A common trend nowadays is small living spaces.
Many lean towards the temptation to rent a small apartment and do not think twice about having a small living space. Learning how to maximize living space and create more usable living space is a common question and pain point many renters want to solve. Especially after plunging into an apartment lease agreement for a small apartment or a studio apartment.
In short, you are not alone; and learning to save space or maximize space is something many want to learn how to do more efficiently.
Small apartments can be financially beneficial and allow you to save money for a dream home, but learning how to utilize the precious space available is imperative to make the living situation comfortable.
In this guide, we will discuss some tips and a game plan you can implement to begin organizing small spaces and turning small apartments into a great living situation, which will ultimately provide you with more room to work with.
How to Maximize Space in a Small Apartment
Small spaces can be more luxurious than you may believe. Small apartments are also common and one of the most popular units you can rent, especially in large cities.
That does not mean everyone plans accordingly, and perhaps you have more belongings than you originally thought.
What you do with your floor space, wall space, and even how you maximize built-in storage can make a world of difference.
To kickstart things, we want to cover some of our basic tips to help you maximize space and turn something, such as a small studio apartment or even 1-bedroom apartment, into the living space you desire.
Start with Saving Space By Organizing Your Own Belongings
We think that most will agree with the statement that a good majority of wasted space, even in a small area, such as a studio apartment, could be blamed on our own bad habits.
One specific bad habit that many individuals struggle to break comes to mind. Hoarding or cluttering the area for no reason when the ability to clean up the space is just waiting for you to take action.
In comes pro tip #1. Declutter.
TV shows are even built these days around decluttering, so it is clearly an issue many need to deal with.
Decluttering will open more space and in the easiest fashion before diving into more detail-oriented tips and ideas.
The saying goes like this “if you haven’t used it in six months”, you can get rid of it.
Of course, this won’t apply to everything in the apartment, but in general, use this mindset.
Go through your apartment and begin finding items that you don’t use or that you can honestly tell yourself is a waste of space. Donate it, trash it, or give it to a friend. The choice is yours.
The idea behind this is simple. You will open more storage space and begin maximizing space by implementing this step alone. Here are more tips on how to declutter your apartment.
Once the decluttering phase is completed, you can begin moving into the organization part of the process to maximize space even further.
The Belongings that Stay Need to Get Organized
With a small apartment, you need all the help you can get to utilize the small spaces.
The good news is that so much information is readily available to maximize small spaces, including this blog post.
Next, we want to begin organizing your furniture and items inside the apartment to open more storage solutions.
Sometimes, purchasing more versatile furniture may be necessary as well, but we will cover this later in this discussion.
The previous step should have helped you create more storage space, but now it needs to be organized. This way, we can eliminate the cramped space and make all space in the apartment usable and easy to navigate. If you organize all the previous clutter, the living space will be actual living space.
Before going too crazy, we recommend breaking up small spaces to create more organization. You can use dividers inside of drawers to separate items. You can do the same with kitchen cabinets, too.
You can also use storage bins that are labeled or storage stand-up units that can organize clothes or other items in small spaces, such as inside of the closet doors.
The organization will ultimately be the next crucial step for creating more room in the apartment. Read up more on organizational tips for a small apartment here.
Finish the decluttering and organizing, and then move into our next tip.
Our next tips will be more geared towards the individuals that completed the first recommendations, but still need more help opening up the space in a small apartment.
Consider Furniture that Can Serve Multiple Purposes
If decluttering and organizing have already made an enormous difference, but it is still not where you need to be, you can continue the process by using the larger living space to the best of your ability and begin considering dual-purpose furniture.
This can be hugely beneficial in small living spaces, such as small apartments or even small studio apartments.
Murphy Bed
One of these items or custom furniture we are referencing is the often-overlooked murphy bed.
A murphy bed can be great for small spaces if you can add this to your studio apartment or other small spaces.
Murphy beds, when not in use, can be folded up into the wall and become part of the wall décor. Thus, turning a potential bedroom into an office during the daytime or non-sleeping hours, or a studio apartment sleeping area can now open into a living room without being noticed. Learn how to turn an apartment living room into a bedroom here.
Futons and Fold-Out Couches
The same could be said in a studio apartment by utilizing a futon that folds into a bed, or a couch that can pull out into a bed. This ultimately maximizes your space by creating two different living areas for two times of the day; sleeping and living.
This is another excellent way to begin creating extra space or turning a small space into a larger space.
Coffee Tables with Storage
A coffee table is typically one of the universal pieces of furniture you will have in a small apartment or a studio apartment. Without storage available with the coffee table, you become even more limited on areas to store stuff.
Consider a coffee table that either has shelves below or the ability to arm extend out for internal storage.
Use a Window Seat for Storage
Some small apartments may have a window view or a window seating spot that can also double as a spot to store some décor or items, such as books and movies.
You can use a windowsill as a shelving unit for additional space inside a small apartment to further utilize your space.
Consider a Drop Leaf Table as a Dining Table
Utilizing a drop leaf table as a dining table can also save a lot of space and still give you the option to entertain a larger number of individuals.
When you have company over, you can place the leaf on the table, providing more seating and table space for food. You can then remove the table leaf when the company leaves, collapse the table together, and save yourself additional room.
This also allows you to potentially double up the abilities of a studio apartment by incorporating a dining area with a living room.
With some natural light and appealing décor, a drop leaf table can be a great addition to save space while having a small apartment that still features style. Learn how to arrange furniture in a small living room apartment here.
If furniture, organization, and decluttering has not fully gotten the job done, we need to consider other potential ways to open up storage areas in the apartment.
Try New Storage Solutions to Maximize Space Further
If you still need to further maximize space in your small apartment, you can try creating new storage solutions.
For areas like closets, vertical storage options can be a great option. They can act as additional drawers for clothing or miscellaneous storage items, which could potentially remove the need for something such as a dresser.
Vertical storage options can also be used in other ways, such as on walls or above doors. You can purchase or build shelves and place them in areas you would not normally think of, such as overhead doors or even above kitchen cabinets. Utilizing this space that typically goes wasted can free up additional space in your living area.
Other Storage Options
Sometimes people forget just how much is available to purchase these days and how many gadgets are available on platforms such as Amazon specifically designed to help with storage needs.
Other options for freeing up space can include simple ideas, such as purchasing storage shelves for the insides of kitchen cabinets for items like cleaning supplies.
You can even purchase decorative ottomans that can be placed in front of a couch for decoration, but also serve as a way of storing shoes.
A nesting table is another great possibility for a small apartment or studio apartment because they can be placed and stacked on top of one another to save space when space is needed, or serve your needs as end tables or coffee tables when space is not needed.
Consider a Room Divider
Another great option to utilize small spaces to the best of your abilities is to consider using a room divider or a partition.
For a studio apartment, this can work out great for certain situations, such as separating your living space from your bedroom or a living area from an office area; especially for those who can work remotely.
Room partitions can be financially beneficial as well. They can provide a divider between two living spaces without additional construction or actual walls.
This may not be the most appealing method to utilize small spaces, but it can create separate living areas on a tight budget.
Paint in Light Neutral Colors to Make Your Apartment Feel Larger
Sometimes the décor and style of the apartment can be just as game-changing as the organization itself, especially when you are dealing with small spaces in a small apartment. Consider this when you are brainstorming how to make your apartment functionally have more space and appear to have more space.
Natural light and the light colors in the apartment can go a long way toward giving an apartment a larger feel. Neutral tones are typically the colors you will want to lean on to accomplish this.
For small spaces or small apartments, consider re-painting the apartment in lighter colors. To give you a better idea, some of these colors can include cream or white.
The natural light bouncing off the lighter colors will give the small apartment a much more open feel and make it feel larger than it is.
If All Else Fails, Consider a Storage Unit
Depending on where you plan to rent your apartment, a studio apartment or a small apartment may be the only affordable options.
Additionally, you may have already exhausted many tips we have discussed thus far.
If that is the case and you still need to clear some space and make a small apartment have more living area, a storage unit may be the next best solution.
In most circumstances, storage units will cost you less to rent monthly than you would pay for upgrading apartments. It will save you a move and allow you to stay in your current apartment.
If you have not moved into your new studio apartment or small space, you still have plenty of time to decide which items need to go to a storage unit and which items are critical to your everyday living to bring with you.
Storage units also offer features such as climate control and security systems to protect your belongings and often can cost less than $50.00 per month, depending on how large of a unit you need.
This can be an option to consider so you can keep the living space open and not so cluttered.
The Takeaway
Sometimes, a 2-bedroom apartment, or even a 3-bedroom apartment, is not an option, and a studio or small apartment is the only choice that will fall within your desired budget. Saving space in these situations becomes crucial.
Plenty of resources are available for individuals looking for more ideas on utilizing space in a small apartment or a studio apartment.
Creating additional storage and making the best of a small apartment surely has its benefits. Trying to come up with square footage for a small apartment or studio apartment out of thin air does not always work out the best without some clever ideas and the ability to get creative.
If you implement the tips we have discussed in this guide, we are confident you can make the space in your studio apartment, or any small apartment, appear to be larger and effectively give you more usable living space to work with.
Renting an apartment is always exciting, but it does not come without some challenges.
If you are currently looking to rent in the Keego Harbor, Michigan area, be sure to check out the units we have available at Cass Lake Front Apartments.
