Moving to a tiny apartment or house has its challenges, but you can overcome them. Overcoming these challenges means that you must make the best use of your space. If you do, then you can maintain or even improve your quality of life. But to do so, you must know your needs and know what resources are available to meet them.
Know what you need
To understand how to furnish a tiny apartment or house, we should know what we need and desire in a home. These needs and desires are the same regardless of the size of the home. Furniture is useful when it helps to meet these needs and desires. In a tiny home, the furniture must meet these needs without wasting space.
Here are the necessary functions that furniture can provide:
A place to sleep
Seating
A horizontal surface to put food and other things on
Storage for your clothes and linens
Storage for your dishes
Storage for other necessary items
Examples:
Beds, chairs, tables, drawers, cupboards
Furniture also improves the home in these cases:
People use the furniture for activities that they enjoy.
They provide convenience or beauty.
Examples:
Bookcases (if you like to read)
Easels (if you like to paint)
How to save space in a tiny apartment or house
In a tiny apartment or house, saving space is very important. Some general rules help. But your way of saving space will depend on your individual situation. Here are some good rules:
Use multi-role furniture
Furniture that have more than one use are great space savers. They let you use two or more types of furniture in the space of one. Furniture that work as both sofas and beds are excellent examples. Furniture that add storage to their functions also save space. Also, a chair that you use for dining can serve as a desk chair too.
Use the vertical to save space in the horizontal
Using the vertical lets you fit the same volume into a smaller footprint. This is useful for bookcases and storage units. The exception is when they serve other uses that prevent them from being tall. An example is a bookcase that serves as a TV stand.
Avoid getting stuff that you won't use
This is crucial advice. In fact, you should not get or keep things you don't use even if they are free. If you bring home a useless item, it becomes clutter. This is bad because every room has a finite amount of space. Some of this space is necessary for useful items and people will also need space to move around.
If clutter builds up, it will invade and then overwhelm this space. The clutter will stop the room from functioning and will ruin the decor. Clutter has ruined the decor of many homes.
Here are some examples of space-saving furniture
Futon
Provides: A place to sleep, seating, and (sometimes) storage
Remarks: A futon is one of the cheapest and most versatile options for having a sofa and a bed. There is also a small change in the footprint between the sofa and the bed configurations. You can also change the color scheme by changing the futon cover. If it has built-in storage, then that is a great place to keep the nighttime bedding. It is not surprising that futons are so popular.
Daybed
Provides: A place to sleep, seating, and (sometimes) storage
Remarks: A daybed can be in the same price range as a futon. It uses a conventional mattress (often twin-sized) for seating and sleeping. This is good if you prefer to sleep on a conventional mattress. They are deeper than many people would like when using them for seating. But you can fix that with extra back pillows. The daybed is also great for lounging. They often come with storage, and some even come with an extra pullout bed called a trundle.
Murphy bed
Provides: A place to sleep, (usually) storage, and (sometimes) a desk
Remarks: A murphy bed is also called a wall bed. The bed retracts to the vertical position when it is not in use. It is more than triple the price of an average futon but can be worth it.
Murphy beds often include plenty of storage including bookshelves and drawers. Some even have armoires. Many come with desks included with these other features. Combine one of these murphy beds with a chair and you have a well-furnished apartment.
They often use either full or queen-sized mattresses. Also, they fold away into an elegant fixture that frees up plenty of floor space.
Loft bed
Provides: A place to sleep, (sometimes) storage, (sometimes) a desk
Remarks: Loft beds can vary throughout a great price range. They can cost from roughly the price of a futon to roughly three times that. Many of them come with drawers and ample desk space. Some even have stairs that double as storage.
Wall folding table
Provides: A desk or table for eating and other activities
Remarks: A wall folding table is can be inexpensive and can save space. When you are not using it, you can fold it down to open up the floor space. It works best if you use it with chairs that you can put away or move to somewhere else.
Don't forget about decor
Your home should provide for your needs. But you would also like it to look nice. There are many ways to do this without breaking the bank. If you follow some guidelines, you should have a nice-looking home that functions well. Keep in mind that these are guidelines and not strict rules:
Form follows function.
Your home needs to function well if it is to be comfortable. Beauty without function is not elegant. It is useless. Something is elegant when it combines beauty with function.
Examples:
Beds, sofas, and chairs should be comfortable.
Tables and desks should be at a comfortable height.
Bookshelves, cupboards, and drawers should be reachable.
You should be able to move freely throughout your home.
The larger things have a bigger effect on the decor.
This is easy to overlook but is obvious when you think about it. This is because the larger things take up more of your field of view. These are things like the walls, ceiling, floors, and larger pieces of furniture.
Nothing should clash in color or style.
This goes without saying, especially for large areas and furniture. This means that you shouldn't pick furniture that clash with each other. They don't need to be the same color but they should follow a general theme. Most apartments have neutral colors for the walls, ceilings, and floors. This is because few things clash with neutral colors.
Prevent clutter. This is worth repeating.
Clutter is one of the few things that clash with neutral colors. This is because clutter clashes with everything including itself. Preventing clutter is one of the most important things that you can do for your decor. It's also worth repeating that clutter wastes the space that you are trying to save.
Keep it simple.
Keeping things simple is one way to make sure that the colors go well together. You can do this by using a small range of colors for the large pieces. Also, subtle hues tend to go well together.
Use accent pieces
Accent pieces are smaller pieces that enhance the beauty of the room. They can be decorative elements such as pictures, sculptures, or even smaller furniture. Because they are smaller, they stand out by having a contrasting shade. But they shouldn't clash with the main color scheme.
You should remember that these are guidelines and not strict rules. It is your home and you are the final judge. If you think that a certain style is beautiful, then it is.
In summary, you must know your needs and desires when moving into a tiny apartment. You can save space by using multi-role furniture and by expanding into the vertical. But you must avoid clutter for it to work. To make the place look nice, you should avoid colors that clash. But you are the final judge and you get to decide what you prefer.