5 Tips for Comfortable One-Room Living

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5 Tips for Comfortable One-Room Living

Elaine Heng · Feb 16, 2017

modern one room apartment

Ah, the idyllic coziness of one-room living. Whether you’re living in this small space because you live in a city like New York or Tokyo—where one room living is quite common especially for working individuals—or because you’d like to minimize your energy use and leave behind a more green carbon footprint, you’ll need to know how best to use the area you have. Fortunately, we have five solutions you can try!

1. Condense and Conquer

One-room living can get a little claustrophobic at times, especially if you are sharing this space with another person. To maximize space for the both of you, you should definitely throw out, sell, or do whatever you need to do to free your home of items you do not use on a regular basis. We know it can be tough to let go of those snazzy pair of shoes that you love to look at yet never actually put on, but you will feel so much better when you’ve freed up some space to actually live in! Selling your unwanted/unused items can also make you some extra cash. Consider donating your things as well so you can do something good not just for yourself, but for someone else.

Once you’ve cleaned out your home, you’re ready to figure out what you will do with the free space! Yes, just because you HAVE free space now doesn’t mean it should just remain a blank canvas. Get creative with it by organizing your things in color schemes, or by modeling your favorite scene from an interior design magazine clipping. It’s your world now.

2. Let There Be Light

That’s right. Let that light shine in and brighten up your room! One-room rentals can be a challenge to “make bigger” when physical properties can make this impossible. However, by optimizing the use of your windows, you give your home a better chance at really accenting all of its beautiful features.

First, try choosing curtains/shades/panels that are light in color, such as white or vibrant pastel colors. If you like the sheer look, even better! Also, add a mirror to help reflect even more light around the room. Adding pops of color will help brighten things up as well, so try something like setting tiny potted plants/succulents on a window sill to give life to the mix!

3. Keep Furniture Simple

Minimalist furniture typically works best as far as size and overall look and feel for a one-room space. No, you do not have to go to IKEA to get all of your things—though we will admit that we actually really love that place! Furniture without extra embellishments like an exorbitant amount of padding or large accents that are purely for decoration you can say goodbye to. Instead, add your own pizzazz and get your simpler furniture looking exactly the way you want.

Take it a step further by utilizing any space underneath your furniture to store magazines, seasonal clothing, and more. Genius right?

4. Get Rid of Extra Doors

How much privacy do you expect to have in a one-room space? Big clunky doors can absolutely be desirable and beautiful in a normal or larger home, but in your small space, not so much. By removing a closet or storage door, you give the space a totally different look and feel. You’ll probably save yourself some time as well by not having to swing open these doors every time you need to get your things out. Instead, drape a pretty little tapestry or take it back to the 70’s and add those funky bead curtains to your room.

5. Condense Your Tech

Do you have a large computer monitor? Great news! This can double as a television in your one-room space! Many cable providers allow you to watch your shows online, on your own time, and there are plenty of streaming services with the latest shows in their library! Go ahead and ditch even the slimmest of flat screen televisions, and use your huge computer monitor for work and play.

Minimize the other technology you have sitting around your home as well. Same rule as before: if you don’t use it regularly, get rid of it.

We hope that you enjoy taking that big leap into your brand new minimalist space. We know it can be a challenging adjustment, but these simple tips will help you start off on a better foot. Do you have other ideas about maximizing this kind space? Let us know in comments!

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