Living The Ultimate

When it comes to designing an apartment, you need to approach it differently than you would a larger home. With space often being the major obstacle to overcome, spatial planning is crucial and choosing colour schemes and design pieces that give the illusion of a larger apartment is key.

But with this being a challenge even for some of the world’s best interior designers, where do you begin to start? Here are five interior design tips for ultimate apartment living.

1. Choose a neutral colour palette

A lighter neutral colour palette gives the illusion of rooms being bigger, a crucial factor when showcasing a smaller space. While deeper colours and bold feature walls can be breathtaking, they do make a room look smaller.

Lighter neutrals also create an elegant, timeless look, allowing for more design options and easy changes to accommodate the latest trends. Having consistency in colour throughout the apartment is also the key to achieving a sophisticated living space.

2. Use different textures

Apartments are often too small to feature large hero art pieces; this is why you need to bring art into the design. Decorations, patterns and textures bring small rooms in neutral colors to life.

Natural color tones add softness and warmth to small rooms, while texture gives an intimate appeal and can enhance the feminine or masculine feel of small spaces.

With this in mind, choose a nice textured fabric for your lounge and use cushions, a floor rug and carefully chosen ornamental pieces to decorate the room. Using geometric shapes, vibrant colours and interesting, reversible patterns can completely transform your space. Modern wallpapers are also a great way to add texture to a room.

3. Use smart, compact furniture that has multiple uses

From wall beds and transforming tables, to hidden desks and clever storage solutions, smart, compact furniture can give you twice the function in your apartment while still feeling like you have twice the room.

4. Choose window treatments wisely

While the right curtains can certainly add elegance to your apartment, they can also take up precious space and detract from your view. This is why blinds are often the smartest choice, easily tucked away out of sight they allow you to maximise your space and maximise your view.

5. Less is always more

When designing and decorating your apartment always follow the rule less is more. Use a common sense approach; too many colours, textures and patterns will make your apartment look busy, cluttered and as a result smaller.

Look at the environment, maximise the view and always ensure the proportions of furniture do not overpower the room. Spend a little more to purchase good quality items that will add sophistication and withstand the test of time, particularly if the apartment is a long-term investment.

Author Bio

Dominic Tam is a highly sought after, multi-award winning interior designer and the CEO of International Interiors (www.iinteriors.com.au). For more than a decade, Dominic has worked closely with luxury home owners and leading apartment developers and project marketers to design high rise residential buildings, resorts and hotels, while also providing furniture packages for owners, investors and property managers.