How to Decorate a Small Apartment

by Marelylilly - Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Several weeks ago, a reader posed a dilemma: how do you decorate a small apartment? I don’t want to brag or anything but I’d consider myself a seasoned pro at this point: in January I moved from a 700 sq ft studio to a 550 sq ft one bedroom. Surprisingly, my smaller one bedroom feels bigger simply because I’m not always in the same room. The only downside is the closet situation but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Decorating a tiny space can be daunting so here is the three step mantra I adopted when I moved into my old and current places. Learn it, embrace it, love it. There is a method to my madness and at the end, I’ll share my favorite places to hunt for decor on a budget! If you have tips or ideas, please shout them out in the comment section. I’d love to hear from you : )

How To Decorate A Small Apartment - DC Girl in Pearls

Measure

When I moved into my 700 sq ft studio, I printed a floor plan for the new space and sketched out ways to arrange my furniture. I also visited a similar layout studio in the same building so I could do a thorough measuring and check on the little details, like where the outlets were. Because outlets are critical to my sanity.

Plan

Mazel tov, you’ve measured every nook and cranny of your new digs! Now comes the fun part for those of you who pray at the altar of HGTV. Determine how you’ll be using your current furniture in the space. For example, remember my coral vanity? The former entertainment center/bar cart has new life as my vanity to make up for my depressingly tiny closet in my current apartment. Once you know how you will be optimizing your furniture, you are all set up to…

Organize

This is the part where you get a chance to truly stretch your decorating muscle. After I laid out the setup for my new apartment and figured out an idea of where what was going where and how it would be used, it was a snap to figure out which pieces you needed to add and which you needed to subtract. I said good-bye to a side table and said hello to IKEA’s EXPEDIT shelving unit (similar)for extra clothing, jewelry, books storage in my bedroom and OMAR to create the open shelving and pantry my kitchen lacked.

Favorite Decor Shops + Inspiration

Local Thrift Stores + Goodwill (I’ve purchased adorable dessert plates for $2 and serving trays for $5, you just have to be prepared to dig for buried treasure)

World Market

Domino

Pop Sugar Home

Stay tuned for my home tour : )

How to Decorate a Small Apartment

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