3 Smart, Different Ways a Floating Shelf Can Save the Day in a Small Space

published Aug 28, 2022
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When you aren’t working with tons of square footage, you have to get creative to make your small space feel functional. Some folks opt for petite furniture, while others rely on smart storage solutions. For one small-space dweller in Taiwan, the trick to keeping her loft feeling light and airy lies in a few strategically-placed floating shelves.

Mish and Ryan recently renovated their 600-square-foot loft apartment in Taipei, Taiwan. According to Mish, their home was initially a “very awkward studio with a tiny storage room upstairs that nobody used.” So she and Ryan ended up transforming it from top to bottom to create a bright, breezy loft space that suits their lifestyle and shared aesthetic. “I saw huge potential within the existing structure to convert the space into a duplex loft, which was a dream we always had of creating,” Mish says in her house tour. Since the overall footprint of the apartment just hits 600 square feet, the couple wanted to prioritize a feeling of expansiveness. To achieve this, Mish stuck to classic minimalist colors and finishes — blonde woods, whites and dove grays — as well space-saving furniture ideas. In fact, in lieu of traditional furniture, Mish decided to utilize wall space over floor space and incorporated floating shelves all throughout the loft. These simple wall-mounted perches completely transformed this tiny space, and these three spots in particular stuck out to me as worth copying in my own home.

A DIY dining nook

The kitchen in this apartment is smaller than most, but it’s one of the more stylish spaces in the house, thanks to this little built-in counter situation. The long, narrow layout leaves virtually zero room for a dining table, so Mish had to create one. She mounted a sturdy wood floating shelf to the wall across her appliances then placed two custom stools underneath it. Now the couple has the perfect eat-in kitchen for two.

A makeshift home office

“The house is filled with fun touches that give it its own unique personality, like our fold-out Murphy working desk in the closet that we DIYed ourselves,” Mish says. Some may have taken one look at the tiny closet in this loft and thought to stash a few boxes or extra clothes here — but not Mish. She turned this feature into a home office with the help of a small, wall-mounted shelf turned desk. “We followed a YouTube tutorial and now have a functional foldout work desk,” Mish says. “This means that the walk-in closet now doubles up as a private work area.”

An unexpected art display

Accoding to Mish, her favorite element in this loft just might be the gallery wall near the staircase. “Our signature art gallery wall symbolizes how decor is way more than just about aesthetics but also an opportunity to positively affect your psyche,” she says. On this same wall, Mish also mounted a thin floating shelf above a doorway to create an additional spot to display even more art as well as some colorful candles, which function like tiny sculptures here.