Living in a one-bedroom or a studio apartment is an ideal option for students and working individuals who live far away from their families. After all, a small place not only requires less maintenance and upkeep but is also easier to clean and costs significantly less. However, if you’ve just moved into one, you might be having a hard time figuring out how to decorate your studio apartment so that it looks more like a home and less like a storage unit.
Two of the biggest problems most people face after moving into a studio apartment include lack of proper storage place and lack of distinction between your sleeping quarters and living room. Since your bed and couch are all placed within a few feet of each other, it might feel awkward for you to entertain guests in your home.
Luckily, there are a few tried and tested interior design ideas for studios that will not only help you organize your place but also make it feel and look bigger than it actually is.
How to Decorate a Studio Apartment to Make It Look Bigger
Here are some studio apartment decoration ideas that can help you out big time.
- Invest in multi-purpose furniture
- Choose the colour palette wisely
- Create a visual divide
- Carve out each zone
- Don’t ignore the corners
- Hang mirrors and let the light in
Although these hacks are meant to make a studio apartment look bigger, people who live in one-bedroom apartments can also make use of them.
Now, let’s take a look at these home décor tips on how to organize a small studio apartment to make it look more spacious.
Invest in multi-purpose furniture
Less space means less furniture. However, that doesn’t mean you should compromise on your comfort while styling a studio flat.
One of the best ways to make a studio apartment look bigger is by decorating it with multi-purpose furniture. For instance, your couch can also serve as your bed at night. Or, you can turn your single bed into a couch with a simple rearrangement of pillows and by putting it sideways against the wall.
You can also invest in folding tables and chairs that can be used whenever you have friends or family over at your place. Similarly, using nesting tables is also a great (and functional) way to decorate your studio flat as it will save up on space without ruining the aesthetic value of your home.
It’s even better if your studio apartment furniture also has a hidden cabinet or drawers for extra storage space, as living in a small apartment won’t allow you to buy a new cupboard.
If you are still unsure about this, take a look at some ingenious space-saving furniture ideas to get a clearer picture.
Choose the colour palette wisely
You can always make a small room look bigger with paint.
Choosing the wrong colour palette can make your home look cramped and tiny. While it is important to have an overall colour theme to maintain coherence while decorating, always remember that selecting a colour palette for your home involves more than just picking three hues from the same family that you think would go together.
It’s always better to choose a lighter shade of paint for small apartments and homes. Not only will that help make the place look bigger but you will also make it easier for you to decorate your studio apartment by incorporating together different places.
In case you are wondering if your home will look too lifeless or boring with light walls, remember there quite a lot of ways you can add colour to your home without even picking up the paintbrush. For instance, you can buy colourful curtains or decorate your couch and bed with bright, mismatched throw pillows.
Create a visual divide
There are more ways to create a divide between different sections of your home other than using curtains or traditional wall dividers. While there is nothing wrong with using either of those studio apartment design ideas as well, you have to bear in mind that blocking an entire portion of your living space from the view might make your place look even more cramped than it originally is.
Instead of covering up an area, think of ways you can create a visual divide to maintain privacy without affecting the overall look of the space. Of course, this would largely depend on your studio apartment layout, but you can use items such as vertical gardens or even open shelves to create a boundary between your sleeping quarters and the living room area.
Interestingly, starting a vertical garden is not as difficult as some might think. Moreover, it will add a burst of colour to your home while simultaneously improving the overall environment. On the other hand, adding a large open bookshelf in the middle of the room and filling it with small decorative pieces, plants and other items will enhance the overall aesthetic of your home. It will make it easier for you to decorate a small studio apartment by providing more shelf space.
Crave out each zone
If you want to make a studio apartment feel like home, you need to start by creatively carving out each zone to represent a particular part of a home. For example, if you push your bed against a wall and put your couch on the other end of the room, you can use items such as bookshelves, desks and even dressers to create a boundary of sorts.
You can also use different rugs for each area. For instance, you can decorate a studio flat by placing your couch and coffee table on a classic grey and white rug. It will create the illusion of a living room area. Meanwhile, using a bright-coloured rug in front of your bed or dressing table will also have a similar effect.
Furthermore, you can also choose your studio apartment furniture in different hues and designs to clearly differentiate the bedroom from the living room. However, you need to be really careful as to not make your home décor look all over the place. As mentioned above, this studio apartment design idea can also be incorporated in one-bedroom homes.
Don’t ignore the corners
Living in a small space means you can’t ignore any part of your home – not even the corners. You can organize a small studio apartment by turning the widely-ignored crevices into storage space. Depending on how you want to decorate your studio apartment, you can put a shoe rack, install floating shelves or just place a console table in a corner.
This is perhaps one of the most popular and easiest to follow home décor tips when it comes to how to make a studio apartment look bigger.
Meanwhile, if you are going for a minimalist look, you can even put a large potted plant in the corner to add some colour to your apartment or use artificial flowers to decorate the area. You can also place a tall floor lamp in the corner. This budget-friendly hack is also one of the simplest ways to make your apartment look expensive without straining your wallet.
Hang mirrors and let the light in
Do you want to make a studio apartment look bigger but don’t have the budget to buy new furniture or change the colour scheme? If that’s the case, you can start off by hanging a few mirrors around your home. They don’t have to be super expensive, they just need to look clean. If your wallet allows, choose mirrors with different frames to add more texture to your wall décor.
Mirrors are the best way to make a home look bigger than it actually is. You can easily fake extra square footage by placing mirrors behind furniture or directly in front of your windows, as they would amplify the natural light and add brightness to your place. This will also give an illusion of more space. Moreover, you can replace your bed’s headboard with a big mirror to make your apartment look twice its size.
Another popular trick to decorating a studio apartment involves installing new light fixtures. You can opt for hanging pendant lights to brighten up your home. Furniture with a shiny surface will also reflect light, thus making a dark room look brighter.
This hack can also be used for making a small apartment look big,
If you liked these tips for decorating a studio apartment and are looking for more home décor tips, head over to Zameen Blog – Pakistan’s best lifestyle and home décor blog.
