Apartment decorating with limited square footage can seem like a grueling task. While showcasing your design personality is likely at the top of your list, optimal furniture arrangements. That maximize functionality without being overly cluttered must be considered for every room, meaning every item must serve a purpose. The process can start to feel exhausting, laboring over every square inch and choice. But finding the perfect formula for crafting your dream abode is possible.
Regardless of the room or size, styling your space should be fun and allow you to express yourself in innovative ways. Here, we’ve gathered functional yet sophisticated apartment decorating ideas from leading designers across the globe to help motivate your own apartment refresh. Whether you’re outfitting a petite entryway or organizing a kitchen shelf. These big ideas with elevate your small space to new heights.
1. Atlanta
Mimi Williams is one of Atlanta’s top-tier antiques dealers with more than 35 years of collecting under her belt and five storage units filled to the brim. For years she lived in historic Ansley Park, where she transformed the interior of a three-bedroom Craftsman home into a model of American Federal style. “I erased all the moldings to impart pure lines and symmetry,” she explains.
2. New York City
With a rich, painterly palette, designer Miles Redd transformed a Manhattan apartment into a welcoming family home with a dazzling disposition. The white ruffles of the master bedroom’s curtains catch the light just the way a dressing gown might.
3. London
When London designer Veere Grenney discovered this grand residence built on the banks of the River Thames in 1879, most of its Arts and Crafts heritage had vanished. Still, he saw the rich potential within. Collaborating with paint guru David Oliver, Grenney turned its enfilade of rooms into their handsome home, creating a modern aesthetic with intriguing allusions to an earlier era.
4. Paris
Textiles heir Pierre Frey transformed his 18th-century apartment into a bright, open space. It so happened that the apartment he’d once occupied over the Frey corporate headquarters had again become available, as did neighboring offices and the attic on the floor above. Frey snapped up the properties and began blowing out walls and ceilings. The charming and character-filled home features rough wood benches in the marble-clad kitchen.
5. Houston
The work of Houston fashion designer Laurann Claridge, this light-filled penthouse is an ideal backdrop for crisp furnishings and glamorous accents that marry classic and contemporary. As soon as she bought the space, in came custom-made cabinetry, fine millwork, and plentiful gray-veined white marble.