This article was influenced by our conversation with an expert in luxury home interior design who recently moved to a smaller apartment.
- Mirrors and bright paint will make any room seem more significant.
- Accessories and furniture made of transparent materials, such as glass or acrylic, create the impression of an airy and uncluttered room.
Clients in the luxury market are pickier and typically have more disposable income to spend. After switching to designing compact rooms, she faced the challenge of recreating our favorite opulent aesthetic without breaking the bank.
To explain how we accomplished this:
Eliminating superfluous items by downsizing was essential
She knew she had to reduce as soon as she learned she was moving from Seattle to New York. She found an apartment that cost about the same as our last one but was much smaller.
She sorted through all of her belongings, and she evaluated the value of each item based on the question of whether or not it caused her happiness. To that end, she decided to keep it if it did. If she didn’t need it, she got rid of it or gave it away.
Her apartment choice was driven by a need for a bigger room than by a need for proximity to amenities
When she started looking for apartments on the internet, she knew she would be prepared to make the more extended trip downtown if it meant she could get more square footage.
The farther north she went, was cheaper per square foot, so she settled around 5 miles outside NYC’s central business district. It may not look much distance, but getting downtown can take up to forty minutes.
Thankfully, a walk-in closet, quite rare in studio apartments, was included in the increased square footage.
Her closet is a sound barrier between the main room and the restroom. Additionally, there is enough room for her dresser, shoes, clothing, and several large baskets.
She was able to organize her studio better thanks to careful space planning
She particularly enjoys the space-planning phase of decorating. For her, helping people organize their possessions is like a game of Tetris, where the goal is to get as many pieces as possible to fit into the least amount of room.
She made a few plans for her studio apartment to test different ways of creating distinct spaces.
She envisioned a studio apartment with a living area, bedroom, and dining area that flowed together visually but felt like three separate rooms.
She used strategically placed rugs to differentiate her home’s many sections
Rugs, in addition to their other benefits, can help a room feel more layered and cozy by adding texture and grounding the design.
Because the flooring in her ancient building tends to creak, she discovered that they are also fantastic for acoustic purposes. Rugs not only cover the floor but also help muffle the sounds coming up from below.
Months before moving in, she planned out innovative, understated storage options
She worked hard to make storage options that would stay within the room’s attractiveness.
She did this, in part, by stocking her home with storage ottomans. They serve multiple purposes, including extra sitting, a footstool, and a coffee table. The bench at the foot of her bed even folds into storage space.
When you need to make a tiny room seem more significant, mirrors are your best bet
She is thankful for the additional storage provided by the closet with the mirrored doors. With a limited studio space, she sought to increase the number of mirrors.
She substituted a much bigger and thinner one for aesthetic and practical purposes. She also placed the mirror where it would reflect the most wall area, making the room appear more significant than it was.
The use of similar colors and materials can create a sense of harmony in a room
She decorated her apartment solely in black and cream.
She planned to use this same color scheme throughout the apartment to create a cohesive look and feel. She even chose to highlight the black and cream hues in her wardrobe by displaying them in the section of the closet that is open to the living room.
Also, she made sure that all of her metals matched by selecting chrome and nickel plating. Because of the way that light is reflected off of certain surfaces, they can softly expand the impression of a room.
She used plenty of glass and acrylic in her home’s design to make linear and geometric shapes that give the impression of more room and light. As they visually consume so little visual real estate despite their practicality, acrylic embellishments create a sense of spaciousness and transparency.
When designing a place, symmetry is a consideration for many architects and designers, but it doesn’t always entail having two identical objects
She opted for a pair of irregularly shaped nightstands, for instance.
She got the eclectic effect she was going for by mixing and matching shapes. She achieved symmetry by ensuring both pieces had wood finishes and marble tops.
The equipment and necessities she kept in her tiny kitchen became decorative elements
When she moved into her apartment, she discovered that the counter space in her kitchen was a meager 12 inches.
She wanted more counter space and a more industrial aesthetic, so she installed a stainless steel island in front of her cabinets.
Since there isn’t much space in her kitchen, she’s made appliances an integral design element. She knew they would all look good in the room by purchasing items that were complementary to one another.
She also has a bottom shelf on her kitchen island where she proudly displays her black flatware and tan cookware. Since the dishes are now an integral part of the decor, she has no choice but to maintain them spotless even while they are being used as a pantry.
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