10 Golden Rules of Designing a Small Apartment

Successful Russian designer and decorator Anna Muravina admits that until recently she had not worked on designing small apartments. Everything changed when Anna bought a regular small apartment and decided to do a grand renovation in it.

Anna Muravina is an expert Designer and Decorator, Executive Director of the Association of Interior Designers and Decorators (ADDI), author of the book "Recipes for a Happy Interior". She runs her own Instagram blog – @anutamur.1. Start with the layout

Often it is impossible to solve the task simply by beautiful decoration – you need to carefully plan the layout of the apartment. The most important thing is to define the functions of the space.

Usually, the number of functions depends on the number of people living in the apartment. That is, for one person and for a family of three or four – these are completely different tasks, and the second is much more complex.

Project layout: Anna Muravina

My small apartment in Gelendzhik consisted of a tiny hallway and two rooms like a carriage. It was planned that one room would house the kitchen, and the other – the bedroom. I spent a very long time working on the layout, trying to take into account every centimeter of space. Look at the new plan of this apartment: on 52 square meters, I managed to find space for a bedroom, a living room-dining room-kitchen, a large bathroom and a storage-closet.

Of course, all the partitions were non-load-bearing, so coordinating the reconfiguration was not difficult.

2. Work with Color

Believe me, painting the ceiling white, a contrasting color to the walls, will not solve your problems: it won't make the ceiling look higher – that's all fairy tales. 

In small spaces, a designer's skill in creating illusions is especially valued. Try painting the ceiling the same color as the walls – you literally erase the boundaries and visually expand the space.

To forget about ceiling height completely, try adding a contrasting accent – an elegant trim along the perimeter of the ceiling.

You can go further and paint the doors in the same color as the walls – the result will be a perfect backdrop for furniture and again visually expand the room size.

Another witty solution is to paint furniture in the same tone as the walls. Look how beautifully this technique works in a small Parisian apartment: the furniture literally dissolves into the interior.

Design of a 19 square meter apartment

4. Finishings are also important

Another simple but winning way to make a small apartment visually larger is to use one type of flooring for the entire apartment. 

If you want to lay parquet in a room, and for example, tiles or stone in the hallway, make sure their colors match in tone.

5. Plan storage spaces during the design phase

In small apartments, it is ideal (though not budget-friendly) to create maximum built-in furniture and place only a few standalone pieces that are interesting and unique.

Also, don't forget about beds with lifting mechanisms: in my opinion, these are excellent additional storage spaces. 

6. Use mirrors more

Mirrors work perfectly in any space, but in small ones they are simply necessary. 

Besides regular mirrors, there are antique ones – they do a great job with various additional functions. In my apartment in Gelendzhik, I created a whole wall of antique mirrors in the bathroom. It looks stunning and is not afraid of water droplets – due to the uneven coating, they simply aren't visible. 

I also placed the same mirror on the kitchen as a backsplash. This is also a very functional solution.

Design: Anna Muravina

Another one of my favorite tricks is a mirror on a mirror and a wall sconce on a mirror. It's very easy to implement this idea.

Design: Anna Muravina

Remember about mirror furniture or furniture with mirror inserts? Some items from our studio's designs for private projects were so appealing that we launched them into production. For example, side tables and wardrobes in two sizes with mirror inserts – we now produce them in any color or wood grain.

Designer Anna Muravina

7. Lighting should be varied

Light is one of the tools for creating illusions, so it's very important that a small apartment has several lighting scenarios.

Table lamps, floor lamps, wall sconces – it's extremely hard to overdo light sources in a small apartment. The only thing to be cautious of is a single chandelier in the bedroom: in my opinion, it's an absolutely unnecessary item.

8. Buy multifunctional furniture

Let the footstool next to the sofa serve as both a seat and a table for a tea tray, and let the dining table easily transform into a workspace. 

And fearlessly use chests: this piece of furniture can turn into a sofa or a coffee table depending on the task. 

9. Don't forget about textures

Glossy and matte, smooth and rough, leather and fur – the more varied the materials you use, the more effective the result. The more interesting the details will be to look at, without worrying about the size of the room. 

10. Don't get carried away with small furniture items

Often small apartments look like dwellings for dwarfs: they consist entirely of very, very small items. And this even more highlights that space is chronically lacking.

In small apartments, a huge scale is needed more than anywhere else. The tallest doors and archways, vertical curtains, screens, high headboards of beds, floor lamps, tall plants, large armchairs. These "scale down" the space and make our consciousness perceive the apartment as more spacious than it actually is. The cornerstone of decoration – three scales, about which I wrote in detail in my book "Recipes for a Happy Interior".

Design: Anna Muravina Read also:

• How to Make a Small Apartment Cozy: 10 Tips from Julia Golavskaya
  
• Design of a Small Apartment: 10 Favorite Techniques by Jean-Louis Denio
  
• How to Arrange a Small Apartment: 10 Real Examples