AMOR DECOR: SMALL SPACES

How come every movie that takes place in Manhattan always has the main character, no matter how pedestrian their job, living in a spacious loft with high ceilings, tons of natural light, aaaaand a kitchen with an island?? Oh that’s right, it’s a movie.

Welcome to the real Manhattan, a place where you pay an arm and a leg for a shoe box in a four story walk up, half a mile from the nearest subway. But it’s all so worth it! And hey, looking at the glass half full, it helps you to buy less stuff and declutter!

Living in a small apartment, I have learned first hand the struggle to find great furniture and decor that actually fits my taste and literally fits the space! You first have to decide what areas in your home are most important, since you may (definitely) have to sacrifice room to add room elsewhere.

Can you guess mine? Haha the closet, duh! I live in a 650(ish) square foot “L” shaped studio with a “quaint” kitchen and “cozy” bathroom, so it’s basically just one large open space. I knew I wanted to create a walk in closet (because the three closets I have was definitely not enough room to hold all my clothes), but I knew it would take away from a large chunk of the space. I had to figure out how to make one large room into essentially six separate areas: a walk-in closet, dining room, living room, make up area, bedroom and foyer without it looking too congested. Sounds impossible right!? Since the closet was most important to me, I started building from that area first to give me a realistic understanding of how much room I had left to buy furniture/decor for the other areas. I completed an area and moved to the next, not just buying a bunch of stuff in the beginning but rather working from each block of space separately. I was then able to find the perfect sized furniture/decor for each area. Now I have all the rooms I desired with great pieces that fit my space perfectly.

So let’s break down my choices. I’m not going to discuss the kitchen or the bathroom since those are the two separate rooms in the apartment that didn’t need any furniture.

THE WALK IN CLOSET:

For my walk-in closet, I ordered really durable metal racks from a storage store that are the roots of my walk-in closet. If I had a larger space I may I gotten ones with rollers for the racks to be able to move around but since there’s no space for them to move anywhere I opted not to. I really wanted to be able to see at least some of my shoes since keeping them in boxes makes it so hard to remember what shoes I even have. It may not be the prettiest but for my limited options I was able to find white shoe shelves to just place on top of the racks to hold some of my favorite shoes. I also have embedded shelves that came with the apartment in the same area as my closet so I just put more of my shoes in there as well as on the shelves in closets that came with the apartment. So many shoes, ahhh!

A quick note, since I needed to make multiple rooms out of one large space, I put different area rugs in the main three areas to break up the space visually. For the walk-in closet I chose a small velvet embossed patterned rug that had depth and texture, which tied in the all the colors of my theme perfectly.

THE MAKEUP AREA:

I was actually able to squeeze in a makeup area which I’m obsessed with! My style is definitely glamor and glitz, so I ordered a mirrored jewelry armoire and matching table. I then bought a table top vanity mirror with round LED lights that have a dimming or extra bright feature, and even an outlet for your phone or hair tools. And to complete the area, I bought an acrylic chair since it’s a really tight area I thought a see through chair would look airy and make the space look larger. It was a total success in my book!

THE LIVING ROOM:

In the living room, I was able to fit a three seater microfiber couch with studded accents and for a bonus, a full pull-out bed for when friends and family stay over! The pull out couch was non-negotiable so it really narrowed down my choices since it also needed to be small and of course pretty! It took me months to find one I really liked but finally at a discounted furniture store called Furniture Ville in the Bronx, I did! I got it for $700 when it’s usually a lot more (unfortunately it’s no longer available there. Below I have added where its still available). I added some large lush pillows for details. I have always been obsessed with mirrored furniture, and the fact I live in a small apartment I knew I wanted a lot of it, because it automatically makes the space look larger.

My coffee table is probably one of my favorite pieces I found. It’s looks like a mirrored chest with under storage, drawers and accent studs all around it. Sooo freaking cute! And it’s the perfect size for a small apartment. I also picked up a patterned love seat to tie in with my color scheme of muted blue, white and dusty pink. Its the chair that helps break up the space from the makeup area so it’s easy to move if need be and pretty small so doesn’t take up much valuable space. I also added a muted blue velvet foot stool from HomeGoods to the end of the love seat for show and extra relaxation as well. You’re probably wondering umm where’s the tv? I mounted it on the wall across from the living room, over the dining area. This choice was the most helpful decision to allow me to have both a living room and dining room that doesn’t look too congested!

Lastly, for the living room area I ordered a gold chrome and gray wooded shelving unit for decor and filled that baby with a few girly accents as well as a large white shaggy rug to make the space look super cozy.

THE DINING ROOM:

The dining area continues to play into the glamorous and mirrored theme. A glass and mirror stemmed table opens up the tight space (I chose the square table top option but they also have a round one as well) and I paired it with velvet tufted French inspired dining chairs. These were probably the most expensive thing I ordered because they were sold out everywhere for so long, so finally I gave in and got them from a pricy company. However, I just looked and found them available for a bit cheaper on another site even though its still pricy, but my god are they gorgeous! (I linked the cheaper site below)!!️️ I also purchased a white china closet to hold all my glassware, pots and pans but I don’t recommend it. Ikea customer service sucks, it took months to arrive and it’s extremely flimsy. It does however look nice, fits perfectly in the corner of the dining area, and is much needed since all my cabinets in the kitchen are holding my dry foods and spices so I really needed the extra kitchen storage. Yes, ya girl can cook!! Oh and I can’t forget my mini chandelier with floral accents and candlelit detail hanging in the entry way to create a delicate atmosphere throughout the space.

THE BEDROOM:

On to the place I probably spend the most time. My bed. I ordered a custom studded tufted high headboard bed that is modern, elegant and glam. This company allows you to pick the fabric, colors, shape, studding of the bed so there’s really endless options and you are able to get exactly what you want. My only regret is not getting a queen even though it would have been a tighter squeeze but a full is just not big enough for two people in my opinion. You also have to be really careful with fabric beds because they can get dirty really easily but I’m a clean freak so it worked out for me. I paired it with two mirror end tables (of course) and crystal accent lamps. I also added a real crystal chandelier to up the glam meter. It’s one of my favorite pieces, because when the light hits real crystal it send beautiful rainbow refractions across the room.

At the end of my bed I placed a tufted storage bench, which gave me an excuse to pile on some more decorative pillows. I framed some unique artwork above my bed (which I have showcased in another article). I found a thick comfy diamond pattern rug to go under my bed, and added a body size mirror on a side wall (I got it from HomeGoods, so theres no website to buy from, but I have linked a similar option below).

THE FOYER

Lastly, the foyer! Just to inform people what a foyer is if they don’t know, it’s the entry way walking into the home. I found a rustic mirrored cabinet in a similar muted blue as the paint color of my walls, and use it for more storage (also from HomeGoods, so I linked a similar option below). The final touch was a hand crafted accent mirror that has French inspired details. I wanted the first thing people to see when they walk into my home to be detailed and inviting. For the most part, all the pieces I have purchased are extremely reasonably priced and exude elegance without the high expense usually attached to it.

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