Maximise Space - Small Apartment

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foxi_fitzi

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Hi All,

Sorry if this has been asked allready but I did a quick 'google' search and didn't find anything specific to what I want to know.

I have recently purchased a small one bed apartment and finding it harder than I thought to furnish my small living/kitchen area (all in one). I want to make it homely but at the same time spacious.

If you have been in the same situation (or not, but..) know of sites, have tips (lighting/colour), stores you found very helpful and had furniture specifically to suit small areas etc. kindly share your knowledge with me.

Thanks in advance for your help.

D
 
Keep everything light and bright. Purchase a dining room table that extends for when you've guests over. These aere very space efficient. Get a two and a half seater instead of a three seater. If you had a plasma it would be ideal because you'd be able to hang it on the wall creating more floor space.Try the ikea sites etc
 
Is it worth getting some one to do some made to measure built in storage? I 'reclaimed' space under the stairs - now fits all shoes, suitcases and vacumn cleaner.
 
I feel your pain foxi. Think up, you have lots(ish) of space if you look vertically. Try to get as much stuff as possible hanging on your walls to avoid clutter. Well 'avoid' is strong, 'cut back on' might be more realistic.We put up bookcases and shelves, (white and the shelves were the ones with invisible brackets, looks cleaner) we also didn't have a bathroom cabinet so we got a mirrored one that was fairly deep so it would hold a lot and reflect the light. We got one of those rails with hooks you hang in the kitchen to hold your utensils that's pretty good. The little hooks you screw into the bottom of the cabinet are surprisingly simple and handy for hanging cups and stuff like colinders from. We also use the space on top of the kitchen presses for stuff we don't use very often, though we are planning a revamp for years where we get the tall wall cabinets that go up to the ceiling. We bought a mini blender that works surprisingly well. Get a decent size bin, we also felt a full size fridge freezer suited us better.
We got a coffee table that was a bit higher than usual because we eat most of our dinners off it. It's also got the kind of legs that are not on wheels manage to make it easy to move. We went for white with storage underneath. If you don't need the storage you could go for glass. We went for a big long couch which we love and is very comfy for people to stay over on. But I can see the logic of getting a smaller one, if you can squeeze two 2 seaters it's nice when you more than two people sitting to be able to sit across from each other. We got a small-medium bean bag which is very handy and space saving. We got wall hung magazine rack from Ikea which is where we got most of our stuff. Also put one in the bathroom :D
We made the mistake of buying a bed with traditional divan base, I would go for something with legs if I were looking again. You could pay extra for drawers but what's the point, your stuff has to fit in the drawers (I'm thinking of suitcases here) and you have less options if you want to move the bed around.
Coat hooks in the press in the hall if you have one. One of those wall hanging storage things is handy in there for bits and bobs.
A decent washer dryer.
Got a clothes rack in ikea that hangs off the door, and a teeny ironing board with a hook to hang it up afterwards.
That's all I can think of for now!!
 
1. mirrors: sliderobes, opposite windows (more light) or doors (makes people think thee's another room - I was once fooled in a house that concealed the utility cupboard behind sliderobes!)
2. furniture with visible legs (keeps more of the floor visible thus making space appear bigger) eg couches, kitchen units
3. taller narrower furniture where possible eg chest of drawers
 
My friend bought one of those tiny appartments. She bought a glass top table, which works brilliant in the room, as it doesn't appear to take up all the space it does. She has everything in creme or light brown with some colour spots here and there. She does have the flat TV on the wall, which is handy. She bought a good bit of stuff in Habitat.
 
I have also just bought a one bedroom apartment, and at the moment and trying to make a decision on the flooring in the living room/ Kitchen area. While people say have the same flooring through out will give the idea of a larger space, I hate to have to put wooden/ laminate in the kitchen area. Would it look really stupid with wooden and then tiles for kitchen. One friend says this is the only way to go as it defines the kitchen area as seperate from the living area. Another friend has gone for the one tile everywhere except bedrooms, i.e bathroom, hall and kitchen/ living ( with a nice rug there)

i am trying to work out which would be best & now I am glad I am not the only one.
 
I bought a small apartment and I really enjoyed the challenge of making it work.

- There are great ideas in books and magazines and probably on the net as well if you refine your search a bit. I bought a fabulous little book for E5 in M&S about small spaces, very good. Try your local library, you will get loads of ideas from the right book.

- I had terrible trouble with a table and ended up going for a glass one with two extension flaps - from Domus in Coolmine industrial estate. They had stuff much better for apartmetns than most shops. Glass is brilliant for being there yet not being there. I shudder to think of what a wooden table equivalent size would look like.

- Get a tall boy for books - goes right up to the ceiling.

- Use mirrors

- Go for fairly uniform pale colour which you can vary with textures and fabric and pictures for colour

- Be really anal with measurements when buying

- Don't buy any coffee table etc which doesn't have extra storage space

- Plan what will be in the room very carefully and then look for it.

- There is a pretty good shop called Storage Solutions in Harold's Cross - we bought the chrome shelving for our kitchen and a little cabinet to put DVDs in. [broken link removed]

- The over door organisers are priceless for bits and pieces, if you can hang them inside your storage space/hot press/wardrobe.

- Flooring is very important. Do not choose carpet. I went for a really nice pale laminate which wasn't cheap but if it's a small space what the hell. It makes a massive difference even compared to darker laminates.
 
Birdy

I agree with not putting wood or laminate in the kitchen area. But the same flooring will make a big difference. You can try for laminate in the living area and lino/vinyl or tiles that look very similar in the kitchen. The same shade maybe - that might work.

I think vinyl/lino in the kitchen would be better than tiles because the surface is smoother, with no lines going across it, and might look like a better continuation of the laminate. Also you have LOADS more choice.

I bought this great funky lino which I love from Armstrong
[broken link removed]

Plenty of Dublin places stock it - i just picked from the web and ordered from local shop in Coolmine.
 
Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate all your replies.

Your advise, tips and links are so helpful.

Please keep them coming.

Thanks again.
 
How are you doing? My cousin recently bought a small 1 bed place on the north side. His mother gave him a book on doing the place up. There are some really good , clever and inexpensive ideas in it. There are also others that can well stretch the budget !!

Its called : Compact Living by Jane Graining

Rgds
 
Don't live with any mistakes you've made like poor choice of furniture.
Take it to the dump/recycling centre.
 
Be really ruthless about clutter. this i find is a thing that really makes a place feel small. Try to find a place for every thing. Shelves and high shelves really usefull for this. try to keep things off the floor - instead of a floor plant in a large pot - get a nice trailers you can put on a shelf and have hanging down. Be aware of the depth of furniture in particular sofa's, cupboards, chest of drawers etc - try to get neat fitting furniture that doesn't stick out too much. Perhaps get a small coffee table as in half the lenght of usual size - i've got a fold up one and its great if you want to do anything on the floor (exercise, sort through photos etc..) - gives you loads of space.
 
Buy a sofa with legs approx 8 inches off the ground, really can make a living room look larger.
 
most of the storage solutions we found are listed above, but a couple that worked for us that haven't been mentioned are:
*buy a small bin that you can put under the sink, there are ones that attache to the door, so your floor now won't look cluttered.
*radiator covers in hallway / smaller rooms, you've 'lost' the space anyway, so by putting up a rad cover you can gain a shelving area, handy for keeping small items on (when you come to sell, ditch the usual stuff of post, keys, take away menus and leave out nice flowers and ornaments instead ;) )
*keep non season stuff in your suitcases, in winter all your swimwear, flipflops, etc, in summer all your jumpers... and then store under the bed.
* look into putting 1 layer of shelves about 8-10 inches from ceiling in hall area, so you're books are out of sight... you can also look at putting small lights under the shelving units so it doesn't darken the hall too much.
* a friend had a large piece of canvas / clothe on her kitchen wall that she pins all her postcards, birthday cards to... it saves you cluttering your counter tops and is an ever changing piece of 'art' on her wall!
*another friend uses a chest as her coffee table, inside she has a small vacuum cleaner, and all her cleaning products... saving space in other areas.
*if you are still in the process of buying furniture, take the time out to measure out your rooms, and then measure our each piece of furniture you are considering. if you create a floor plan (the old squared maths copies are handy and cheap), then cut out what you're considering, and see what position is the best - don't always copy what was done in show house...
*consider putting in a breakfast bar... would putting you in free up another few feet for your living area.
*mirrors, put them everywhere! With light colours and lots of light being reflected around it can make the space seem bigger
*find ways of hiding your stuff, open racking / hanging in kitcher / bathroom can make the space seem cluttered.


Good luck.
 
Morning All,

Just a quick thanks to all of you who took the time to reply to my thread.

I genuinely appreciate all your help.

Please continue to reply; I know there is many people like myself, especially in the Dublin area who are in the same boat and will gain valuable knowledge from all your correspondence.

Thanks a mil.

Happy Monday
 
Found this while browsing the site and just want to say that the tips here were great! furnishing a small apartment and i'm unsure how to maximise space. now i have some great ideas!

any more ideas out there?
 
Muji on Clarendon Street in Dublin have loads of items for small spaces - maximising space is a Japanese artform...
 
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