When I say small, I mean 50% of the people I know will probably get claustrophobic spending more than a day in there. But I don't see the limits or the walls. All I can see is the warm sunlight filling the room, the wide window through which I follow the leafs dancing in the afternoon wind and my home, my wonderful and happy home.
The dangers of living in a small apartment are the same with the side effects of drinking alcohol: it intensifies everything that you feel. If you are happy, you can only see the window, whole world shares your happiness and your small apartment seems to extend above the entire street. If you are sad, you can only see the walls getting closer and almost feel them crushing into your soul. Living in a small apartment forces you to look in the mirror and be in touch with yourself more than you might like. You have no space to make your thoughts lost, no "other room" where to leave them while you try to forget about your problems, fears or questions.
There are all in there with you, either you like it or not. It is not place for the ones with a poor heart. But you can make a great home in such a place.
As the title says, this is not a "small spaces design tutorial", I will not tell you how to design your apartment and make it look nice, or bigger. But I will try to tell how you might make it a happy home.
I believe that your home, either small, or large, should be the physical expression of your mind and soul. Your mind decides the dimensions and how you divide your space and your soul decides your colors and textures.
If 90% of your mind is preoccupied with work, if there is where you give your passion and find your happiness, then your home should also be 90% working space. If you love reading, listening music, watching TV, then you should definitely create a space in your home for that. It can be just an armchair which in the afternoon becomes the armchair that you stay on in front of the window, in the warm light of the afternoon, reading a good book and drinking a nice flavored tea or a cold beer. Or it can be a whole corner of your room.
If you love cooking, if it is the only thing that gets you to relax and forget all about work and problems, than you should give yourself a generous kitchen space. If you like having your friends over, playing games and talking, give more space for your living area, get some comfortable chairs, or pillows and cluster everything else in a small space.
How much time do you spend in your home? What are your favorites activities in there? Make space for them.Your home should express how you like to leave, what you like to do and offer you all the comfort for doing that. Your home should not restrict your mind. It should never force you to think "smaller" or deny yourself ideas or activities just because your home is not big enough.
When you choose your colors and furniture, forget about what is appropriate or in style. Look for ideas that you like, no matter how different and unusual. You can't fit in too much stuff in a small space, so it is very important to like each and everyone of the elements you bring into your life.
If you have a vivid imagination, if you are an artistic person, choose curtains rather then blinds. You will be amazed how easy it is to escape through the transparent plies of a soft curtain gently dancing in the wind. If you are a practical person that loves precision and well-defined elements, then definitely go for the blinds.
The colors are very important. Choose the colors for your home only when you are calm and serene, neither sad, nor happy. If you choose your colors when you are extremely enthusiastic and happy you might be tempted to choose colors that are much too strong and lighted, and which can become annoying in days when things are not very good. If you choose them when you are sad, you might be oriented towards choosing colors that are much too pale, or contain tones of gray that you might not even notice at first.
Choose texture that make you feel good and comfortable, and most of all that make you feel yourself. If you like smooth and fluffy textures, use them. If you like well defined, minimalist furniture, choose that. Yes, there are rules that help you make a small apartment look bigger, but you can use those rules and still have what you like. For tricks and tips about making a small space look bigger, I will let you now surf the Internet and ask master Google because there are hundreds of nice articles out there. A small tip, look for images first and then read the rules. You will understand them much better.
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