Simpson
This post will show you ten easy and affordable room upgrades that will make your apartment look better, last longer, and use less energy.
- Point 1: Start with a clear desk
Not only is it depressing to look at a messy desk, but it can also stress you out. If you can’t keep everything on the surface of your desk, invest in some floating shelves to make the space under your work area clutter-free. You’ll be able to put all of your items within arm’s reach! - Point 2: Pick out a new color scheme
Your eye gets used to an environment quickly (and doesn’t know what it’s missing). You can use this to your advantage by changing the color scheme of one room at a time. This way, your brain will subconsciously see the new color scheme and be more impressed by the space. - Point 3: Install energy-saving light bulbs
A good night’s sleep can positively affect your health, productivity, and mood. If you have trouble sleeping because of the lights in your home, try installing energy-saving light bulbs in your apartment. They produce just as much light as normal light bulbs but use at least 75% less electricity. - Point 4: Put your dirty clothes in a drawer
This tip is good for both men and women. If you don’t have enough space to put your laundry away each time, invest in a laundry basket with a lid. This way, you can easily keep all your dirty clothes together until you wash them. - Point 5: Get a new flooring
IKEA makes affordable, stylish flooring. You can use decorative tiles in place of hardwood or tile floors. They provide more stability than carpeting but less noise and wear than wooden floors. If you have bamboo floors, they are great for use in a home office or computer area. If you rent the apartment and there is nothing you can do with the floor, you could put rugs taken with you when you move away. Some pads prevent the floor from getting damaged by furniture if you don’t want to take everything with you at the time of moving out. - Point 6: Use your vertical space
If your apartment has high ceilings, there are plenty of ways to make use of the extra space. Add wall-mounted shelves and cabinets to store books, shoes, or kitchen supplies. You could even get some creative and hang a punching bag or hammock from the ceiling for use during leisure time! If you have a loft bed, it is even more important to make full use of vertical space. - Point 7: Get rid of clutter on your walls
Clutter makes the most sense when you keep your stuff up to one corner of your room or one particular item of the room itself (like in boxes or on shelves). If your walls are colored with designs, keep them clean to avoid seeing too many things. If you have a space on the wall, like an Ikea shelf, then you can use that space to store your things. If a room is too large for this idea, getting rid of unwanted things can be done across the whole apartment. - Point 8: Rotate your furniture
If you lack closet space and a lot of furniture, you could rotate your furniture at least once per year to keep it more organized. You should also make sure that every piece of furniture in your apartment has a purpose. For example, don’t buy too many dining chairs if there’s only one dining table and no extra chairs in the living room. - Point 9: Get a shelf for your books
Books don’t have to be stored in a large bookcase or a closet. You can get bookcases with a door that closes on the front of the unit. This way, you can put the bookcase in an open area of your room (like against the wall), making it look good and keeping most of your books within reach. - Point 10: Take time to enjoy your apartment
If you’re stressed about having too much stuff, it may be because you don’t make time to appreciate everything to its fullest. When you take some time to enjoy each item of your apartment, you’ll find yourself getting rid of unused items more often than before. If this statement is too cliche, then consider several relevant ideas available in the following list:
40 Apartment Makeover on A Budget, Décor, and Improvement Ideas
30+ Ways How to Makeover Small Apartment Ideas
20 Easy Interior Design Ideas for Small Apartments
12 Minimalist Apartment Styles On-a-budget
10 Minimalist Apartment Interior Improvement Ideas
10 Bedroom Apartment Improvement Ideas
10 High Ceiling Apartment Makeover Ideas
The apartment is just like a typical home. It is a place to relax and feel safe. But unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many people use a small apartment as an excuse to do nothing, which often produces an ugly and untidy living space.
However, there are many ways to make your apartment look great without spending a lot of cash or making significant changes in the layout. The following article will help you get started on your next interior upgrades endeavor.
Though it is small, know that it is possible to implement one of these ten suggestions and turn your space comfier. These ideas help you improve your apartment without costing you a fortune. Imagine how great to walk through the door if you decorate it without spending much money. Next, this is ten mini apartment interior upgrades you can implement today, and as always, Simphome presents you with the list.
🔊10 Mini Apartment Interior Upgrade Video:
List Entries:
10. Craft Unique Jars to upgrade your Storage
Storage is always a good idea to tackle limited space. Besides, it can also spruce up the rooms in your house.
Acquiring practical and functional storage does not have to be arduous. Investing in several unique jars will do.
Unique jars can help you organize small items. You can also fill the jars with shells, marbles, or pebbles and place them on the shelves for decoration.
Used jars are incredibly versatile. Thus, the ideas are limitless. You can explore your creativity in decorating them.
You can tie ribbons around the jars, paint the inside using chalk paint, add some fresh flowers in it for a lively lift, or apply mosaic tiles to the exterior. You name it!
9. Work with Your Wall-Mounted TV
A slight move and style around your TV and its cabinets will transform the space into a cozier place to enjoy with family. If you have coffee table books, you can use them to accentuate the TV while perking up the room.
Here is how to make it:
- Prepare a coffee table book collection to work with.
- To make the cables less visible, create a stack for each cord.
- Use a pair of old-school record players as the base for each pile.
- Create two stacks of books. One stack is for fashion and music books while the other is for art and beauty.
- Place some accessories obscuring the cords.
- The best part of this idea is that it is easy and free. You will not only hide some TV cables but also free up extra bookshelf space for new additions.
8. Show Off Your Art Gallery
If purchasing some decorative prints and art pieces can be costly, you can use a simple way to make your own artwork, which is affordable.
The first idea is using a canvas. So you need to purchase a blank canvas. The size will depend on the area you wish to cover. Later, find some acrylic paint. Consider choosing the same colors as the other decorations. Next, apply your artwork as an accent piece. You should not paint a portrait to make your DIY art. Instead, blend your desired colors on your canvas.
Suppose abstract art is not your thing, no worry!
You can try creating unique art with a family portrait.
Stencil a pattern onto the canvas or a picture board if you want a more structured piece. Add your family and pet images to the canvas.
7. New Trick the way you treat your Rugs
Rugs are also simple additions to upscale your mini apartment interior. For a tiny room, choose attractive rugs to create a space illusion.
A short-pile rug with a robust material is suitable to apply to the center of the room. It will help draw your eye across the area instead of focusing on a minor feature.
To have an airy room, you can opt for a lighter rug. However, it is harder to maintain due to the heavy foot traffic. Choose a rug with patterns if you want to add more visual appeal.
6. Play with The wall
- Apply a paintable wallpaper
- Hang a temporary wallpaper
- Create an accent wall with decals
- Use tile tattoos in the Bathroom and kitchen
- Install removable tiles for backsplash
- Decorate the walls with washi tape
- Choose a new vertical storage DIY project and tweak it with your own unique set of styles and personalities.
5. Update the Kitchen
The kitchen is one part of the house that needs your urgent attention. Make it fresh, pretty, and practical. You do not have to spend much money to make it look expensive to transform it. Instead, perform these two steps to upgrade it.
Paint the cabinetry with a neutral color like gray, white, and charcoal.
Replace the overlay panel doors with a simple walnut panel to change the entire look.
4. Change The way you style your Bathroom
If your current bathroom starts to look dull and outdated today, updating it with fresh, crisp linens along with the ceramic vase and flowers could be the next best thing that happens to you and your family this season.
You can also add some styling choices with the new set of indoor planters or cacti. Those cacti do not have to be costly, though. As long as those tiny greens you have in the bathroom do not give off a weird odor, then your choice is still a good one.
Cute Additions:
There are only a few things you need to buy, but you can use them in several ways with that bit of budget. You can utilize the cactus as a home for small ornaments and some of your kitchen accessories to add more color and styling to your place.
3. Update Your Lighting
Lighting is a component you need to upgrade to create a new atmosphere. So, it is time to replace the old and mismatched lighting that makes your space look dated and tired with the new hierarchy of lighting. In this regard, floor and table lamps will offer light levels down to a human scale.
2. Opt for the Budget-Friendly Furniture
One of the biggest questions for decorating a mini apartment interior is choosing furniture. This way, you don’t have to buy an entirely new set of furniture. Just look at the essential items to improve the space.
Here are the budget-friendly furniture options you can consider opting for your small apartment:
- Flat-pack Furniture
Flat-pack furniture comes with a modern style that offers shelves and simple storage. It is quick and easy to assemble. You can place some decorative items or others as it provides much-needed storage. - Multi-use Furniture
The picture above is an example of multi-use furniture. This furniture allows you to decorate the space. Luckily, this furniture also offers you to save space, time, and money while you can add items for value. - Used Furniture
A piece of second-hand furniture can be a great option that you can afford to buy. You may select one set that suits your preference and needs.
Lastly, Number 1. Give it A Finishing Touch
Once you complete all of the upgrades, the finishing touch is the last thing to carry out. Add two lightings to set the mood in the area you frequent the most. Or, if you want to upgrade it a bit, you could use gold lampshades and white lighting; it will give you that luxurious feel.
Add warm lighting to your living room if you want to be straightforward about it. A living room is where the family gathers together, so it’s good to make this place cozy with warm lighting. If you’re low on budget, using floor and table lamps is an excellent alternative to light your whole apartment.
Anyways, there are tons of upgrades that you can do in your apartment without spending too much money on them. You can use the tips mentioned above and add your touch or ideas as well!
All in all, no matter how small your apartment is. You can always make it exciting and cozy to stay as long as you know how to upgrade it. These 10 mini apartment interior upgrades will inspire you to update your limited space.
What is a mini apartment?
Mini apartments [are] small apartments. Ranging from 300 to 600 square feet; from 250 to 500 square feet in size. For example, mini-apartments are developers built in Lower Manhattan or Midtown Manhattan. Most people think the complex is less expensive than starting an apartment on the Upper West Side or Upper East Side of New York City. In many cases, though, these areas suffer from high taxes, rent hikes, and other factors that make it not feasible to live there full-time.
The mini apartment is also a smaller property than a studio apartment, which is not larger than 550 square feet. The term mini apartment usually applies to those units [that are] under 400 square feet in size but can be used interchangeably with micro-apartments and small apartments. Due to the affordability of mini apartments, some residents enjoy the convenience of having a hub for commuting near their residence and find that it saves them time overall.
A small apartment might not work for you if you like your privacy. People’s biggest issue with living in a small apartment is feeling isolated from their neighbors and community; sharing walls makes it difficult to feel completely separate from the rest of your neighbors.
Relevant Questions:
What can you do with a small apartment?
Answer: The first thing you can do with a limited apartment is turn the space to be larger and more accommodating.
Ten ways to make your small apartment look bigger:
- No 1. Firstly, you can decorate your apartment with lighter color paint. Darker shades tend to make a room appear smaller, so light shades help by opening up the space and making it appear larger. Light metal or wood furniture looks much better in a small room than heavy dark furniture because of its lightweight and style.
- No 2. Another way to make a small space look bigger is to use mirrors in your decorating strategy. If a large mirror or wall mirror is too expensive or fancy, you could consider adding some mirrors to your decorative pieces.
Also,
A good example of using mirrors is using two-way mirrors in your bedroom. It is a mirror that you could look into and see yourself and the view on the other side. It is perfect for any small room and gives you a workspace to get some work done while in bed or sitting on the bed’s edge! - No 3. Adding floor lamps in a small room will also make a great difference, as they provide more light than table lamps and help open up the space.
- No 4. Removing obstructive furniture, such as big dressers and bookcases that block the windows or doors. You could turn them around so that they face the wall instead.
- No 5. If the only windows are on one side of your apartment, place large mirrors on the other side to create the illusion of a window on both sides of your room for a better lighting effect!
- No 6. Another must-have for making your apartment appear larger is large windows. Large windows let in lots of natural light, which makes a room appear larger, so opt for large pictures or window panels rather than smaller pieces which will block views and not let in as much light.
- No 7. The other important step is to furnish your room with furniture that doesn’t take up a lot of space or stand in the way of traffic.
- No 8. Adding storage to every space also will help you utilize the available space and make it look better.
When choosing what type of storage is right, think about using them and taking up extra space. Too much storage in a small bedroom may lead to clutter building up and the bedroom looking messy, so keep that in mind when making those decisions. - No 9. If you have a desk in your room, such as a work desk or a tall table, turn it around and put it on the wall. This idea will open up the room to lighten up and turn your interior to appear more spacious.
- No 10. When decorating your space, remember to add furniture that will be useful and may help you with things such as bed and sitting areas. These can be used in different ways and located in different room parts, so they are more functional than decorative pieces that only serve as decoration. Another way to make your small apartment look bigger is to use rugs
How do I start a small apartment?
Answer: Like a large one, it requires knowledge and financial resources. However, even in the smallest apartment, you can make small changes that will improve the comfort of your home.
The key is to understand that an apartment is a large room.
So if you have an open space in the middle of which you put all available pieces of furniture and only around – some kind of border – it will look too much for such a small area.
You should deprive yourself of at least one wall for placing the bed and other important furniture items.
How do you make a small apartment feel cozy?
Answer: You can use simple tricks when decorating small apartments. Here are the main ones:
- 1). The most common mistake in decorating small apartments is using large pieces of furniture. We should remember that the main function of the furniture is to provide comfort and not occupy space. This implementation applies to sofas, chairs, desks, and other items. If your apartment is really small, you can place only a few comfortable chairs in it. In addition to sitting on them, they will be very useful when you are watching TV or reading books with friends;
- 2). Pay attention to small details that can enhance the interior design.
You should make the room more bright with a lamp. Small table lamps may not be very bright, but they will have the function of lighting up the room. You can also place small-sized decorative vases in your home, as well as some little ornaments. - 3). One place in your home where you can put all kinds of things in the kitchen. Try to expand it, add some cabinets, or simply decorate it by placing items on the walls or hanging pictures. All this will help to refresh the atmosphere of your basic living room.
- 4). Small apartments require many pieces of furniture, so they are not easy to decorate using just a few colors and style combos. But you can use all the colors and textures.
For example, use bright shades of green as a background for your walls and floor. So, for example, if you put a sofa in a green, it will look great. Although some other elements will look a little out of place, this need not be a problem, only one thing: do not mix different kinds of furniture in the same space. - 5). If you have a balcony or terrace with small high walls – you should decorate it to create privacy and add value to the room. This step is especially important in apartments with limited living space. It is also necessary to add some decoration and create a pleasant atmosphere. For example, place a few lamps on the walls and hang some circles of natural or artificial flowers.
- 6). Another simple thing you can use for decorating your small living room is the furniture from children’s toys. You can find sofas, chairs, tables, and other items in the same range. You can decorate the room’s interior using such furniture, or you can create a whole room using just these things. For example, if you want to add some color to your small living room, use orange and green elements.
- 7). For a small living room, you can use pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. If you do all these things, your apartment will invite guests and neighbors to feel comfortable there.
- 8). There should be a warm and cozy place for rest and entertainment in any interior. And that place is usually the kitchen. However, even if you do not have enough space in your apartment, you can still create a special room to feel comfortable. For example, if your kitchen is small but has a balcony outside, put a nice table with chairs and lamps, and you will have another room. If there is no balcony – try to put some cabinets near the window to create extra space in the apartment.
- 9). When designing furniture in small rooms, it’s important to remember that they are really small; therefore, using natural shapes is ineffective. You can use some mirrors, but they need to be small. Otherwise, the room will look completely different. You can also use bigger tiles on the walls.
- 10). One of the main purposes of decoration is to make the apartment look more beautiful and comfortable. You do not have to take into account all the formalities, so if you like each other and you have a sense of humor – then your apartment will be a wonderful place where you will gather your friends and enjoy each other’s company. To conclude, we will say that small apartments require more skill in interior design, which is why most people prefer large apartments for decorating.
How do you make a small apartment feel more private?
Answer: We have already mentioned several ways for decorating small apartments. The next step is to make these places more comfortable because privacy is your main need when living in a small apartment.
So, first of all, you need to choose the furniture you will use in your house. Here are some examples:
- Try to put some extra things on the walls around your bed and lamps or stands with candles and other items that you can use for lighting up your apartment at night.
- You can also place some baskets filled with favorite flowers and accessories to bring fresh air into the room and make it look prettier. You should also hang some of your favorite photos and paintings on the walls.
Try to install a safe and hide your most valuable things in it. This idea will help to make your apartment more private and secure. The same applies to cabinets, drawers, or any other storage systems to store things or place them to avoid losing anything. - You can place little decorative vases with some fresh flowers near the windows. These will create an attractive design and help you make the room look bigger than it is.
- Buy a small-sized refrigerator that will allow you to keep everything cool during warm seasons and hot during cold seasons. And you can also place it in the cabinet.
- Plants help create a more comfortable atmosphere and bring life into your small home. The best solution is to put some plants in your bathroom; for example, try using bamboo trees or putting some pots with plants by the window.
- Use mirrors as a decoration option for living rooms or bedrooms. You can even hang them on doors and place smaller ones on the wall. They will make the room look more spacious and give it a special design.
- Try to consider all these options when decorating your small apartment so that it will seem larger than it is while at the same time adding some nice personal touches that will make you feel comfortable living there.
How do you build a small apartment that feels modern?
Answer: Although small apartments are usually very simple in design and usually have furniture from the previous century, there is a modern solution for everyone who does not want to live in a classical apartment.
How to do it? The main thing you need for achieving this task is, to begin with, the layout of the apartment. What should you do with the door?
- Try to install it between two rooms and make them more spacious by creating a hallway or foyer.
- The next step is to make smart use of big windows and choose large enough for placing furniture (cabinets, dressers, etc.). You can also use them for creating a home cinema.
And you should not forget about the kitchen. If it is small, you can use it as storage space and put a table in the main room to have your meals there. If the kitchen is big, you can use it as a special element in your apartment; for example, create an open kitchen that will help to save some space and make it look even better. - You need some lighting options because you do not have any space for putting regular lamps. The best solution is to hang big lamps from the ceiling or place them over a table. You can also add some mirrors on walls or ceilings because they effectively make small rooms seem bigger than they are.
How do you put a small apartment together to fit the theme?
Answer: The answer is tricky and challenging if you are not ready to invest a lot but still want to have some nice design and feel comfortable living in a small apartment. The best way is to choose the right furniture and then follow these simple steps:
- Try to choose the furniture that will fit the living room, dining room, bedroom, and kitchen. Remember that you should be able to put all of that furniture into one piece or two pieces at most. So, you can use cabinets or dressers as a storage space for books, knickknacks, and accessories while using your TV as a decoration piece instead of setting it on the floor.
- The next step is to think about what you want your apartment to look like. In other words, what are your main demands, and what are your wishes? You can either choose a modern style or make it look more classic.
- And finally, it is very important to choose the right color scheme. If you like bright colors and patterns, try to use them in the different parts of your apartment – paint the walls, put some colorful accessories on tabletops and let the furniture play with color.
- The last thing that you need is to think about how you will decorate your small apartment to look more interesting but at the same time comfortable for living there.
References:
10. Apartmentsnearme.biz
9. Apartmenttherapy.com
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6. Moneycrashers.com
5. Mydomaine.com
4. Mydomaine.com
3. Mydomaine.com
2. Apartmentsnearme.biz
1. Mydomaine.com
