Whether you live alone in a studio apartment or share a small apartment with a friend, you probably wish you had more space. While you obviously can’t magically make your small apartment bigger, there are a few things you can do to at least make it look and feel bigger than it is.

Some of the following tips will be more helpful if you haven’t moved in yet, but others should help even if you have been living in your small apartment for some time.

It’s time to learn how to make an apartment feel bigger so you can make the most of your cozy home.

1. Choose furniture with more than one purpose

If you own too much furniture for your small apartment, removing a few pieces should make your space feel bigger. Try to only keep what is essential.

If you are shopping around for furniture, look for pieces with more than one purpose. Think about comfy sleeper sofas for small spaces. Likewise, you may pick an ottoman that doubles as a storage chest. Also, your bedroom may need a full-length mirror that hides shelves and small drawers.

Multi-purpose furniture will make it easier for you to own less furniture, making your space appear much less cramped.

2. Opt for light and bright colours

If you are not yet settled in your small apartment, ask the landlord if you are allowed to paint the walls.

If the walls are already white, you can leave them this way, as they will make the space feel brighter and roomier. But if you want to add some colour to your walls, be sure to opt for light and bright colours.

Dark colours tend to make rooms seem more cramped than they are. You want the opposite, so choose a light paint colour, and try to get furniture in light colours as well.

3. Make sure you’re never in the dark

Similarly, if your small apartment is always in the dark, it will feel more cramped. So open your curtains or blinds to let natural sunlight in, and decorate your space with plenty of lamps.

Relying on a small ceiling light is not enough. Get a tall floor lamp that will illuminate an entire room and smaller table lamps you can turn on or off depending on the ambiance you want to create. When a small apartment is well-lit, it automatically feels bigger.

4. Decorate your walls with mirrors

If your small apartment doesn’t get a lot of natural light during the day, you can make the most of this light by making it bounce around the room with the help of mirrors.

Adding either one large mirror or a few small mirrors to a wall is an easy way to decorate a room. It also helps make your small apartment feel bigger and brighter since mirrors reflect light.

Plus, a mirror always creates the illusion of more space, which is a very good thing if you feel like your apartment is just a bit too small and cozy.

5. Get rid of the clutter

If you are just about to move into a small apartment, take this opportunity to get through your things and eliminate the clutter. Donate or sell any item you never use, and throw away anything that’s broken and that you know you are never going to get fixed.

Getting rid of the clutter will make your move easier and make your small apartment feel bigger.

Invest in convenient storage solutions such as under-bed storage or shelving units to avoid cluttering your new space with the items you decide to keep.

6. Get furniture with legs

It’s best to avoid heavy, large pieces of furniture that take up much space in a room. Choose a couch, a sofa, and other pieces of furniture raised from the floor with exposed legs.

Being able to see underneath your furniture will make your space seem bigger. Plus, raised furniture should help your ceiling appear just a bit higher.

7. Let your furniture and your walls breathe

Finally, if you want your small apartment to look more spacious, be sure to let your furniture breathe. This means you should leave space between your different pieces of furniture, so the room will not look too crowded.

You should also ensure you never place your furniture right against the walls. If you leave just a bit of space between your couch and the wall, your living room will instantly look bigger than it truly is.

If you feel like doing this wastes the space behind your couch, nothing stops you from hanging a shelf on the wall above your couch so you can store and display some items.