What to Do If Your Room Is Tiny: 10 Tips from Designers

Life in a tiny apartment-shelf in our latitudes is a common situation, but not hopeless. We learned from professional designers about ways to visually correct tiny spaces and received useful tips that, we're sure, will also be helpful to you.

1. Thoughtful Approach

"Plan the layout carefully. This is important to do at the beginning. Try to find hidden potential in your apartment. For example, you can remove non-load-bearing walls," – Elena Nikitina and Anna Pustovoytova, interior design studio "Arkhbabys".

2. With Perspective

Maria Mahmudova: "For wall finishing, use wallpapers with various visual effects: striped, photo wallpapers with perspective – they will make your apartment rooms more spacious".

3. Shared Interests

Anastasia Sheveleva and Alexander Malinin, INT2 Architecture: "Properly zone the space. A small-sized apartment requires a careful approach to decorating the kitchen, living room, bedroom and office. Let all rooms have a common base (for example, white finishing), but each zone should differ in its accents, color or decor".

4. A Desirable Alternative

"Try to use built-in furniture or custom-made furniture: this way you will save square meters and not clutter the already small space," – recommend professionals from design studio "Cozy Apartment".

5. Utilize Space

Maria Dadiani: "Use the space to the maximum. For example, a windowsill can become a desk or additional working surface".

6. Less Furniture

"Don't clutter every corner with furniture – the interior in small apartments should be light and airy. Minimize the amount of furniture: make wardrobes up to the ceiling, beds with sliding drawers or lift mechanisms, and kitchen units with upper cabinets. Use glossy surfaces that visually expand the space," – Tatyana Pichugina.

7. More Light

Irina Feofanova: "Cove lighting not only lifts the ceiling and makes it light and floating, but also expands any space. This kind of lighting can even be installed in a living room: first, a ceiling recess with slots for LED strips is mounted, and then the lighting is attached to special mounts. Thanks to this trick, even a ceiling with a height of 2.65 meters can be "lifted"".

8. Power of Reflection

Oksana Oleyник: "Mirrors are a winning option for small, narrow rooms or rooms of irregular shape. With their help, you can create an illusion of a complex space".

9. Color Therapy

"Paint the walls in calm colors and add wood as an accent. Such an interior will not irritate the eyes, and calm colors will also visually expand the space," – Oleg Kuraev.

10. Magic of Accents

"Try to shift the visual center of the room away from the bulky bed. For example, place a large decorative lamp by the window. It will attract attention and divert focus from the small size of the room," – Irina Krashennikova.