Top Tips for Furnishing a Small Apartment
Article originally posted on SquareRooms by Yaiza Canopoli
Find out how you can make the most of your apartment with modular, space-saving furniture that evolves with your lifestyle.
Furniture needs to expand and adapt with you, no matter where your life takes you and how your needs evolve. This is especially the case in an apartment, where spaces are smaller and should be extra adaptable. Whether you’re changing jobs or expanding your family, your home should be able to transform year after year, and your furniture should follow along on the journey.
While this might seem like a challenge, choosing furniture that adapts and evolves with you is possible if you just know what to look for. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind when you invest in new pieces for your urban home.
Opt for flexibility
Jono recommends: Vertio Wall System, from $1,696, KING
Furniture with the ability to adapt, blend into a space, and fulfil multiple purposes offers the versatility that apartment living requires. A designer, stylist and podcaster, Jono Fleming is well-known for his knack for styling small spaces and understands the challenges that come with it.
“With apartment living, you’ve got a set layout,” he explains. “You need to find pieces that fit each space perfectly.” Without the flexibility to rearrange your furniture as easily as you can in a landed house, you will need to look for items that are modular and thus optimise space.
Prioritise your sofa
Jono recommends: Kato 3-Seater Sofa with Chaise, from $6,839, KING
Your sofa is the centrepiece of your living space. It’s important that it fits into your space well and offers the versatility of a flexible form.
Opt for a sofa with sleek lines and an understated, modern silhouette to encapsulate the kind of flexibility that complements apartment living. Pay special attention to sofas with modular components, such as storage compartments and movable armrests.
Go modular in the bedroom
Jono recommends: Serenade Storage Bed, from $4,880, KING
Flexible design that adapts to you shouldn’t end with your living space. Integrated, space-saving storage and smart accessories offer the potential to streamline your bedroom furniture and create additional space.
A storage bed can provide you with plenty of room for comfortable sleep while also eliminating clutter. Choose one with softly rounded corners for a more soothing bedroom ambience.
Choose timeless designs
Jono recommends: Seymour Armchair, from $1,803, KING
Honouring timeless beauty can provide a basis for movement and adaptation to occur around it. Bringing furniture into your home that is balanced and simple means you can create depth and transform the feel of smaller areas.
Jono suggests opting for curved edges to soften your space. “It allows for a bit more of a natural walkthrough in the space rather than having so many corners and rigid lines. Playing with shapes can really change the entire way a space feels.”
Sprinkle in some colour
Jono recommends: Crescent Ottoman, from $519, KING
Jono believes in starting with a neutral base to avoid overwhelming a small space, then bringing in colour and warmth through accessories and small furnishings. If you start off with a black base, “you need to be a little bolder with your styling and add some contrast and warmth,” Jono explains.
Opt for a neutral palette for your large pieces, like your sofa and dining table, then complement them with colourful accents that you can switch out over the years to keep things fresh.