How to Style a Small Apartment
Earlier this year, I bought myself my first ever investment property. Sydney’s market is expensive, so it’s a small one - but after many years of working my butt off and saving HARD - I finally have a little space to call my own, that I own outright.
The best thing about styling a small apartment is that you don’t need much furniture - WIN!
So before I made the space my own, I thought carefully about where I wanted to spend my money. I was lucky that I had essentially found a ready-to-go apartment that had been renovated and flipped. The owner was nervous about a cooling market, so I negotiated it prior to the auction for what was a fair price. I had a little extra money to spare in sprucing it up and making it look chic, so I decided to choose wisely and make the most of my new pad.
I did a lot of research and learned some valuable lessons along the way. So I present to you - my top tips of how to style a small space!
Measure thoughtfully.
Working with a small space means that you have to plan a little more carefully. I learned this the hard way by ordering a fridge online and only quickly checking the dimensions. It barely even fit through the door! When it was time to choose my main furniture, I decided to invest in some beautiful pieces from BoConcept. I had previously owned some of the Danish company’s furniture when I lived overseas and could vouch for their amazing quality and style. I love the clean modern lines, the luxe fabrics and the thoughtful touches that they put into their products. I took along the measurements of my little space and after looking through the showroom and marking out my favourites in the catalogue, I sat down with one of their interior designers, Stephanie. She helped me plan out how my favourite pieces would fit and look, and walked me through some of the dual functionality. She even helped me render a 3D model of what the apartment would look like.
Pick neutral colours for the main pieces.
Choose a few key pieces in neutral colours (and easy to care fabrics so that they don’t discolour), and then jazz it up with a few select colours in your accessories. I chose a beautiful neutral grey nubuck fabric on my sofa, that tied in with the espresso oaks of my coffee/dining table, media unit and the grey of my shaggy rug.
Keep it tidy.
I can’t stress this enough, as clutter will just make your space look even more smaller than it already is. Take half a day to go through all of your worldly possessions and channel your inner minimalist. Get rid of anything you haven’t worn/used/looked at in over a year. Then get clever with your storage to hide away things you don’t need within arms reach for your everyday routine. The frame of my BoConcept Mezzo Bed that holds my mattress easily lifts up to reveal under-bed storage. I can fit my entire shoe collection, bed linens, towels, an overnight bag, my yoga mat and any other bits and pieces I might want to hide away to keep the space tidy, which in turn makes it look bigger. Check it out by swiping on the second image below.
Choose convertible pieces.
Being picky with your furniture will serve you well when dealing with limited square footage. Some of the furniture I ordered is PERFECT for a smaller space, because it offers double (or even triple) functionality. My BoConcept Stockholm Sofa folds out easily to become a comfy double bed in less than a minute. My BoConcept Rubi Table converts from a coffee table, to a desk, to an 8-person dining table, all with a quick adjustment of a handle, and a clever folding panel. I’m not sure I could fit 8 people in this apartment, but should I ever want to host a party - there would definitely be enough room at the table.
Acessorise wisely with a light touch.
I chose the gorgeous midnight blue velvet Adelaide occasional chair and the copper-toned statement Kuta Lamp from BoConcept and then tied in the rest of my accessories in navy, blush pink and copper pieces from inexpensive stores like Freedom, Target, OZdesign, My House and Kmart. The occasional vase, tray, cushion, piece of art or decoration that picks up these tones is really accented against my neutral tones and gives a finished feeling to my space.
