What’s it like to live in just over 200 square feet?

When all the rooms in your home are in one space, what makes it all work?

How can you make living in 12’ x 18’ total, feel like you have elbow room for days?

Living without interior walls in a small space doesn’t have to mean sacrificing style or functionality.

Studio apartments can be highly efficient, wildly practical and truly beautiful.

Let me show you how.

The Client Brief

The woman who lives in this small New York City studio apartment is a young professional working as an art buyer for a small independent gallery.

She works long hours for her job and the studio was mostly a place to crash at the end of a long day.

That is until last year...

Just like so many others, she’s found herself working from home most days and spending weekends inside as well.

Since then, she decided that it was time to reevaluate her space and make it feel more homey. So, no more crash pad. It was time to make it work for the long haul.

It’s an all-in-one space, which means the only walled in area is the bathroom. Here’s the floorplan.

The first thing she wanted to do was to make the different spaces feel defined.

She isn’t a fan of room dividers or putting floor shelves up to contain the different areas because she had that when she first moved 5 years ago, and she felt like it made the space feel smaller; there is literally 224 square feet of floor space.

The second most important thing was she needed storage space. She keeps all her clothes at the apartment for every season,

and she’s also an avid music fan and she has a pretty big collection of vinyl records but doesn’t want them out taking up space.

She’s loves to keep her space minimal and uncluttered and that is very important to her.

Pathways

As always, the first place to start laying out a space is to determine the pathways in and through.

This is something I focus on for every design I do and it is imperative to get this thought out in the beginning.

It’s not complicated to do this. You just need to recognize how you navigate any room.

Luckily, the main stops on the pathways for this space are on the same side of the room.

You need to know where you’ll go in the space everyday and then you plan your furniture placement so as not to not to impede those pathways.

When you enter the apartment, there’s a small – all purpose – closet on the left.

Right past that is the kitchenette that’s tucked into the wall with a small built-in island that has an under counter mini frig and a couple of extra drawers.

The island’s countertop hangs over on the other side, perfect for a couple of stools.

Right past that is the door to the bathroom.

The arrows show the most used and necessary area, and that means nothing should be in the way.

You don’t want to side-step anything to get through.

The island is fixed and that is unavoidable, but all other furniture placement can be adjusted.

Zones

This means there are 3 main zones:

• the bedroom zone with the closet. This will serve as the space to sleep and dress.

• The kitchen space is zone 2, meal prep, dishes, eating and the bath – which is a separate space – is also included in this zone because it shares a traffic pathway with this space.

• The remaining space is the living area.

Mapping out an area like this helps to visualize how to use different areas.

It literally shows a map of the space and lets you see parameters.

Take the living room area for example:

Just by mapping it out, you can easily see that there is a long wall but, the width of the space is very narrow.

That definition will show you that there will be limitations on the type and amount of furniture in the space.

You’re probably not going to get a sectional sofa in the space or a pair of large chairs and a sofa.

So, even though you may not have the exact furniture planned out at this point, you see a visual map of what’s possible.

Zone 1: Bedroom

The apartment has two mirrored bump-in’s on either side.

The first one is in the bedroom area.

My client likes her bed in this space, and she just really wanted a way to make it feel cozy, and somewhat separated from the other areas.

I found this peel and stick removeable wallpaper with a subtle chevron wood pattern.

It gives the space some definition and makes it feel a bit more special.

The space is big enough only for a full-size bed, which is the perfect size for her.

One of the main complaints was that there wasn’t room for nightstands on both sides of the bed.

She loves symmetry and the space always felt unbalanced.

So, we got two, plug in wall sconces to go inside the nook to provide light for reading in bed and they provide that missing symmetry.

Even though the front entry is right next to the bed on one side and there is wall space on the other, the sconces and the wallpaper define the bed space making it feel like a room within a room.

When the bed is placed back in the nook, the area starts to take shape.

I anchored the space with a 6’ x 8’ rug.

It’s placed horizontal to the bed so that there’s a majority of soft rug on the side of the bed she gets up on and is barely peeks out on the other side.

This leaves a spot for a small piece of furniture on the window side.

Now, the original thought was a small chest of drawers but since she’s working from home, she decided to sacrifice the storage for a small desk that does triple duty as a bedside table and make-up vanity.

There’s enough wall spaces for a large mirror that’s just a hint higher than the top of the vanity, where she houses her make-up and the lower part of the vanity/desk is her daily workspace. There’s plenty of room for her laptop, and that’s all she wanted.

When she’s putting on her make-up, she stands to see into the mirror and when she’s working, she sits and doesn’t have to be distracted by the mirror.

Of course, the trade off is that there isn’t drawer space for clothes next to the bed, so we opted for a storage bed that has two generous pull-out drawers for extra storage.

To give her more drawer space, we decided to put a chest of drawers inside the closet underneath the hanging rod and shelf above.

It wasn’t easy to finagle it into the space, but once it was in, she had 6 additional drawers for the rest of the rest of her folded clothes and it wasn’t taking up space in the room anymore.

Tip: It’s important to decide what needs to be on display and what doesn’t.

Even though this dresser matches the bed, the dresser made more sense as a functional storage piece rather than an aesthetic piece that took up space in the main room.

Zone 3: The living room

Since the kitchenette, zone 2, is primarily self contained and there is no need to consider a table and chairs or any kind of storage other than what is naturally there, we’ll move on to the living room space.

I’m going to break a cardinal decorating rule that I’ve repeated over and over.

That is, the longest wall is where you place the largest upholstered piece like a sofa, sectional etc. (It goes to show, you must know when to break the rules.)

For this space, there is no ‘focal point’ opposite where that large sofa or upholstered piece would usually go.

• There’s no fireplace or wall for an entertainment piece.

• There’s no grand window with a view of the New York skyline.

Instead, it’s the kitchen island and bathroom door and that’s not the ideal view.

So, instead of putting a big upholstered piece there, this long wall is better suited for a large multi-functional piece that will hold the TV, records, and some minimal décor.

• Since it is going to be a big footprint in a super small room, it’s important that it has a mix of open and closed storage.

• It should blend in with the décor, not contrast it.

• And, it should use vertical space as much as horizontal space.

• Lastly, it shouldn’t be super deep because every extra inch of depth takes away precious space for seating.

Since the priority is maximize the storage space as much as possible to keep clutter at a minimum, the seating area is the secondary consideration.

Tip: This is why it’s important to plan out the priorities of any space you’re making over. If important considerations are an afterthought, you could end up with a design that doesn’t meet your needs or expectations.

One rule I stick to is my love of big rugs in any small spaces.

Even with limited floor space, a large rug that defines an area is always top consideration.

Here I used an 8’ x 10’ rug to serve as my anchor.

I matched it to the rug in the bedroom because she loves visual simplicity, but it’s not necessary to match rugs in small spaces exactly.

You can use two different rugs if they have similar colors or patterns.

The rule I follow is they must be more similar than different, so that they compliment each other and make sense together.

This leaves the space opposite the entertainment/storage space open for the main furniture placement.

The one spot that is completely unmovable is the kitchen island.

Even though it’s not technically in the living room zone, it needs special consideration because it pops out into the main pathway through the entire space.

Ideally, you want to have the largest upholstered piece opposite the focal point but, a large sofa can’t be pushed up against the island because she’ll be constantly side-stepping around it.

Bumping it off the island to allow for the natural pathway will make it tough to put a coffee table in and still have access to the storage in the entertainment cabinet.

Also, having a long sofa will make it hard to navigate into the space because she’ll have to walk all the way around one side or the other.

This also makes it challenging to place side tables next to the sofa as they would just make the journey into the area that much longer.

All said, this isn’t an efficient use of the space.

It’s inconvenient and clunky to navigate.

The way to make this space work is to visually balance the large entertainment wall with a classic conversation grouping: two upholstered pieces opposite each other.

This way there’s room for a coffee table in between them and the pathway is completely open.

Even though there’s no extra room for side tables, anyone sitting on either sofa will have easy access to the coffee table.

The sofas are studio size love seats – the perfect size to not overwhelm the space. They have rounded backs, which make them easy to walk around.

I chose a tight back seating, which means the sofas don’t have cushions on the back. The upholstery is tight to the frame maximizing the entire depth of each sofa frame and that equals a comfortable deep seat even though they are smaller widths.

Now, the entire grouping is easy to pass by on the pathway through the space and it’s equally easy to navigate into from the kitchenette and bedroom spaces.

Minimizing steps into seating areas, especially in small spaces, makes a huge difference in how the space feels.

To finish out the living room space, I placed a console table in the nook at the end of the space.

This space wouldn’t be a good place for a chair, but it is the perfect space for this table with two storage drawers and a couple of matching – minimal – lamps.

I placed her record player in the center so that it’s safely tucked away, minimizing the chances it will get bumped when she wants to have a spontaneous dance party.

Lastly, I tucked two upholstered storage cubes under the console.

They’re perfect for hiding anything she doesn’t want on display but still wants easily at hand.

And, they are easy to move into the main seating area if she needs a couple extra seats for company

Sticking to the minimalist brief, the artwork and accessories are paired down and nothing that doesn’t spark joy is on display.

The empty space above the cabinets is another prime spot for extra storage, so we placed 3 matching baskets to house all the gadgets, bits and bobs that she doesn’t use everyday, leaving the space tidy and clear.

The island is set for a dinner for two and the round, backless, counter stools are tucked discreetly under the counter and out of the way of the bathroom door.

There you have it. A super efficient 224 square foot NYC studio apartment.

Planning out:

• The pathways in and through the space,

• Understanding the separate zones that need to function together,

• And having the aesthetic planned out will get you to the best results for any small space.

I’d love to hear what you think. Have you ever lived in a small studio or efficiently apartment? What challenges did you have? How were you able to make the space work and what made the most difference?

Join the Fun!

If you enjoyed this post and you want to keep seeing my weekly blog, the best way to do that is to subscribe.

You can subscribe by downloading my 11 Secrets Only Designers Know to Make Your Space Rock. If you’re curious about how decorators and designers make a home look magazine ready, you’ll love taking a gander at these 11 secrets. You’ll learn how to style your room from the floor up and it will work for ANY space you have.

I write about small space design and decorating, sustainable furniture options, positive self care and a variety of do-it-yourself home décor.

I’d love to connect with you!

Michael is Principal designer and blogger at Michael Helwig Interiors in beautiful Buffalo, New York. Since 2011, he’s a space planning expert, offering online interior e-design services for folks living in small homes, or for those with awkward and tricky layouts. He’s a frequent expert contributor to many National media publications and news outlets on topics related to decorating, interior design, diy projects, and more. Michael happily shares his experience to help folks avoid expensive mistakes and decorating disappointments. You can follow him on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook @interiorsmh.