Are you moving into a studio apartment soon? Or perhaps you’re already living in a studio apartment, but you aren’t happy with the way it’s laid out and decorated. Would you like to update your décor to make your studio apartment seem more spacious, and more comfortable?
Whether you’re new to studio apartment living, or a longtime apartment dweller who wants to freshen up a few things at home, we hope you’ll be inspired by these ideas for how to decorate a studio apartment in 2023.
Get One Table That Does It All
Our top tip for studio apartment dwellers: Quit trying to cram too much furniture into your tiny little living space. You’ll feel happier and more productive in an uncluttered, clean environment.
Look to liveaboard cruising sailors as your example here. Typically, yachties have one table in their living space, and it often looks like a living-room-dining-room hybrid. It might be adjustable, with drop leaves and moving parts. Some boaters even transform their tables into beds every evening.
As a landlubber, you hopefully have more living space than a sailor does, so you don’t have to go to the same dramatic extremes. On the other hand, you can learn much from these people, and adapt some of their thinking into your own home décor.
One way to accomplish this: Choose one multi-functional table that can do everything you need a table to do.
If you spend more time in the living room than the kitchen, try an adjustable-height coffee table that can double as a dining room table.
If the kitchenette is going to be the heart of your home, and the living room is far less important for your lifestyle, one possibility is to choose a small kitchen or dining room table, and skip the coffee table.
One other possibility: For your eating area, you could incorporate barstools and a bar area into your kitchenette; then skip the dining room table, and go with either a small coffee table or an ottoman in the living area.
Storage Tables
One other idea: Incorporate tables with storage into your decorating scheme. There are coffee tables and dining room tables that include storage space inside. If you don’t have enough drawer space in your kitchen, a dining room table with drawers can hold some of your utensils or kitchen gadgets. Your end tables can be used for storing items such as family photo albums, Christmas decorations or extra linens that don’t all fit in your closet, bookcase or usual storage spaces.
Storage Trunks Instead of Tables
Another possibility is to incorporate storage trunks into your decor in place of end tables or coffee tables. These are fantastic for storing blankets, linens, beach towels, kids’ toys or just about anything else you want to keep out of sight yet easily accessible.
The Bedroom Area in a Studio Apartment
When you live in a studio apartment, you might choose to incorporate your bed into your living space. If you’re a private person, you may wish to create a more secluded bedroom area — particularly if you entertain guests often. You could use strategically-placed screens or curtains to hide your bed from view.
If your studio is tiny, you’ll probably want to go with a murphy bed, which can be folded up out of view when you’re not using it. Murphy beds are one of 2023’s top bedroom design trends.
Another option is a multi-purpose piece of furniture such as a convertible sofa bed, or a daybed or futon.
You could also skip the couch all together, and decorate with a pair of recliners in the living area, or perhaps a loveseat plus recliner. Then if space permits, you can use screens to segregate your bedroom area and keep it out of view.
Creating Focal Points in the Studio Apartment Space
Interior design principles dictate that each room should have a major focal point. This is an important key to making a studio apartment look chic, comfortable and well-designed.
When you walk into the apartment’s main entrance, what do you look at first? If you can easily pinpoint a spot — perhaps a window, or an interesting architectural detail — then that’s the natural focal point of the room. If you can’t easily find a focal point built into the room, then it’s up to you to create one.
There are many interesting possibilities for creating focal points. To create a focal point on the wall opposite the doorway, a dramatic original painting is a great choice. A stunning clock or wall sculpture would also work well for this purpose. Alternatively, an interesting piece of furniture could create the focal point.
Once you’ve decided on a focal point, everything else in the room should be arranged to enhance it. Anything that distracts from it or competes with it needs to be moved, removed or replaced to preserve the room’s harmony.
Lighting Small Spaces
Lighting can enhance your entire living space. In particular, you can use it to highlight the room’s focal point if needed.
Studio apartment dwellers can easily take advantage of some of 2023’s hottest lighting trends.
One top trend: mini-chandeliers, which are smaller, more affordable versions of traditional chandeliers.
Another important trend: pendant lights. You can either choose a single pendant light to hang in the most prominent spot in the room, or a series of multiple coordinating pendant lights to hang in various spots around the living space. Either approach would be both on-trend and fabulous in a contemporary studio apartment.
If windows are available, natural light is ideal for lighting a studio apartment.
Some apartments come equipped with blinds or window shades. If yours doesn’t, your choice of window treatments will be particularly important for making your space comfortable and livable. You’ll want to make choices that allow for plenty of privacy, while at the same time allowing as much light as possible into the space.
See Also: How to choose curtains for your home.
Hopefully these ideas will help you create a studio apartment that feels spacious, comfortable, well-lit, and just right for your lifestyle. Best wishes with decorating your studio apartment for 2023 and beyond.
More Home Decorating Ideas for 2023:
- Color trends
- Flooring Trends
- Color Trends for Residential Interiors
- Fresh Kitchen Design Trends
- Decorative Pillows
This page was last updated on 9-1-2023.
How to Decorate a Studio Apartment in 2023
Learn the secrets for making a small studio apartment feel comfortable, chic, well lit and well decorated.
How to Decorate a Studio Apartment in 2023, lighting, coffee table, kitchenette, dining room table, focal point, art