12 common mistakes to avoid when decorating small apartments (spoiler: don’t use floral prints on the walls)

A small apartment can be quite cozy if you avoid certain details and take advantage of the secrets of experienced decorators. The correct selection of colors, accessories and furniture will allow you to visually expand the space.

At the awesome.club we’ll tell you what to avoid if you live in a small apartment, so that your space is functional and seems bigger than it really is.

An interesting design solution is rarely appropriate in a small apartment. Wallpaper with frames visually divides the walls into 2 parts and only highlights the lack of space, unnecessarily drawing attention to the walls of the room. If you want to let go of fantasy, it is better to add mirrors: they will expand the space.

Put aside your favorite photographs with their frames, decorative plates of exclusive manufacture, various paintings, drawings, magnets, because everything “swallows up” the space of a small room, where you still have to place furniture and other objects. If there’s a free space on a wall, it’s best to leave it bare.

Owners of small apartments cannot afford to decorate their home as they like. Do not go to stores to buy candlesticks, vases, figurines, photo frames and many other accessories, at least until you get a more spacious home.

Do not visually highlight the walls: let them be an organic continuation of the room, and not the main detail. Forget the multicolored floral prints🇧🇷 If you want your walls to be unique, paint or wallpaper one of them using a contrasting color. But wallpaper or painting should be in one color. Tiny ornaments are undesirable, but they can work if they match the furniture in a given room.

The texture of the stone (even light varieties) will only favorably highlight a spacious apartment: the relief of this type of material generally narrows the rooms and, in general, makes them heavier. This intense finishing material needs space. If you still want to use natural or artificial stone elements, improve the lighting on the site.

Everyone knows that a rug belongs on the floor, not on the walls. If you have every square meter of your apartment counted, forget about sofas, blankets and pillows.

The main thing when arranging furniture in a small space is to leave as much free space as possible. Place large furniture along the perimeter and in the central part you can place only small and light interior items, such as a coffee table.

Designers recommend doing without warm shades in small apartments, even if the colors are light and you think they will help increase the space of a room.

Among the forbidden tones are red, yellow and orange. On the list of allowed: light gray, blue and green. For example, you can paint 3 walls white and one wall apple green.

Large potted plants, such as ficus or palm trees, crowd the space. You should dispense with them in a small apartment and limit yourself to having small flowers placed on the windowsill.

Heavy doors, especially in dark tones, visually divide the space and accentuate the small dimensions of a room. Opt for lighter, more gliding structures or simply avoid them where you can.

You also shouldn’t visually ‘cut’ the space. In a small space there is no place for a multi-colored laminate, paint or carpet. It is better if the floor in an apartment has the same neutral tone: noticeable color transitions only accentuate the size of the rooms.

Dense curtains of dark shades block light, visually reduce the space and collect a lot of dust. Remember how spacious a place feels when you remove the heavy pieces of cloth to wash them. We suggest that you remove the curtains… and do not hang them up again. You’ll have more light and extra space, just what you need! To protect yourself from the sun and prying eyes, use light curtains at most.

Have you ever had to furnish a small apartment? What techniques did you use to make it look visually bigger?