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Living image by Raulmahón from Fotolia.comThe right decor turns a small, cramped apartment into a cozy one.Many people live in smaller spaces today, because of economics or personal preference. While this decision often pays off financially, decorating a smaller apartment provides challenges in terms of how you use the space. You can make a small space more user-friendly by using furniture that serves double duty or that hides clutter. When putting together an apartment like this, planning how you will decorate and use the space saves you both money and space in the end. - According to Better Homes and Gardens, couches or chairs without armrests make a small space look bigger. Because this type of design makes the piece of furniture look unencumbered and open, it gives the appearance of openness to the objects and room around it. If you find that you occasionally need an armrest, scoot a heavy end table next to the end of your couch and place some colorful throw pillows next to the table for comfort as well as a splash of color. Futons work great for this type of setup. Not only are the frames often armless, you can convert the futon to a bed–a nice space-saving feature if you live in a studio apartment.
- Positioning your furniture correctly will help minimize the look of a small room. In addition to avoiding large, bulky pieces, the website I Love India recommends that you plan the layout of your room carefully. For example, you should place your largest piece–most likely your couch or maybe a piano–against the longest wall. This allows you to utilize the space and avoid the stubbed toes that happen when people round the corner too quickly and bump into the furniture.
- Because your apartment space is at a premium, it’s in your best interest to think of ways to store items more efficiently. Using fabric or a curtain to cover the front of a bookcase or an unsightly set of storage cabinets allows you to pull the look of your room together, but still hide the room’s clutter. To make a look like this work, select fabric that matches the rest of your decor. Either adhere it to the piece of furniture with upholstery tacks or glue it down with a hot glue gun.
- According to Oh My Apartment, mirrors enhance the openness of a space if you use them to reflect the light in the room instead of reflecting the space itself. So instead of positioning a big mirror to face your couch and thus reflect back your couch, position it in such a way that it catches the afternoon light or the soft light from the Japanese lantern you have hanging from your ceiling.





























































