Popular Science | How to Create a Spacious Space in a Small Apartment

A common topic when renovating a small apartment is "how to make the space appear larger?" By "appearing larger," we mean visually increasing the sense of space and making the entire house appear larger. Today, Xiaoye shares her personal experience on how to make a small apartment appear spacious and comfortable. Here are five tips to share with you.

1. Unified overall style and space expansion effect

Small apartments should avoid complex decorating styles. Nordic, modern minimalist, and log styles are all suitable for small-sized homes, creating an overall feeling of simplicity and brightness. European styles with complex lines and ornamentation, and the historically rich neo-Chinese style, seem out of place in small spaces.

They all have the same purpose, without complicated decoration, focusing on beauty and practicality. The color matching is advanced and simple, giving people a sense of simplicity, openness and transparency visually.

2. Compact space layout and reasonable movement lines

Small apartments are often limited in space, and open-plan designs are more suitable. Removing partition walls to create an open kitchen and combining a kitchen and dining area with a kitchen island significantly saves space. This allows for better space sharing and optimizes functionality, while also making the room appear more spacious and airy.

Connecting the living room, dining room, and balcony creates a more spacious feel. Removing non-load-bearing walls and replacing them with glass partitions is a great option. Glass partitions save space and provide more natural light. Bathrooms can feature wall-mounted toilets and suspended bathroom cabinets for a fresher, cleaner look.

3. Avoid complex color matching and focus on simplicity

In home design, limit the number of colors used in a single space to three or fewer to avoid visual clutter. Smaller spaces can use light colors as the primary color (white, beige, and natural wood are all excellent choices), with other colors serving as background and accent colors to create a warm overall effect. However, dark elements should be avoided as much as possible. Natural colors from natural materials, such as wood flooring and marble, can also be utilized to create a natural and comfortable feel.

In addition, small apartments generally do not have good lighting, so for small apartments, lighting is also very important. A bright and transparent room will give people a visual sense of spaciousness. Small families with conditions can choose to install floor-to-ceiling windows as much as possible, which are high-end, fashionable and bright.

4. Customize the cabinet and make good use of every space

Using flat, unshaped doors and handleless cabinet doors can avoid the clutter caused by excessive open compartments and reduce the amount of housework. Closed cabinets with one door that reaches the ceiling make good use of every inch of space, making the entire space spacious and beautiful.

Our King Coconut No. 1 wood panels, for example, can be used from cabinet to cabinet, offering exceptional stability and resistance to deformation, making them ideal for customizing tall cabinet doors. Available in a variety of colors, they offer a subtle wood fragrance, adapting to the humidity levels of both northern and southern China. Customization is available for a variety of styles, including new Chinese, modern, European, and affordable luxury.

5. Focus on soft furnishings instead of hard furnishings, and pay attention to storage and organization design 

The simpler the hard decoration, the larger the space appears. Some people think that if they don’t put enough effort into the hard decoration, the house will not look good. In fact, it is not true. Soft decoration is the source of beauty. Hard decoration will only take up space and be large and useless.

Small apartments are most vulnerable to clutter, so consider storage features when designing. It's recommended to choose cabinets with simple shapes that reach all the way to the ceiling. These not only provide ample storage space but also create a neater, more spacious appearance, making the room appear larger.

The above is some knowledge that Xiaoye wants to share with you about “how to make a small apartment appear spacious and comfortable”. I hope it can help you.