How to decorate a condo apartment
8:39 pm
The continued proliferation of condominiums of late (and of condos for sale) is an impending sign of change. The shift in the property market from landed single-family homes towards high-rise (or low-rise) condominiums is becoming an attractive option to both the young and the old. Living in the city is expensive, given that extra square footage comes at a cost. Thus, whether empty-nesters, or birds that have flown the coop, anyone can appreciate a nice condo, however small it may be.
Though you have to compromise on space in a condominium, it doesn’t mean you need to compromise on style. Decorating a condo can be trickier and more stress-inducing than most other types of properties. It’s not large, compared to a landed property, and it’s not as small as a studio apartment either. So, before you get confused and flustered, read on for tips and tricks on how you can decorate your condo apartment.
Planning is everything
The clarion call to consumers has always been the bigger the better. With a large house, you have plenty of space to fit everything you have and more. In a condominium, where extra space comes at a premium, not so much. Thus, planning is everything. This is even more true if it’s the case of downsizing.
With a condominium, you will need to plan for your space to get the most out of it. You will need to consider organizing every nook and cranny in order to maximize your space. Keep your condominium a model of brilliantly and well-thought-out efficiency.
For example, you can consider installing built-ins for every other room. This adds much needed storage space. You can consider using the limited space you have as an indication of when it is time to purge. Once your storage space is full, start going through and decluttering.
Place a table in front of a large window
Large and expansive windows, such as those that are wall-to-wall or floor-to-ceiling, are often found in condominiums. They can be very intimidating and is a lot of wasted space. Conventional décor and design principles would tell you to leave those spaces blank as to not interrupt the viewpoint. However, you should throw that notion out the figurative window.
Anchor the bareness of large windows by placing a console table in front of them. You can also experiment by placing a sofa to obscure part of the window space. This idea helps properly utilize any dead space that conventionally would be left bare. Play around with your furniture placement to utilize your condo space in the best possible way.
Accent, accessorize, accentuate
Decorating a condo is a more precarious endeavor compared to decorating traditional houses. Not only do you have to decorate with style in mind, you have to keep space in mind as well. Thus, décor in condos usually skew towards more neutral shades in order to maintain the lightness and openness that lighter hues bring.
You can punch up your solid neutral interiors with small pops of color. Bring in accents and accessories to play around with hotter hues that you would normally stay away from in larger pieces. Accessories such as candles, pillow cushions and even potted plants can serve you well in getting more vibrance and variety of tone.
Artwork is also a good way to bringing in more color to your space. What’s more is that they take up virtually no space at all on your available surfaces.
If you have a built-in taking up part of a wall, try painting the surrounding walls the same color as the built-in. The purpose of this is two or three-fold. Firstly, it helps the built-ins blend in seamlessly instead of allowing it to stick out like a sore thumb. Secondly, it helps provide some semblance of continuity and cohesion. Thirdly, this paint job can give a conflicting and yin-yang effect, giving off a soothing and dramatic vibe at the same time.
Tuck away non-essentials
Condo space is usually tight, so you should reign in the clutter. Keep out only the things that you use most often. Hide and tuck away everything else. As they say: a place for everything and everything in its place.
For example, you can hide most of your kitchen appliance away behind closed louvred doors. This allows clutter to disappear when not needed, leaving your countertops and kitchen table free from the potential messiness of a cluttered look.
Paint the ceiling black
Condos come in many different shapes, sizes, and heights. Whether your condo’s ceilings are on the higher or lower side, you can never go wrong with more vertical height. Painting the ceilings black is a genius way of extending the visual vertical height in your space. Dark ceilings create the impression of height and can be perfect for smaller spaces in the condo.
Choose darker furniture in smaller rooms
Although the norm in decorating smaller rooms is to keep the space bright and light, sometimes going the opposite can give you just the same, if not better, effect. Furniture that is white and light can sometimes make a compact piece look larger than it actually is. Darker furniture, on the other hand, has the ability of receding. Thus, dark-colored pieces actually end up taking less visual space than a lighter counterpart.
Take for example a home office, which is usually quite a snug space. A dark wooden desk and credenza can seem to recede in your small home office, making the space look bigger than it actually is. We would, also like to advise, that while you can play around with darker hues, the proportions of the piece in respect to the space must still be considered.
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