A new lifestyle in the design of small apartments

Small apartments are the trend of the 21st century. Apartments have always been more than just housing. In the 20th century, they were looked at as a tool to maintain ambitions. A small apartment belittled the social status, even if its design was tasteful. Huge - increased the importance of the owners in the eyes of others.

Remember the typical life of the late 20th century - it was prestigious to have a lot of things: a lot of furniture, dishes, food supplies, and all this needed to be placed in an apartment - far from small, but not shining with a special design.

The Millennium has become an occasion for a revision of values. People are thinking more and more about the meaning of life, about what is a source of inspiration for them. And as a result, new priorities are built. In the new structure of elements of well-being, small apartments have become for many the best option for housing at a certain stage of life, and this is reflected in their design.

An entire industry is working to make them comfortable and effective. New building layouts, furniture, design elements, finishing materials appear - everything to make each of the small apartments special and comfortable.

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Who are they, the owners of small apartments?

Who buys small apartments?

1. People of solid age who change their housing to a small one, so as not to burden themselves with utility bills. Having lost in the area, they win in comfort, cleanliness (new materials, convenient layout, ease of cleaning). There are some nuances here, which we will definitely dwell on.
2. Young people purchasing their first home.
3. Young families with children lovingly decorating their nest.
4. Travel lovers, for whom small apartments are just a cozy haven that keeps traces of travel.
5. Successful managers who choose an apartment, albeit small, but in a prestigious area.

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How do your life priorities influence the interior style?

Naturally, the design of small apartments for different social groups cannot but differ. Before talking about general trends, let's dwell on the features.

Design of small apartments for the older generation

So, often a person of age becomes a newcomer to a small apartment. What should be done in order not to disturb the established way of life and at the same time make it more comfortable, inhale a fresh stream of novelty?

Furniture, things and dreams.

When moving to a new apartment, you need to decide: what to take from the old environment, and what to part with without regret? All that remains is what cannot be said: “this thing makes me even happier today.”Everything else must be left in the past. Take to your new home a few pieces of furniture and accessories from the category of "the most beloved, comfortable and ... small-sized." Another option is possible - to start life from scratch, without the burden of the past.

Apartment design of the grand person

With age, people are not inclined to drastically change their habitual lifestyle. Some remain very conservative, others do not change the daring style that they loved in their youth. Still others are open to innovation and ready to implement the latest proposals from designers.

What design can be offered to apartment owners a little older than middle age? It can be selected in a wide range:

• for the most conservative - classical, German or Italian, with small cues in historical styles;
• for fans of the Audrey Hepburn era - a light urban French entourage;
• for romantics of the hippie era - a sunny rural style with elements of oriental esotericism;
• for those who remember the disputes between physicists and lyricists - Scandinavian minimalism;
• for artistic natures - art deco.

We venture to suggest that among the reputable owners of small apartments there may be adherents of pop art, loft or hi-tech. But, most likely, in their age category they will be in the minority - due to the well-known craving of older people for calm, warm comfort.

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Design of a small apartment for a girl or boy

First own home. It embodies dreams that were not realized within the framework of the parental home. But these dreams, as a rule, have their limitations - financial ones.

Bold and cheap

Modern design trends take this feature into account and offer very budget solutions for decorating a small apartment. Furniture from IKEA for interiors in Art Nouveau, Scandinavian and Provence style will help make the dream a reality. Own masterpieces of needlework will decorate the house in the spirit of country, boho, oriental exotic. Souvenirs-accessories brought from wanderings will recognizably designate ethnic styles - safari, Indian, Arabic.

Loft, it would seem, can be quite inexpensive. However, you need to remember about mandatory - and significant - expenses: picturesque metal structures (pipes, ventilation, old-fashioned radiators), the presence of a few bohemian items (a sofa or armchair, pop art paintings, an antique interior element).

Young people's choice - studio

Bachelor apartment layout. Young people prefer to maximize the space due to the studio layout. Even girls do not spend many hours at the stove at this age, and meeting friends in the studio is ideal.

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Young family: first apartment

In the list of the first needs of a young family is a small, but own vein. And often it is acquired with the expectation of the first child. The design of such an apartment is characterized by the allocation of a nursery - a place where a small child can relax while adults are busy with their own business or receiving guests. Most often it is a small bedroom for a baby and a spacious studio for adults.

In such an apartment, planning solutions and color play an important role, and as accessories they try to use “anti-vandal” design elements that are part of the finish, which are securely attached to the floor and walls or suspended high enough.

The style entirely depends on the taste of the parents, but it is unlikely that a sane designer would recommend using a loft or pop art in a nursery. The first - does not meet sanitary and hygienic standards (unsuitable for frequent and thorough wet cleaning). The second is perhaps too aggressive in color.

The fact is that in a small apartment, it is desirable to maintain the design of all rooms in the same style, otherwise the room will visually be divided into very small rooms - this will produce a sad impression of tightness, lack of style and bad taste.

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Small apartment for wealthy new settlers

The presence of a small apartment in a “good area” is by no means an indicator of constrained financial opportunities, rather, it is a prudent respectability, which is reflected in the design in a peculiar way.

It is peculiar - because investments in new housing consist not so much of expensive acquisitions, but of the cost of high-quality materials, innovative technological solutions and, most importantly, an original project from a professional architect. This is a special chic - to make an apartment out of a small odnushka, the design of which inspires and arouses admiration.

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Eternal laws of design of small spaces

Whoever owns a small living space, in its design will have to adhere to certain rules.

Light

The fewer dark corners in the house, the more spacious it seems. Light up the console washbasin from below and immediately see how much wider the bathroom has become.

Light cords and LED strips are friends of small kitchen owners. Highlight the shelves, mezzanines, countertops with them - and the walls of the kitchen seem to move apart.

Consider the location of the floor lamp, wall and ceiling lamps so that poorly lit corners and niches do not exist.

Color and space

The general rule is the predominance of white and any pastel shades. However, there are subtleties here. What is good for large rooms is paradoxically refracted in small ones. In a totally white room, the sense of reality and perspective is lost.

Beacons are needed to create the depth of the room. Items and finishes that are contrasting or tonally different from the prevailing background. Fragment of a wall accentuated with artistic wallpaper, a picture or a special, handmade, forged lamp. Drawing on the wallpaper with contrasting “specks” is also able to create a sense of depth, just like the play of shades when painting the walls.

On the floor, a diagonally laid parquet or tile creates an excellent effect. On the ceiling - a two-tiered ceiling with lighting.

It is very important that various techniques do not give rise to a picture of chaos, kitsch - a sense of proportion should not betray the designer.

Color and style

There are such design directions in which color plays a rather aggressive role, rigidly denoting style. In the loft, pop art, techno, there is black, red and rich shades of the palette, characteristic of the underground. How to be, to refuse the defiant, "male" entourage?

The design of small apartments knows many examples of a successful combination of white and gray with not bulky accessories in black, red, metallic. It is important that light shades decisively prevail.

Even in minimalism, favorable to pure colors, in small rooms it is better to prefer soft, refined shades of turquoise, mint, cocoa in textiles and accessories.

Furniture

If you have a choice - to purchase a table with legs or a console table, a bookcase or console super-narrow shelves - choose console ones. Nothing creates the illusion of space quite like floor space. For the same reason, furniture with legs is preferable to wardrobes and beds with drawers under the bed.

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More about style

Regardless of the artistic tastes of the owners, it is useful to know which design for small apartments is almost a win-win. If you make a kind of rating of styles, it will look like this.

1. Scandi. Laconic, spacious, easy to clean and inexpensive. Despite the fact that the Scandinavian style was created for spacious rooms, its advantages become especially noticeable in small apartments. Simple forms, gravitation towards cantilever structures, furniture with legs, sparing use of natural colors. A lot of white and against this background - contrasting wooden elements - this is exactly what does not clutter up, but creates a perspective.
   

   Small bedroom in Scandinavian style

2. Art Deco. Decorative, elegant, airy. Elegance, whose roots go back to antiquity and baroque, plus a discreet white-gray-beige range. The stylization of the artistic atmosphere within the framework of minimalism is romantic, light and attractive.
   

   Stylish dark bedroom tones

Ethnic. Indian style, boho, safari - in many ways, their popularity is due to the interest of young people in travel. The bright decorativeness of this design gives a small apartment an intimacy that is organic for these styles.

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Photo gallery - Design of small apartments:

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