Hi y’all.  I am so so sorry for not blogging lately!  It has been such a whirlwind since our new prez. came on board and I just now have settled down. 

I want to talk to y’all about decorating small spaces and solutions to downsizing.  We all know that we are trying to re-create our lives everyday now, just to survive. 

If you finally got that million-dollar baby- that postage stamp-size apartment in the city, and now you don’t know what to do with it, let’s talk. I have had several emails asking me for design advice on how to decorate their studios so I wanted to pass on a few general tips so that you can have a functional but stylish pad with the best digs available.  Most of my clients complain about the fact that they do not have enough space but later they realize it is not the lack of space but what they did with the available space they have that matters.  Here are a few design tips to fully utilize your space. 

First, determine and create your walkways in your space so you don’t obstruct your path with furniture or that exotic fertility statue you bought from a street vendor in the east village.  No need to walk over and around your fabulous digs to get to the kitchen.  The more “footprint” you have that is clear, the larger your space will seem.

• Simplify and reduce the amount of star trek memorabilia, salt-n-pepper shakers (aka: stuff) you have laying around the place.  When space is precious, the last thing you want to do is have to find space to display all those treasures.  First you need a place to sit, eat, and store.  You can’t compete with your BFF who has a 4 bed/3 bath in Westchester, sorry!  Remember: ‘Less is more’.  Decide what to sell on Craig’s List or Ebay.  Pitch what is garbage.  Pick out what goes ‘bye-bye’ to “Acme Storage” and whatever is left, will need to be strategically placed around that 300sq ft. living room so you don’t hit your girl/guy Friday between the eyes with “Yes, I’m a Trekki!”

• De-clutter with furniture items that are multi-functional.  Hip trendy plastic furniture is cute but perfect for Barbie’s Playhouse.  First, you have to make sure these furniture ‘finds’ are compact to fit your space.  It needs to have some storage or multi-functional feature and the design has to have a long life, unless you are interested in changing your décor every year.   I suggest ME2 Design items, not only because they are friends of mine but that their designs were created with downsizing and hard-to-furnish spaces in mind, so most of their items do at least 2-3 things.  They have storage, wheels, are coordinated, multi-functional and modular…these items work in any space and they are stylish basics to suit any lifestyle.  Since you are living in a small space, the main living floor space must be maximized.   See if you are able to cut out dry-wall ‘shadowbox’ windows into the wall to place or mount your TV and accessories right into the wall to relieve the need for an entertainment center.  Use wall mounted shelving. Use two matching small tables like ME2’s wire tables, Brooklyn Nights Smoking Tables, in front of a small sofa as cocktail tables instead of one large table.  This allows for more walking space and gives the illusion of a larger room.

• Kitchen space in a big city apartment is usually a joke and it creates the most stress because we love to hang out in the kitchen.  If you do not have enough space for a large kitchen table, try ME2 Design’s “The Talker”.  This 3-pc ensemble is sleek and long so it is great along a wall in a small kitchen.  The stools nest under the table and are on wheels so easy to arrange, as needed.  The stools also have hidden storage inside to put pots, pans, toys etc.  If your kitchen does not have enough space for a table but has an open wall, get a piece of wood 1” thick x 10” wide (or as wide as you can come out from the wall) x ( ¾ of the length of the wall).  Have the wooden “counter bar top” bull-nose beveled on the outside edges and flat along the backside where it will be mounted onto the wall.  Have the wood top stained and finished on all sides, to match your cabinets.  Mount the “wood counter top” to the wall, 32” from floor and add supporting brackets underneath.  Purchase 2-3 counter stools that are 28” tall to slide them underneath the counter when not in use.  Add a large piece of artwork centered on the wall to balance the counter top bar and add color and design to the space.  The counter will be great for storing, entertaining and eating and will take up minimal space!

• Color is very important to a small space so watch out for those bright colors.  Unless you want to live in a disco or beach party patio atmosphere everyday after a long day at the office, select a warm, light and monochromatic palette to create a soothing atmosphere and the illusion of space, where you have none.   For example, shades of green are good for a bedroom because they are calming colors.  If you need those trend colors, add them as spots of color with your accessories, pillows or area rug.  Area Rugs are also a key addition because it adds color, separates a “room” in one space and is also comfortable. Create drama in your space by adding a decorative accent wall behind your main piece of furniture in a (2x) darker tone than the rest of the walls.  The trim must be painted all the same color in your place if it is small.  Some people prefer white; some prefer off-white and some people like a tone of the wall color.  It is all personal preference, but whatever you decide, the trim needs to be in the same color throughout the space so the flow stays consistent.

• Don’t over furnish your space.  You can use a large oversized sectional, sofa or Queen Ann loveseat, whatever, as long as you choose a simple sleek design and don’t crowd the left over space with too many other pieces.  A small room or single-room living space should only have up to 5 well-fitting furniture pieces. Check out ME2 Design side tables, The Observer, for fabulous tables with magazine shelf, storage and hidden wheels.  They are a perfect scale for large sofas and hides stuff too.

• Lighting is key and will impact your space more than anything else.  Add recessed lighting along the perimeter of the room and other key areas throughout your place to give an illusion that the space is larger than it is.  If you can’t add recessed lighting, add side tables next to the sofa for a comfy/cozy feeling and add a chandelier if you want to separate a “dining room/eating area” from the rest of the space.  Adding a chandelier differentiates the spaces, visually.

• Wall Décor is key to any space, large or small. Add large artwork on the wall of your small room, especially behind your largest furniture pieces.  Art or wall décor serves to anchor your furniture and creates a ‘room within a room’. The larger the art, the bigger your space will seem.  Add mirrors strategically placed throughout the space.  Place a large mirror across from a large window to bring the outdoors in, even if it is just the backside of another building.

• Closets are usually the first structure that is removed from a space when these small urban apartments were created, so you have to create your own “storage”.  After you take my advice and purchase furniture with storage, you need main storage space.  I suggest that you add wall storage.  I read a great idea where you get a carpenter to cut out storage “cabinets” inside the wall (assuming they are dry wall) and then create a column of cabinets set into the wall and add on hinged door fronts. Utilize storage under your bed by getting shallow large bins on wheels so you can access them easily for shoes, sweaters etc.  Create a “closet” by purchasing a great Japanese screen or connect 3 vintage doors together to   create a “room divider/closet”.  Place a clothing rack behind screen and you  have a closet.  Low on cash?  Run a drapery track or curtain rod with hooks along ceiling, place 2 ft. away from the wall and extend along the     length of the wall.  Purchase canvas or drapery fabric to make panels that   go to the floor.  Sew together as many panels as you need to close off  “closet” area. 

• The bathroom is also a place where you have to improvise to survive. Utilize the back of the door, under the sink and any space that you can access without cramping yourself, with hooks, shelving, bins. Walls are to have mounted cabinets and shelves. If you have the funds, update the old sink-with-cabinet from the 60’s with a pedestal/vessel sink or wall mounted sink and cabinet.  It opens up  your room and is an updated solution for a small bathroom. The mirror  should be large and if possible, a medicine cabinet …or you can put a medicine cabinet set into the wall behind the door.  If you are lucky enough to have a closet in the bathroom, an easy “fix” for  the door-hitting-another-door issue is to take off the closet door and its hinges.  Repair or replace trim around door, if necessary.  Then add a track and beaded curtain, sheers or drapes and hang them to the floor.

Well, to my housewives and fashionistas out there who I love and adore, just because your place is small doesn’t mean it has to look like a dorm room or a storage unit.  Follow a few of these tips and you will create a cozy, chic nest for yourselves!

That’s All,

David