How To Design Your Small Condo To Give A Spacious Look
Condos are compact living spaces in Singapore that usually comprise 2 or 3 bedrooms. Since they are small, it can be a bit challenging to design them in a way so that they include all the necessary furniture and elements required for a comfortable living experience. However, this in no way means that you cannot design them in a beautifully aesthetic and luxurious way and forget about your dream of an elegant and cozy home. By following a few tips and tricks, you can ensure that your condominium is as beautiful as functional.
At AC Vision, we excel in creating amazing living spaces for our clients. Whether you have an HDB or a condo, we can help you design it with perfection according to your preferences. A small condo interior design requires some careful deliberation to ensure that the space used is maximized for functionality without making it look too cramped or crowded. Below, we discuss some great space-saving ideas that can help you achieve the home of your dreams in the form of your small condo in a spacious and comfortable environment.
Use light colors with wood
One of the most important and effective ways to create a spacious and airy atmosphere in any space is to use a light color palette in interior design. Light colors instantly give a spacious vibe whereas dark colors often make the area appear dark and cramped. In a small condo whether it is 2 room or 3 room, you would ideally want to stick to a light color theme so it automatically exudes spaciousness and creates an elegant space. When white, off-white, cream, or light beige colors are used in an interior with some contrast with wooden elements, the resultant interior looks breathtakingly elegant and sophisticated.
In the following living room interior design portfolio designed by us, you can see this concept being put to action. The condo’s living room shows how a light color palette is chosen in the form of white walls and ceilings. Even the storage cabinets and TV console are kept white. However, to create beautiful contrast, a medium brown shade of wood is used for the wooden floors. The same wood color and pattern is used as accents for the walls, cabinets, and TV console. This color combination helps give a spacious feel in the interior. Moreover, white lighting is used for the home as that also helps greatly in giving a spacious look. Warm lighting is only used to create decorative accents in the space.
Create a one-wall kitchen
In a small 2-bedroom condo, there is often very limited space to create a functional home. However there are ways in which you can incorporate all your essential elements while still making the area look spacious. While using light colors for the interior and incorporating intelligent storage solutions in the condo are very effective ways, another idea for a small condo that has a one-wall kitchen is discussed below.
As shown in the following kitchen renovation, the kitchen is part of a living room like the ones you usually see in small studio apartments. One wall of the living room comprises the kitchen with the stove at one end, followed by shelves and cabinets. Right next to the cabinets is a small counter that can be used as a cutting and prep station while the bar stools next to it makes it a convenient dining area. This layout creates a functional space where the kitchen can be used easily while enjoying communication with the rest of the family and guests sitting in the living room. The space does not look crowded; rather looks organized and elegant.
Keep the space decluttered
One of the most effective ways to give a spacious outlook in any small home or space is to keep it decluttered. Even if you have a large house but there is mess lying around everywhere and everything is in a decluttered state, the area will not only look aesthetically displeasing, it will also look much more cramped and small. Alternatively, any small space can be made to look spacious simply by keeping things organized and applying a minimalist approach to design and decor.
The following design portfolio shows how even a small condo can look airy and spacious because of everything being uncluttered and organized. The image shows a living room of a condo where everything is placed neatly at their designated places. Keeping in line with the minimalist approach, only one sofa is placed along with a sleek coffee table. The floating TV console also gives the illusion of increased space. The sheer window curtains allow a lot of light to enter the room that brightens up the place and gives airy vibes. With minimal furniture pieces and elements all organized properly, the room looks elegant and spacious.
Opt for an open-concept plan
Another effective idea that can immediately create a spacious outlook in a small home is to have an open-concept plan. Whenever there are walls in a home, they provide the necessary privacy and sound insulation but also make the space look cramped. When such a situation arises in a condo that is itself a compact place, the space feels even more crowded. Now imagine a situation where there are a minimum number of walls between the rooms, it would definitely help in creating a much spacious outlook. This is exactly what an open concept layout does. When the living room, kitchen, and the dining area are joined together without any physical barriers in between, it creates a seamless visual flow that makes the space appear much larger and spacious.
A small condo is an ideal option to incorporate an open-concept layout. As can be seen in the following interior design portfolio, the living room, dining area, and the kitchen are all connected in one large space. The absence of walls creates a much larger visual space which when combined with intelligent modern lighting and a large window through which sunlight flows in, creates a bright and spacious outlook.
Use collapsible or multipurpose furniture
Another effective idea to make a small condo or HDB appear bigger is to minimize its furniture and other elements. Now, one may ask the question as to how to reduce the furniture and elements that are absolutely necessary? The answer to this question is to choose such furniture that either serves multiple purposes or can be collapsed to free space as and when required. Examples of multipurpose furniture could be a sofa-cum bed that can serve as a sofa in the living room and when required can double up as a bed at night. Similarly, there are different types of ottomans and benches that have storage compartments in them. Thus they also serve multiple purposes. A platform bed can also be used as a bed as well as for storage.
One more space-conserving idea is to opt for collapsible furniture. As can be seen in the following image of our interior design portfolio, a small wooden shelf serves as the dining table around which dining chairs are placed. However, the wooden shelf can be collapsed/folded back to create an open space when not required.
The following image shows how the shelf table can be folded and the chairs can be removed from the room to create a spacious and open area if required. Thus, the collapsible furniture allows you to conserve space much more effectively.
Use glass partitions
Another variation of the open-concept layout is to use glass partitions instead of doors and walls wherever possible. Since an open concept layout has the drawback of creating a distracting environment because of all the noises around, glass partitions or doors can be a good alternative. They can help create a soundproof environment while the see-through structures will give the illusion of an open-concept layout and consequently a spacious outlook. You can even create complete rooms using glass walls and designate them as a home office or a dining area according to your preferences.
If you do not want to use full-length glass walls, then you can even use glass partitions for shelves and their doors. This will also give a spacious outlook as compared to if wooden shelves and doors were used. This can be seen in the following portfolio image where the kitchen cabinets, its island, and bar area are enclosed in glass partitions. This unrestricted view has twofold advantages: one, it lets you organize everything forcefully since you do not want to have a messy home and thus your condo always remains neat and organized. Secondly, the absence of traditional walls and wooden shelves create a larger visual space to make the area look big.
Ditch the bed side tables
So far, we have discussed a number of space-conserving ideas for the living room, kitchen, and dining area. However, a condo also has smaller bedrooms which can make their interior design process a bit tricky. Obviously, you want all the necessary furniture pieces in the bedroom to make it functional but the lack of adequate space may cause you to think otherwise. In such a scenario, you may opt to ditch your bedside tables to free up some space and give a vast outlook.
This can be seen in action in the following picture where a beautiful condo bedroom is shown. To minimize the number of furniture pieces in the room, the bedside tables have been excluded. Instead of them, two small compartments have been created inside the headboard of the bed that extends outwards on both sides of the bed. This way, the designers have freed up a lot of space where the side tables might have gone and have taken just a narrow space where one can easily put their mobiles or small accessories at night. Modern accent lighting further enhances these features in the bedroom. This way, you can increase the space in your bedroom while still making it functional and beautiful.
Platform storage bed
Another cool idea to save space in a bedroom is one that can easily be incorporated in a small bedroom of a teenager or a child. Such bedrooms are usually quite small with hardly enough space to put a bed and a small table. But if you are wise about it, you can add just about any structure in that bedroom that can offer you the maximum functionality you desire in the bedroom. This can include wardrobes, shelves, study table and chair, as well as a dressing table. It feels too good to be true but the following design portfolio can show you exactly how to achieve that. Check out this article for wardrobe ideas to incorporate into your bedroom interior design.
As shown in the picture, the bed sits next to the farthest wall of the room besides the window. The bed itself is a platform that has an abundant storage area inside it which can be used to store clothes, shoes, and accessories. Behind the bed is a vertical shelf where you can easily store all your books. Next to the shelf is a sleek table that serves as the study table. It also has an overhead shelf and cabinet for storage purposes. Opposite to the study table is a sleek dressing table with drawers and cabinets for storage. Thus, this bedroom offers the maximum amount of functionality and storage for a very small room and still does not look too cramped.
Add lots of mirrors
Finally, the last space-saving idea that you can implement in a small condo to make it appear spacious is the addition of lots of mirrors. When you place large mirrors in any room, the reflection in the mirror gives the illusion of double the space and automatically, your mind perceives it as a much larger room and area. Therefore, when you install a large mirror in any room of the house, it will go a long way in making it look spacious.
An example of this concept can be seen in the following portfolio image. Here, we can see one large mirror installed on one wall of a kitchen that, although it is an open-concept, is created in a narrow alley in the home. The addition of a large mirror gives the illusion of a much larger space and the kitchen does not appear narrow or small at all. On the contrary, it looks bright and spacious. You can add such a large mirror in the living room, bedroom, or even the bathroom to make them appear bigger than they actually are.
All these above-mentioned interior design ideas are perfect for condos and small apartments as they can help you achieve your dream home in ways that will make for a functional home without cramping up the space. AC Vision has extensive experience in designing and renovating HDBs such as 4-room interior design and 5-room interior design and condos according to clients’ requirements and preferences. For more inspirational ideas and advice regarding interior design, get in touch with us today!