How to furnish an apartment: interior arrangement and design in small rooms

Comfort in an apartment is a special component, without which no design will look attractive and stylish. But unfortunately, not everyone knows how to properly add comfort and a quiet home environment to any interior.

Every person can create a beautiful and stylish interior

Let's try to present a few basic rules that will help give individuality to any style direction of the room.

What you need to know before you start arranging your apartment

Before furnishing an apartment, you need to clearly understand in what style direction it is designed. Here it is worth paying attention to:

color scheme;
the predominance of natural or artificial materials in decoration and furniture;
own preferences;
room dimensions;
its level of natural light.

All this affects the selection of decorative elements, furniture, additional functional and other components.

The interior of the apartment should be attractive and comfortable

It is important to adhere to basic design rules:

Combine colors in the room, taking into account the basic color rules - there should be no more than 3 main tones, while additional ones should be small in area.
The lighting level should be sufficient to comfortably spend time in the room, depending on its purpose.
All interior elements must be combined with each other in style, otherwise the furnishings of the apartment may resemble chaos.

Lighting in any room of the apartment is divided into basic, local and decorative.

Minimalism

The complete opposite of bright boho and chinoiserie. A very light and simple style that doesn't draw a lot of attention to itself.

Rules of the minimalist style

Minimum color. Avoid bright accents: use white, black, gray and beige to decorate your space. You can add other colors to the interior, such as blue or green, but only in muted versions.
Simple forms. Circles, rectangles and squares. The furniture should not be pretentious; it is advisable that it does not have protruding parts. For example, cabinets should ideally be built-in.
Minimum decor. No unnecessary items, everything should be functional and simple.
Light and plants. Minimalism doesn't mean you live in a white box. Green plants and spotlights, such as table lamps and candles, will help create coziness in the interior.

Ulyana Petrukhina

First of all, in living spaces, I pay attention to the temperature of the light, or, as it is also called, color temperature.

Light affects not only how the space as a whole is perceived, but also our mental state - how we calm down or, conversely, do not do it particularly successfully. Concentration is also often associated with the organization of lighting.

The use of soft floor pillows and rugs in the apartment

Carpets create a feeling of coziness, so you shouldn’t neglect them and actively introduce them into the interior of both living rooms and bedrooms. In order to furnish a room, you should put a carpet on the floor that matches the style. They fit perfectly into any space, from high-tech to ethnic interiors. The room immediately becomes cozy with them.

A well-chosen rug will become a highlight of the interior of the living room, bedroom or kitchen

You can also use floor pillows. But they are more suitable for oriental and boudoir bedroom options.

Floor pillows create an atmosphere of comfort and warmth; if necessary, they can be easily moved to another room or stored in a closet

Loft

Brutal industrial style. It looks modern, fashionable and interesting.

Loft style rules

Structural elements. The loft appeared when old factory buildings began to be converted into residential premises. The structural elements were not hidden, but made an integral part of the interior: beams, iron columns, ventilation and water pipes are in plain sight.
Brick and plaster. The best materials for wall decoration.
Open space. The loft interior should have a lot of free space, so do not overload the apartment with furniture. Ideally, a loft-style apartment is a studio, zoned using color.
Unusual decor. For example, road signs, metal panels and advertising posters.
Lamps. No pretentious chandeliers or lampshades. The light in the loft should come from lamps hanging from wires.

Ulyana Petrukhina

It seems to me that when choosing the interior of an apartment, you should first of all focus on your life and capabilities. It’s worth asking yourself questions and doing a little research! What do you value in your living space now? What is missing? What can’t you give up today, and what might you need in the next 3 years?

Watch video blogs, scroll through Pinterest, visit some professional design exhibition - write down everything you like and see what lights you up especially strongly.

How to choose the right color scheme and lighting for an apartment

Color and light are very important. Even if the room is decorated with expensive materials, it is an illiterate color solution and an inadequate level of lighting that can ruin all your endeavors.

The color palette of the interior in any style should be based on 2-3 basic tones

Most often the base color is neutral, be it light or dark. And bright colors serve as accents. They should be small in area and harmoniously combined with the main color. In this case, you will be able to furnish a room that will have excellent taste.

Provence

Cozy style comes from the south of France. Elegant, light and charming.

Provence style rules

Warm pastel shades. Sand, pale green, soft blue, lavender, muted yellow, ecru. These colors are used both in the design of walls and floors, as well as in furniture and decor.
Flowers. Live ones, such as lavender or peonies, can be placed on the table. Flowers in Provence are also present in the form of an ornament on furniture, wallpaper or textiles.
Aged furniture. Over time or artificially. It is desirable that it be made of light wood.
Forged decor. For example, chandeliers, cabinet fittings, mirror frames.

Light colors to create coziness

Since it is quite easy to furnish an apartment in light colors, you should know the basic rules on how to avoid boredom in such rooms.

A bright sofa as an accent in a white Scandinavian-style living room

Use colored decorative pillows, drapes with patterns in pastel colors, and rugs with small patterns. All this goes well with soft milky beige shades.

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is suitable for those who love variety. This is a very flexible style that can be transformed to suit any mood.

Rules for an eclectic interior

No more than three styles at once. The main rule of eclecticism. Choose two or three styles you love and mix their elements in one space. Adding a fourth or more styles can be dangerous: there is a risk of slipping into bad taste.
Plain walls. For style elements to work harmoniously together, they need a blank canvas. And plain walls are ideal for this purpose.

Ulyana Petrukhina

I am always in favor of having a constant base in the interior, which can be supplemented, modified and upgraded to suit yourself without capital emotional, construction and material costs.

I would like to see a little bit of everything in the interior, but the most important thing is that after crossing the threshold there should be a feeling of “hurray, I’m home!”

On my YouTube channel there is a section “Tours of apartments and other spaces.” I really love all the spaces that I was able to visit, but the most vivid impressions, perhaps, were left by two apartments: the one in which I lived in New York, and the apartment of my friend Anton Boytsov.

I remember the first one for its layout - this is exactly the standard of a Euro two-room apartment, which is still rarely found in the layouts of domestic residential complexes. The bright Manhattan apartment had a spacious guest area combined with a kitchen and hallway, and a separate compact bedroom.

For me, Anton’s apartment is a perfect example of a well-thought-out studio space (although it was originally a one-room apartment). Here is an interesting approach when working with the kitchen and the ceiling, which seems to go into the furniture. A combination of Scandinavia and loft style. There are many interesting details and even an attempt to integrate a “smart home” system into such a space - there is definitely something to be inspired by.

Using vertical space from ceiling to floor

Don't leave bare walls. After all, they are the ones who cannot leave a cheap impression even with the most expensive repairs. Hang paintings or other decorative elements on the walls, such as panels, decorative fans or other ethnic figurines, masks, etc.

Panels, posters or paintings will become the central elements of the room and emphasize the good taste of the owners of the house

If you resort to this technique, the house immediately becomes individual, and not a faceless space.

Using flowers instead of decorative items

If you don’t like paintings, photos and other things on the walls, you can replace them with real flowers. In this case, it is worth choosing beautiful clay pots. Because they will look quite stylish. But it’s worth keeping them in the same style and color scheme. But their shape can be different, depending on the needs of a particular type of indoor plant.

Using compositions created with the help of living plants, you can give the interior a new life, and this will not require significant financial investments

If the room has large spaces of “bare” walls, then you can equip them with flower slides.

Chinoiserie

Translated from French, chinoiserie means “Chinese”. It was especially fashionable in Europe in the 18th century to decorate the interior, inspired by Asian culture. But it’s easy to find an apartment in the chinoiserie style even now.

Chinoiserie style rules

Screens. They will help to zone the space.
Chinese drawings. They can be on panels, bed linen, any furniture, as well as on walls in the form of paintings or wallpaper.
Porcelain. There is never too much of it in chinoiserie, so choose everything from this material: dishes, table lamps, figurines, vases.
Blue, green, yellow and red. Use noble shades of these colors in your interior. For inspiration, check out Guohua, a traditional Chinese painting.

Popular interior styles for decorating an apartment

If you plan to completely change the interior of the room, then you should pay attention to the following styles, which have recently been the most popular in home improvement.

Minimalism

Don't know how to furnish a small apartment? Here is the ideal advice - if the number of square meters limits you, then resort to minimalism.

Minimalism is characterized by a simple and elegant interior in a calm color palette; paintings or living plants are acceptable as small accents

At first glance, this space may seem boring. But it is not so. Its functionality can make even a small apartment, especially a Khrushchev apartment, very ergonomic and convenient to use.

Provence

Don't know how to beautifully furnish your apartment? Provence style will help you with this.

The interior in the Provence style is characterized by the cozy atmosphere of a country house combined with French luxury

The combination of a milky background with a small floral print in pastel colors makes any room very elegant and stylish. For Provence, it is worth considering that he still needs a fairly spacious apartment. Since the abundance of decorative elements in a too small room can result in creating an uncomfortable space.

Scandinavian

This style is close to minimalism, but its distinctive feature is the use of cool, light colors when decorating most of the space. Therefore, this option is ideal for a studio room.

Freshness, cleanliness and order always live in the Scandinavian interior

But it’s worth considering that a large window is important for the Scandinavian style. After all, maximum daylight should penetrate into the room. Moreover, it is advisable not to curtain the window itself or to do it with light transparent tulle. And in order to protect the space of the room from the outside world, different types of blinds are used.

High tech

This interior option cannot be made inexpensively. Despite its apparent cheapness, this is a completely misleading impression. Cabinet and upholstered furniture, as well as other decorative elements, should be as linear as possible or have smooth lines made of plastic.

High-tech is in many ways similar to minimalism. Both of these styles do not tolerate unnecessary details, they value architecture, form and space.

Most often, designer furniture is used for such an interior. It perfectly emphasizes modern style and new trends in fashion.

And others

Eco-styles are also respected and popular in the modern world. They give a person the coziness and comfort of natural materials, which he may lack in today's world of everything artificial.

Eco-style is suitable for any room: bedroom, living room, kitchen or hallway

This option for decorating a room will also be quite expensive, because you will have to use natural stone and wood. But they are the ones who give maximum comfort and warmth to the interior space.

boho

Boho will be appreciated by creative people, because the main feature of this style is the feeling of disorder. Mountains of pillows, bright lamps, figurines on the table. It's important not to overdo it and turn your home into a crazy storage area!

Boho style rules

A combination of the incongruous. A chandelier in the form of a candlestick, a wicker mat and a modern rug with a geometric pattern easily coexist in one room.
A riot of colors. Purple walls, pink ceiling, emerald sofa, printed pillows. The main thing is to pay attention to the compatibility of shades.
Abundance of decor. Stacks of books with bright covers, a patchwork bedspread, colored china - there should be a lot of everything.
Ethno. Objects from different parts of the world will fit perfectly into a boho interior: bright dishes from Portugal, a carved lamp from Morocco, a handmade carpet from India.

Boho is a style that attracts a lot of attention. Therefore, you can quickly get tired of it. To understand whether such a crazy interior suits you, try living in it for a short time.

Ulyana Petrukhina

Take it for a test drive. You can find an apartment on Avito with an interior and functionality similar to what you want, rent it and understand whether you are comfortable in such a space with this red accent wall and zebra print.

Find an apartment on Avito

An example of creating design and interior in small rooms

The smaller the room, the more effort it takes to furnish it. In addition to your own preferences, you should also take into account rationality and ergonomics. After all, they will allow you to make the most of every square meter. And in small rooms this is really important.

A small room should not have a lot of furniture - only everything you need

To make it easier to navigate how you can organize small apartments with maximum comfort, you should look at the examples given below.

Photo wallpapers with perspective help make a room visually more spacious.

Interior of a small living room with a dedicated workplace

Cozy living room with panoramic window