Moving into your CLV Group apartment can be an adjustment, especially if you are downsizing. However, there are a lot of upsides to having a cozy space to call your own. Not only are there a plethora of ways to create that large space feel in a smaller home, having just a little bit of space can make decorating a very cost-friendly endeavor.
We scoured Pinterest and bugged our in-house interior designer (thanks Shauna!) to get some insider designer tips on how to make your apartment feel HUGE. With a little bit of strategic planning and know-how, you can tackle the challenge of decorating and organizing your apartment and make your space look much larger. Our professional tips can help you get started:
1. Stray from Dark Colours, but go BOLD!
This may seem like contradictory advice, but sometimes it’s alright to ignore the “only white” design rule for small spaces. While too much dark furniture, or colour on the walls, can make a small room feel confining, colours and bold patterns used strategically can enlarge a space. Consider using light blues, light grays and bright neutrals as your base colour scheme, while incorporating large-scale vertical or horizontal stripes to make the room seem taller or wider. Big prints are also a good idea to incorporate into your small space design, but avoid tiny prints as they can feel too busy.
2. Less is More
Think minimalist! When it comes to smaller spaces, it may be best, and is sometimes the better-looking design option, to forgo on some of those pieces of furniture you have always thought NEEDED to be in every room. Some spaces just can’t handle it. Ditch the large and overbearing coffee table to keep your living room feeling open and conducive to in-home traffic. Add a couple of side tables that you can move around and repurpose instead. If you start to reconsider your room layouts out of the context of how you’ve always placed them, your living spaces can take on new life.
3. Use up that Vertical Space!
Walls are for more than just artwork. Include shelving in any small space to increase storage and create the feeling of a larger and more versatile room. To maximize on your small space, think “off the floor” and “on the wall”.
4. Mirrors are Our Friends
Any size of mirror will do the job of reflecting as much natural light as possible in any room. This helps to make an airy and larger-feeling space. Insider tip: Place your mirror on the wall across from a window to maximize the natural light your apartment already gets.
5. Lift up Your Furniture
Make sure the pieces you choose for your apartment are lighter framed and do not sit directly on the ground. Furniture that is lifted from the ground helps the space feel more open and less blocked off by heavy pieces. Boost your couch up to create more visual flow throughout the room. You can achieve this with some inexpensive attachable legs from IKEA, or you can go for a trendier vibe by using stacks of vintage books from your local thrift store.
Are you looking for a rental apartment in Ottawa, Hamilton, or Burlington? CLV Group offers a wide variety of newly renovated, beautiful apartments for rent throughout Ontario and parts of Quebec.
Check back on Wednesday for Part II to this series!
