Apartments Archives - Inspired Home Ideas

22 Small Room Ideas To Maximize Space In A Small Room

We often get asked “How To Maximize Space In A Small Room With Small Room Ideas”, everyone wants to own a big and luxurious house that has huge and spacious rooms, but not everyone is fortunate enough to live that dream.

At present, property prices are sky-rocketing, and upcoming new properties feature small rooms which have very limited space.

Because of this, the homeowners, with no other option left, struggle hard to make the maximum use of limited space in their house.

But there’s no need to worry if you don’t own a huge house because small spaces can also look big.

Yes, there are some tips and tricks which, when applied accordingly, can make your small rooms look bigger, and you can get all your items properly arranged in that limited space.

Here are 22 tips and tricks that can help you in making your limited area look big and maximize your use of the space.

1. You can go for white walls for the room. The walls painted in white give the room a brighter and lighter base which allows your accessories and furniture to stand out.

You can ask the help from a Sydney plastering service company, if you’re in Australia, for this one or you can paint the walls yourself if you have time.

2. You should create a floor plan and divide the sections according to your needs. Then complete the purpose of every section that you intended. For example, select the place to put your table and chair, your bed, or couch.

3. You can differentiate each space by using different colors. Such as the area of the bed can be highlighted with brown, gold, or pewter, and the area to sit on can be highlighted in tonal greens. This way all the visual chaos can be calmed.

4. You can also divide the room according to your activities, such as the part of the room where you eat, the part where you sleep, etc. You can put curtains and separate that part.

5. You should decorate your room and put some artwork such as paintings or any other framed pieces above eye level. Hanging these artworks as high as possible makes an impression of a tall ceiling.

6. Choose the type of furniture that is compact in size and serves various purposes. You can get different kinds of furniture that can be used to serve multiple purposes.

Such as a trunk can be used as a storage unit and at the same time, it can serve the purpose of a coffee table. You can also have a sofa that can double up as a guest bed.

The most commonly used multi-purpose pieces of furniture are cubes. It can work as coffee tables and can also be used as an extra seat when there are more guests.

7. From time to time, rearrange your furniture and accessories, so that the neatness of the area could be well maintained. You should group the items in your room accordingly because ungrouped items are like clutter and make your room look even smaller.

8. You might have noticed that walls offer a superb storage opportunity. You can avoid using light stands or lamp shades and can install some lighting equipment on the wall.

9. In a room, the bed consumes the maximum space. So go for a bed that has side drawers or a loft. You can utilize the loft to store the things not frequently required such as clothes to be used in winter, etc. You can do it in the summer season and reverse it in the winter season.

10. Go to the nearby market and buy some hooks. Install those hooks in your room and hang miscellaneous items on them. The hooks can be used in any room or anywhere in the house. You can also use them in the kitchen, bathroom, etc.

11. It is a common phenomenon to have closed cabinets in the room. But the disadvantage of closed cabinets is that they make the room look smaller. So, prefer open shelves in the room. Your room will look big and the shelves will hold a lot of your stuff.

12. Often, it is seen that corners are neglected parts in a room. Most people do not get this idea while planning the room and space remains unused. You can make maximum use of corners by installing some hanging shelves.

On those shelves, you can put perfume bottles, books, and other daily-need items.

13. One other space that can be utilized is the space behind the door. If there is enough space behind the door, you can get a wardrobe installed or constructed with sliding doors.

However, if you find that the space is limited, then you can install hooks on the backside and various items can be hung on them.

14. Just below the ceiling of room, have a shelf installed in the whole room. In this shelf, you can store books, soft toys or showpieces.

15. In the room’s corner, have a basket placed in which you can put things as you enter the room. The items such as handbags, stole, belts, etc. can be placed in it.

16. One more way to make your small area more spacious is to trick your eyes. You can use ceiling-to-floor curtains, see-through furnishings and strategically positioned mirrors.

These tricks will not only make you believe the bigger space in the room but your guests will also feel the same.

17. In your room, choose furnishings that fit better in the space and consume minimal square footage. For example, instead of single big coffee table, you can go for two small round tables.

They serve the purpose well in a small room in comparison to that knee hurting huge table.

18. You can increase the size of your windows or change the doors from solid wood to transparent such as glass doors. This will open the view of your area and adjacent areas will look connected.

You can also install blocks or shelves in the area’s walls which will force you or the visitor to cover that area slowly.

19. You can cleverly use a headboard to store things.

This can happen when you go for a customized headboard. Buy one that can serve as a bedside table, a bookcase and a headboard.

20. Have a murphy bed installed in your room.

These beds can be hidden in the wall when not in use and whenever you want to use them, just pull them out of the wall. Some modern murphy beds hold a foldout desk on the reverse giving you another versatile option.

21. If oversized furniture is what you fancied but you are limited to your smaller space, buy more space-efficient furniture.

The bigger furniture will just consume a larger part of your room and make the whole room look bulky.

22. Now you have the tips and tricks about most of the objects in your room.

You might be thinking that a trick about placing the shoes is left. So, here it comes. You can have shoe hangers to neatly store the shoes. Now, do not throw them on the floor and make a large pile.

So, these are the 22 tips and tricks that will help you to maximize the space of your room.

Besides these options, do your own research as there are so much more. Surf the internet or go through some magazines and find some better ideas to make your room look more spacious.

Do you know other techniques on how to make a small space look and feel larger?

Kristoffer Canimo is a Manila-based writer who strictly cannot start his day without coffee. When he’s not writing, he spends his time reading various topics like architecture, home design, and search engine optimization.

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Paris Apartment by Diego Revollo Architect

The stunning Paris Apartment by Diego Revollo Architect.

Welcome to the three chic apartment designed by the architect Diego Revollo for a Brazilian couple in one of the most charming addresses in the French capital.

“A Life Project”. That’s how the couple defines the 100m2 dreamed pied-à-terre in Paris.

The apartment is located on the penultimate floor of a five-story building, built in 1856 in neoclassical style, that underwent through a retrofit respecting the original features.

The neighborhood is not any quartier: it is the 8ème or Champs-Elysées.

The design was developed in Brazil but the apartment had been retrofitted, the architecture office only designed some of the coating, such as joinery, all performed in Portugal.

The decoration came from Parisian suppliers, summarizing the classic but unpretentious elegance brought to the two-bedroom property, hallway, bathroom, toilet, kitchen and living room with dining and office areas.

The décor is a nice mix high & low. The art was acquired in the marchés aux puces and in the Galerie Maeght, one of the most prestigious establishments, representative of the history of modern art with names such as Braque, Miró, Chagall and Calder.

As for the furniture, the manufactures range from Scandinavian, as George Jensen, Italian, as Minotti and B & B Italy, French, as Serge Mouille, to brands like Christophle, Au Bon Marché, with its great collection, and Roche Bobois known as the French house temple.

Architect – Diego Revollo

Photographer – Alain Brugier

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Bermondsey Wall Duplex Penthouse

Terrace at dusk © Bruce Hemming

FORMstudio has dramatically reconfigured this 240 m2 Bermondsey Wall Duplex Penthouse, creating a spectacular open-plan living space on the upper floor. The practice’s radical design approach cleverly rationalises the available space and celebrates the apartment’s spectacular views out over the Thames.

Living space © Bruce Hemming

From the entrance, a view of the river draws the visitor forward into a double height space, from which an elegantly detailed stairway leads upward, revealing the impressively spacious open-plan dining and living area above.

Wider View of Living space © Bruce Hemming

The penthouse is arranged over the top two floors of a prominent high-rise residential development, originally designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands – a Design and Build project with an internal layout that divided both the entry and upper levels into a labyrinth of cellular spaces.

Hallway © Bruce Hemming

The former arrangement ignored the spatial potential offered by the distinctive, soaring wing roof and the spectacular wrap-around views over the river and to the City beyond.

Staircase © Bruce Hemming

FORMstudio’s fundamental reconfiguration was made possible by specifying a fire- engineered solution to Means of Escape, making use of full-height doors held open on electro-magnetic holds and concealed in wall linings.

On the lower level, a spectacular river-facing master bedroom suite, includes a floor-to ceiling glazed oriel window cantilevered out over the water and equipped with a rotating Citterio-designed circular sofa, to exploit the Canaletto-like panoramic view. Two further bedroom suites accessed off the linear entrance route complete the rational spatial arrangement of the lower floor.

View of living space © Bruce Hemming

The generous upper floor space features subtle changes in floor level, creating an interior landscape that defines areas for sitting, dining/cooking and working without the need for dividing walls. The raised level of the principle living area has dramatically improved sight-lines to the river view from a sitting position and created on-level access to the terrace doors.

Office area © Bruce Hemming

An integrated 5.3m-long under-lit sofa and 5m-long white acrylic kitchen island with suspended steel hood further articulate and define the interior landscape, emphasising the dramatic scale and visual coherence of the space.

Bathroom © Bruce Hemming

From mobile phones, to cars, to hotels, the level of sophistication expected by the consumer has soared at an exponential rate over the last twenty years. This has prompted a fundamental rethinking of the required specification for high-end apartments.

Bathroom © Bruce Hemming

This one-off project, for a developer more usually involved in building 10+ unit new-build apartment schemes, clearly demonstrates that sophistication commands an enhanced price tag, adding considerable value for the developer client in the process.

Kitchen & dining area © Bruce Hemming

FORMstudio has successfully identified the significant development value in the differential between a flat with a 1990s ‘high end’ specification and a bespoke architecturally designed apartment – this impressive penthouse responds perfectly to the exacting standards expected at the top end of today’s market.

About FORMstudio

FORMstudio aims to create places that can be inhabited and experienced by people in a natural and instinctive way. Enjoyable places with a tranquil sense of simplicity, which create a supportive and uplifting backdrop for life.

Master bedroom © Bruce Hemming

Individual solutions are developed for our clients which are an intelligent, inventive and sustainable response to the complex matrix of issues that shapes each project. Solutions with a lucidity and apparent simplicity which belie their underlying complexity.

Second bedroom © Bruce Hemming

Listening, analysis, discussion and clarification are at the heart of an inclusive approach that recognises the fact that some of the best ideas are generated in the space between people rather than by individuals.

Third bedroom © Bruce Hemming

Studying together, and later teaching, at The Bartlett (UCL), directors Malcolm Crayton & Jeremy Lingard first recognised the strengths of combining their shared enthusiasms and complementary skill sets in a collaborative design approach driven and tested by discussion. An approach that has been honed over the years and is at the heart of the practice’s working method today.

Terrace © Bruce Hemming

Supported by talented staff including three Associates, who have added further core technical, energy use and design expertise to the practice, the directors maintain a direct involvement in the development and evolution of every project. Investing in people and celebrating diversity, FORMstudio aims to engage with and draw out the particular individual strengths of its staff, developing experience and knowledge base through practice and ideas sharing

View of exterior © Bruce Hemming

Exterior © Bruce Hemming

Tiny House And Small Apartment Decorating Ideas

8 Ways To Maximize Your Tiny House Or Small Apartment Space

There is nothing more fulfilling than owning a home, whether its a house or an apartment.

Making the most of the space in your tiny house or apartment is crucial to get the most out of the space.

Utilizing tiny house and small apartment decorating ideas to maximize the use of this limited space to create that overall homely comfortable feeling will make a massive difference to your overall enjoyment of living there.

This is what we all yearn for; Home ownership.

Some attain this with their hard work and good fortune, while on the contrary many have to deal with the frequent hassles often created by their landlords.

So, if you’re one of above blessed house owners, then it’s an enormous thing, irrespective whether you reside in a one bedroom flat, or a luxurious villa!

Yes, if the accommodation is on the smaller side, one tends to feel a bit curbed when the family and the space requirement grows with time, but there are many things you can do to get most out of your home-sweet-home.

Benefits Of Installing Shelves In Your House

As we all know, flexibility is the game when it comes to space and storage in an undersized house!

Therefore, shelves are one of the best ways to stock up all your belongings in an organized approach.

And, in fact, they not only store your things, but also keep them at your arm’s length, so that you get hold of them anytime.

A well-mounted shelf can take full advantage of the storage potential anywhere in the house.

Thanks, to its flexibility and simplicity they can be placed in any room without exceptions, from kitchen to your living room these shelves are vital in your pursuit to get most of your constrained house.

However, you need more than just free space on the wall to make this system work efficiently.

There are certain things to look at, first of all, measure the area and finalize on the size of the shelves.

Secondly, make sure the shelves you want to set up can manage stuff you’re planning to load on.

And at last, the material you opt for these shelves.

Choose Furniture With Multiple Uses

If you don’t have much space in your hall, then it’s better to look for furniture that can be folded and stored away or has multiple usages.

Today, this kind of modish furniture is easily available in the home interior market like the sofa-bed, utilize it as a sofa in the hall during the day, and employ it as a bed in your bedroom in the night.

You also search for a dinner table that can be extended to form a single bed or folded as a center table.

Aren’t these are some great space saving ideas?

And, don’t be under a misconception that these sorts of furnishings are merely for cutting down on some extra square feet, they are in great demand because of their chic appeal.

Hidden Storage

Secret storage! Yes, you heard it right.

This sort of storage space is not meant to store up your undisclosed stuff, but to stock things that you actually don’t need in your day to day life, like your guitar which was your best pal some years back, but now you don’t have time to vibrate its stings, and at the same time also don’t want to toss it in the trash.

There are many things which are kept in-house occupying space and accumulating dust, and you don’t get rid of it because you have an emotional attachment towards them, in that scenario hidden storage are perfect.

Hidden storage allows you to smartly tidy everything away and remove clutter.

In simple words, a less chaotic house creates the illusion of space and this is especially important in a tiny home.

Look out for beds that have shelves in them, tables with drawers and you can even get chairs that lift up for extra storage space.

Store Things Vertically

You don’t need to go through the laws o physics to know why storing things vertically space saves.

There is no rocket science, the vertical storage take up less space in the room so you can maneuver them more freely and (or) have extra furniture.

Make Use Of The Lofts In Your House

If you have lofts in your dwelling, then ensure that they are being employed properly for storing both your wanted and unwanted possessions, otherwise, they will be just wasted spaces in your house.

Here you can store your books, clothes, furniture, and many other things which you don’t use often.

Improve The Lighting In Your House

Make your cramped room feel grander by installing mirrors and having massive size windows in the house.

This will maximize the natural light catching capability of the house, and hence creating an illusion that your house is spacious.

Rethink Rooms

Your relatives and neighbors all might have a guest room in their house, but ask yourself whether you actually need one?

What about an extra washroom off the visitors’ room; does anyone use it more a few times in a year?

Make a list of all the rooms in your house along with their purpose to get the most out of your accommodation because there is often a case where the biggest room in the house is being used the least.

Now You See Me – Raise The Bar Of Your Creative Thinking

In a versatile room, a coffee table can be space-hogging annoying.

So, what to do?

Show your smarter side by installing a built-in table that retracts into the flooring with a click of a button on the remote.

Of course, these ideas like these don’t work on peanuts; you need big bucks for that!

Nevertheless, you still hunt low-cost ideas on the internet or contact top home renovators in your town like the once, who have worked on successful projects like the Evergreen Retirement Village which is having the best in class infrastructure, and amenities which are second to none.

Living in a small or tiny home can make anyone an out of the box thinker in a hurry and the same goes for many apartment dwellers.

There isn’t the luxury of separate rooms and you have to make every inch count.

So, try to follow at least one or two from the above ideas to grab most of your tiny house.

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Apartment Interior Design Ideas

Great apartment interior design ideas are reflected in this renovated and decorated 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment built in the 60’s. The brief required them to design a space that was suitable for temporary accommodation for interstate guests, immediate and extended family.

A space with a modern interior that made reference to the building’s architectural history and took full advantage of the sprawling city views was part of the brief.

Scandinavian Bedroom by New York Architects & Building Designers Allen+Killcoyne Architects

Contemporary Bedroom by Los Angeles Architects & Building Designers Vertebrae Architecture

Photo of a small contemporary enclosed living room with white walls, medium tone hardwood floors and a wall-mounted tv and a fold down bed behind the blue wall. See below

Opened Up With Bed Folded Down. Contemporary Bedroom by New York Architects & Building Designers Michael K Chen Architecture.

Contemporary Kitchen by Los Angeles Architects & Building Designers Vertebrae Architecture showing a small contemporary single-wall kitchen with an under-mount sink, flat-panel cabinets, stainless steel appliances, concrete floors, gray cabinets and metallic backsplash. Source Houzz.com

An example of a mid-sized contemporary open concept living room in Sydney. Contemporary Living Room by Sydney Interior Designers & Decorators D’Cruz Design Group Sydney Interior Designers

A small contemporary master bedroom in London with gray walls and medium tone hardwood floors. Contemporary design by London Interior Designers & Decorators Black and Milk Residential

Contemporary Bedroom Design ideas for a bedroom in Chicago with red walls by Chicago Interior Designers & Decorators Mary Cook

Traditional Family Room Garage Apartment by Atlanta Architects & Building Designers Stephen Fuller Designs

The boxlike structure of this apartment presented some challenges in the interior design. Although the stunning view was the highlight of the space, the floor plan was difficult to organize for liveability.

McGukin and his team extended the existing kitchen by adding cabinetry and changing out the cabinets with a darker lacquered paneling. The above shows the contemporary living room by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Drew McGukin Interiors @drewmcgukin

Chic but casual Palm Beach Apartment, incorporating seaside colors in an ocean view apartment. Mixing transitional with contemporary.

This apartment is Malibu meets the Hampton’s in Palm Beach Photography by Robert Brantley. Transitional Living Room by Palm Beach Gardens Interior Designers & Decorators Annie Santulli Designs

In this home, designer Dayka Robinson painted the headboard wall black, then added a mix of patterns to enliven the room.

When pulling photos for this ideabook, I noticed a lot of designers were pairing deep purple, plum, lavender, eggplant and aubergine with black with striking result in this Eclectic Bedroom by Atlanta Interior Designers & Decorators Dayka Robinson Designs

Scandinavian Dining Room

Scandinavian Family Room by New York Architects & Building Designers Allen+Killcoyne Architects

A lush palette of wood vestibules and rich marbles offsets the clean, white openness of this loft apartment.

The detailing recalls crisp, mid-century French apartments and provides a strong background to the colorful decoration in this Contemporary Living Room by New York Architects & Building DesignersDouglas C. Wright Architects David Sundberg, ESTO, Photographer

Inspiration for a large Scandinavian open concept living room with white walls, light hardwood floors and a library. There is so much open room here but at the same time it seems very comfortable

Inspiration for a mid-sized eclectic l-shaped open concept kitchen with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, wood countertops, metallic backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island in this eclectic kitchen by London Interior Designers & Decorators Avocado Sweets Interior Design

The renovation, which lasted six months, started by enhancing pre-existing structures and elements. The wooden ceiling beams, which had previously been hidden, were exposed, treated and stuccoed. The apartment’s structural walls would not allow for a major re-organization of the layout.

The only wall torn down was in the living area, to create an airy, comfortable space in this Industrial looking Living Room.

Photo of a farmhouse formal open concept living room in London with white walls, medium tone hardwood floors, a wood stove and a wall-mounted tv. The farmhouse Living Room by London Real Estate Agents Domus Nova.

This is an example of an eclectic bedroom in Los Angeles with white walls and light hardwood floors. Photography by Los Angeles Photographers Incite Photography