No matter the size of our apartments are, it often feels they're never quite big enough. Nowhere is that more true than in Hong Kong. You may have your heart set on that 5-room southside apartment. Not to worry, there's still a lot of time to get there. But in the meantime, try some of these practical interior design tips to open up the space in your compact home in Hong Kong and make it feel much bigger.
Tip #1 - Pick Light Colors for Foundational Elements of Your Space
Rooms that are dominated by dark colors has their advantages, but will make the space feel close and restrict. Opt for lighter colors for your walls and floors instead.
This doesn't necessarily mean you only have blank white walls. You can pick colors in lighter hues - such as light greys, off-whites and pastels.
Another clever trick related to your wall colors, is to choose curtains of the same or similar colors. That way, the curtains will blend into the walls rather than intruding on the space available and making your living room look smaller.
Tip #2 - Use Rugs to Separate One Room into Smaller Spaces
This is particularly helpful if you live in a studio apartment in Hong Kong. You can use a few smaller rugs to separate the spaces so that it appears you have more than one space within your overall space.
Tip #3 - Choose the Right Rug with the Right Patterns
This is particularly helpful if you live in a studio apartment in Hong Kong. You can use a few smaller rugs to separate the spaces so that it appears you have more than one space within your overall space.
Option 1: Stripes on Rugs
Just like wearing stripes on your shirts can make a difference to how you look, a striped rugs will also has the effect on making your room appear longer. Orient the stripes to go the length of the room that is the longest for optimal effect. In other words, you can make your room look longer OR wider.
(bonus tip: this also works for walls!)
Option 2: Small Repeatable Patterns
Consider rugs that have small repeat patterns. This helps create the feeling of spaciousness.
Tip #4 - The Cantaloupe Rule
According to Sabrina Soto, a home style expert from Target, “Decorative accents smaller than a cantaloupe crowd a room”. This is because having many pieces of small home accessories makes a space feel crowded, and thus make the space feel smaller.
Try getting large colorful vases or lamps, large framed wall art or other pieces of décor that really take up some space. A few larger items will make a room look like there is much more “breathing room” and negative space.
Tip #5 - Vary Your Lighting Sources
If you only use one lighting source from your ceiling light, then it would concentrate lighting in one space. What you could do is to vary your sources of lighting by using smaller lamps to draw the eyes around different parts of the room.
Tip #6 - Expose Your Legs
Having sofas, tables and cabinets with a base can make your space feel smaller and heavier. Instead, try going for furniture with exposed legs. This would create a more airy feeling throughout the room.
Armed with these practical styling tips, you should be able to start making the most out of your home. Afterall, we all need a little bit of breathing room after a long day in our stressful city.
Need interior design help? Ask an interior designer here, or check out our online interior styling service starting at HKD1650/room.