Whenever the seasons change, do you ever feel compelled to reevaluate your space? Whether I swap out a giant painting for a simple wall hanging or purge my under-the-bed clothing bins in efforts to “Mari Kondo” my life, it feels good to refresh and rearrange every once and awhile.

Courtney here — and today I’m talking about the tips and tricks I’ve learned to make a small space a little bit more livable.

Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes a small space. I’ve met people who feel like they’re living the dream in a 400 square-foot studio and I also know people who feel like 2,000 square feet is cramped.

Whatever your version of “small” is, it’s no secret that after being stuck inside for over a year and a half, our spaces could benefit from some organizational and decorating best practices.

I’m no HGTV guru or Home Edit professional, but I have learned some things that have helped me not feel so claustrophobic in our 700 square-foot NYC apartment.

5 Tips for Decorating Small Apartments

1. Buy furniture with built-in storage.

No matter how much I donate and give away, I still find myself needing a place to store random items — and furniture with built-in storage has been a game changer.

I recently swapped our old simple TV stand for a more functional piece with some built-in cupboards, and now all of our board games aren’t spilling out of the bottom of the coffee table.

I also noticed a random unused space right near our door and bought a little storage dresser.

It not only holds all of our cleaning supplies and things like gift bags and beer pong balls (yes, my husband and I still play at 33 and 31 LOL), but also provides a spot to display items that are special to us (peep the amazing Korean ducks we got from my Mother-in-Law as a wedding gift, a beautiful print from my talented cousin @theprintedpaige, and an adorable book stack from a dear friend).

It’s also a great place to put things you need to remember before you leave the house, like masks and keys.

If you’re debating between two pieces of furniture and one has more storage space, go with that one.

2. Buy a tall bed frame.

I know, I know — the Mari Kondo-obsessed version of me cringes at the thought of shoving stuff under the bed, but hey, living in NYC changes a person (also, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to have a completely clean under-the-bed space).

Our tall bed frame has been a game changer for storage purposes. My off-season clothes are under here as well as my husband’s 17 boxes of Kashi (when is he going to get an influencer deal though?). It drove me crazy to have under the bed visible, so I bought a simple elastic bed skirt that’s super easy to put over top, so you can have both the storage and the sleekness.

3. Use your wall space.

One of the biggest space savers for me is my wall hanging that stores my jewelry. I bought it on Amazon years ago because we just don’t have the space for me to display my jewelry on a dresser.

This piece is amazing because it not only holds every piece of jewelry I own, but also serves as a full-length mirror (the only one in our apartment actually).

I also used some random wall space in the bedroom to hang my hats, and it doubles as a neutral boho “gallery wall.”

If we didn’t have a little bar cart, I’d probably get a wine storage wall hanging for bottles and glasses, because god knows no one in NYC has extra counter space!

Look for ways to utilize your wall — you may be surprised at the storage options you can find.

4. Let the light in.

One thing that really helps me feel like I have more space is maximizing the amount of light we get. We try our best not to cover up the windows with shelves or giant pieces of furniture, and letting that natural light in makes the space feel much bigger.

This is a design preference, but I tend to buy furniture that is lighter in color or less busy to make the space feel more calm and peaceful — at least it does to me. I’m also not an insanely talented interior decorator, so I tend to keep it simple with neutral tones like gray, ivory, tan, and black.

5. Split larger spaces up into sections

Our living room is essentially just one big rectangle, and given that we wanted a place to relax, a place to eat, and ideally, both have a place to work, we organized our space so that it was split up into those sections.

We have our living room, our dining room/desk space, and our bar/kitchen space. Obviously, you have to work with what you’ve got in terms of layout. But when you’re stuck inside a small apartment, it can help to compartmentalize the areas to make it feel bigger.

Shop my Small Apartment:

At the end of the day, living in NYC has taught me that a space can be cozy without feeling cramped, functional furniture goes a long way, and storage is your small-space best friend.

What decorating and organizing tips have helped you? Drop your ideas in the comments below!

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