someone for storing a little more stuff than can fit if their living quarters might be enlarging in the foreseeable few years. I do not believe in ultimate material sacrifices just to make a little breathing room for a couple years. But really love your things when you do this, and not just hang onto things.

Pare down your belongings to essentials. You don't have room for extra.

Have a "home" for everything you own so that it's easy to put things away. As someone mentioned about, even a little bit of clutter in a small space immediately makes the whole place look messy.

To go along with the above point...Clean very frequently. Messy places aren't inviting, and in a space that small there's nowhere for guests to escape away from it.

Think multi-purpose. Your bed can also be the couch (or the couch can be your bed). Store boxes under furniture and hide with a skirt. A coffee table with drawers. One surface that is both your table and your desk (or better yet, also your kitchen counter). And as mentioned above, ottomans that are also storage units. Etc, etc, etc. (Don't forget that this applies to your kitchen appliances and pans, too.)

Think outside of the box for storage. Don't forget that you have walls and a ceiling. And if displayed well, storage can be in the open...cleverly "disguised" as a display. Under things, behind things, above things. Think like a toddler who loves to hide the car keys--where else can I hide this that no one would think to look?

Don't be afraid of color. Yes, white makes a room look bigger, but so does dark brown glossy paint (etc) when paired with the right color furnishings.

Give one piece of furniture (or feature in the room) reign over the rest. Make it the "king" of the room. One, this will draw your eye to it and make you forget about the rest of the space (and how cramped it is). Two, if it's big and attention-grabbing, it'll make everything else look dainty in its presence. One large, overstuffed chair. Or big, dramatic windows (with awesome curtains that emphasize their size/height). Or a dramatic piece of art. Or the paint/wallpaper you chose for the ceiling. You get the idea.

Don't try to furnish it all at once. Start with the most important piece (clearly a place to sleep---couch, Murphy bed, actual bed) and live with it a while before you start adding.

Keep everything neat. I know its a task but by doing so things look more spacious:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30160010@N07/3183629058/

I'm obviously a fan of no clutter, legs on furniture and chotchkes behind glass in my small space.

Don't feel obligated to have rooms or areas you won't use. If you never have formal dinners do you really need a big dining table? Arrange the space so it meets your needs for the way you truely use it, and put money into the areas where you spend the most time. If you always eat in the living room, maybe that means investing in a coffee or side table that's really comfortable to eat from and forgoing a separate dining area altogether.

I agree with LauraE, it's best to start with only what is absolutely necessary and then figure out what will work in your small space. I learned this the hard way. :(

Think of your furniture as being mobile and multipurpose. Choose things that are easy to pick up and move, and then plan to move things around to suit different purposes.

For example, I have the IKEA tylosand chaise and footstool. Most of the time, this makes a very comfy couch for one, but I can push the footstool against the wall and make bench seating for two small people. If I pull up the two table chairs, I can actually sit six people comfortably around a coffee table.

I also have set of drawers on casters. This can be rolled over to the dining table to make a "desk" (the drawers are full of office supples and such) or it can be turned around and rolled over to the couch to make an extra end table. I can also easily roll it into the closet and out of sight for a little extra room.

Another tip: use tall bookshelves for more than just books. A list of things I keep on my bookshelf: boxes, bins, standing files, hanging files, a printer, wireless hub, external hard drive, books of cds, extra printer paper, and even a small workstation on a bookshelf.

Don't go hog-wild at any store until you're sure that you need it. I made a list of all the things I "thought" I would need when I moved in, but after unpacking, half those things were no longer needed (due to space constraints). What a hassle.

And seriously, as mentioned above, go through what you have and eliminate, especially if you have minimal storage.

Edit, edit, edit. Look at everything with a critical eye. If you have a chair that you just don't love, get rid of it. If you notice you miss having a chair, find one that you love, is a better scale and a better investment of your space. Don't store anything that you don't need to. When I first moved in with my husband, we had less than 600 square ft, now we live in a house with more than double that, which is just an opportunity for me to store fabric that I will use "some day", have multiples of everything (TVs, placemats, cell phone chargers, etc.) I wish I could get back to the minimal mindset that our small apartment required.

Dual purpose furniture, items that can pack away, and custom build-ins will do wonders. A small space can quickly become too crowded, but when done right can feel amazing and cozy. Also useful for creating extra room: round pedestal table and armless chairs (if you combine two you have a couch!)

I live in about 425 square feet.

My recommendations:
Get a storage bed, so you don't have to have a dresser.

Consider furniture that blends in visually with your floor or walls, whether it is transparent or similar in color. Consider the scale of the furniture carefully.

What you see as you enter is important for how big you perceive your space. Keep the sight line as clear as possible.

Don't be afraid of big art/wall hangings, especially in a color that recedes (like blue) to make the space look bigger. Keep things visually interesting in the space you do have. Mirrors can help magnify the space.

Stay organized--there are no dumping grounds for extraneous items, so put stuff away as you get it out.

Don't be afraid of color. Making rooms look bigger is not always a worthy goal. Sometimes dark or richly toned paint can define a space and make it look like a "jewel box" in your home.

If your space is small, make it into a perfect little nest!

Storage, storage, storage. Get a bed with storage underneath, pay attention to your vertical surfaces and outfit them with wall shelves, keep your closets and drawers clean and organized.

My number one tip for everyone: Unless you're really starting with a blank slate, for everything new you bring in, take out something old. Don't hang onto things for forever just because they might come in handy.

Best tip:

There are no rules.

stop designing for who people expect you to be. find out who you are & what you need. then, start to edit.

Clear furniture can do wonders (peekaboo coffee table for me)

Modular shelving is versatile (cubitec)

Expandable dining table (spanna, doubles as a desk for me)

Large mirror to give the illusion of more space

Lots of lamps (my apartment has almost no natural light, so this is a must)

Minimal amount of furniture

Keep clutter-free (shove it into a closet while guests are over at least!)

Purge, purge, purge

Another plug for purging. Freecycle is a great place to get rid of anything and everything: http://www.freecycle.org

As for decor, a dark floor against light colored walls and furniture can really make a place feel more spacious. Works really well in my not-quite-300-sq-ft apartment. I have white couches and light wood shelving and tables so the contrast makes everything looks like it's floating while the floor sort of falls away (um, visually).

Having furniture with legs helps a lot.

NOTE TO THE EDITORS: I love this thread. Any chance you'll focus more on (truly) small spaces in the future? The solutions that work in the tiniest spaces are often the most innovative... and they'll work in larger spaces, as well. :)

I live in about 300 sq. feet with my husband and I disagree with the suggestion that you use small pieces. Lots of small pieces make a small space seem busy and overloaded. Fewer large (but not giant) pieces work better.

I agree about reducing the number of possessions you have, but it's more important to just store well. Mainly don't clutter surfaces with many items. It looks overwhelming.

All of these are good solutions and I would add a couple of my own.

- Really invest in a closet organization system. You'd be surprised how on track that can keep you and you could always just shut the door.

- When thinking about things like storage, try to avoid pieces taking up floorspace. Instead of a bookcase, use bookshelves. Less things to move while you sweep/mop meaning you're likely to do it more often and keep an uncluttered space.

- If you live in an old rental like me and have any amount of technical equipment, you will not have enough outlets or they will not be in the most convenient places. Invest in those adhesive strips that run along the baseboard to put an outlet anywhere you need one. That way you won't have extension cords snaking around.

Yolio - I wish we could see some pictures!

Take a photo from common viewpoints (like the front door), sometimes we get so used to looking at our own space we don't see a lot of things that could be. Somehow it changes when you look at it when it's flat, things start sticking out.

Simplify, not only your stuff but colors. It doesn't have to be limiting colors but group them, it reduces the feeling of clutter.

i know the rainbow-organized bookshelf is a little overdone, but arranging our books by color made our space feel cleaner and more open as it reduced visual clutter (per a6sinthe's suggestion). We have a lot of books, though, so we had to reign them in somehow. We also store the tv and dvd player on the bookshelves - most people don't even notice it's there for a while (it's black, and in the "black" section of the color-coded books) and it doesn't take up any additional floorspace that way.

we use a wire shelving system from ikea in our kitchen for dishes (all the same color) and other various things, including spices in the same style jars. The system has a hanging rack for wine bottles, and drawers that attach under shelves, so it's a great but clean looking system that adds storage space to a small kitchen. if you don't have much floorspace, you could always add some shelves on the kitchen walls, like ikea's LACK shelves.

and we are slowly learning that lighting is everything. poor lighting makes the place feel closed in and depressing, but good lighting makes it feel open and airy.

Combine loves and needs. I have an old, Cape Cod rain barrel (with lid) to which I'm sentimentally attached, and a dog for whom I buy huge sacks of dog food. The dog food gets stored in a trash bag in the barrel, which is stuck into a kitchen corner. I get to look at the rain barrel, not at a large, ugly, plastic bin. A Haitian basket from a visit there is my bathroom hamper. I have a Tibetan wicker backpack that hangs on a louvered door (that hides the washer and drier), and it holds all my cleaning rags that I use instead of disposable cleaning items. An ancestor's 19th C seaman's chest stores stuff and serves as a bench at the kitchen table. And so forth. Containers can be both loved and practical!

-Scale of furniture - small space small furniture
-It's better to add a chunky wardrobe or cabinet than let collections of stuff sit everywhere or clothes be stored in a basket

all these tips are good, but if you're gonna live in a small space, you should really consider keeping your stuff to a bare minimum...

don't get detached to stuff you use only rarely or look at only in passing...books, cds, dvds - do you really need them? be social, rent or borrow. or digitize.

don't design for 'in case when guests come over'. the seats you have for yourself - TV couch, reading lounger, desk chair, dining chair, stool - will be enough seatings for 7-8 visitors. don't feel like you have to have a 'set' as in a living room set or a dining room set.

eventhough the rooms are probably carved out for you, don't follow a formula. it might be good idea to just let the design evolve naturally.

get just the bare necessities but get the best you can afford.

and lamps, lamps, lamps. lighting is key.

I have a ton of furniture in my really-big-for-a-studio apartment. I think the thing that keeps it feeling cozy instead of overwhelming is that instead of a normal European mattress, I have a Japanese style futon on a tatami mat. The extremely low profile of my bed makes it sort of disappear in the room.

I think this goes along with the tip of having furniture with legs. Being able to sort of see through (or in the case of my bed, see right over) furniture helps that place feel more open.

Khavnzen - On extra seating, my best advice was to keep one more seat than you need. If the couch sits two comfy, one small chair in a corner is great. I hate to have to lug around furniture just because one person stopped by - it makes more sense to do it if more than one dropped by.

When you bring something new in take something out.

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Hooray. I love little cozy places to live and love.

My most important tip is to think carefully about your organization and make it work for you. Just buying a bunch of boxes or drawers is NOT the solution.

For example, I am a seriously messy person naturally - so I have a "chairobe" Yes, my concession is that I have one messy chair in my bedroom, but I am way more likely to take things to that chair rather than dumping on every flat surface in my place.

I am also a huge fan of hooks - hooks everywhere. The container store is splendid for this. If the hook exists exactly where you would naturally drop the item . . . ta-da, instant order.

Secondly, I loved the weeks I lived in my tiny apartment with only a bed on the floor. Being poor made me think carefully about what I brought in to my house.

Thirdly, try using large pieces of paper to your advantage. Cut out the footprint of the new item and put it in the place where it will live - do you like? hate? step on? This will help make an informed decision. I use this trick on walls for shelves and entertainment centers and artwork too.

Fourthly, choose storage carefully and stick with it. Currently I own only rubbermaid food storage in two sizes with identical lids. They fit in less than one square foot in my cabinets and stack beautifully in the fridge. (yes, I am working on an upgrade to glass to save the planet - soon soon). All of my closets are filled with legal file boxes from Office Depot - same brand, same size, same color, stacks beeeutifully. And I can buy one, or ten and they will always match.

Sigh. Oh the joy of order.

~korin

I think the Elfa closet system is the best storage system ever. It has multiplied the actual storage space (linear feet) i have by a factor of 3! Everything has a place in the 2 closets i have and has room for even more.

www.floorplanner.com - best idea to go along with kdear without having to waste paper.

Anyone have ideas for a small-space rental home???

I've recently moved into one and am finding organisation difficult, since my husband and I cannot build in storage, put shelves up etc, as we would if we owned the house. We love the place, but it has very little storage (actually, almost none!).

Any suggestions would be really appreciated!

Rainbowbright - post pictures or something. Basically if it's small, make sure most of the furniture can be used for more than one thing.