Shavonda Gardner, designer and founder of the SG Style Blog, starts out each personalized design process by encouraging her clients to look at their small apartments as an opportunity for heightened creativity and optimization, as opposed to an obstacle. Shopping Best air mattresses for guests, camping and more Vertical storage for small spaces: Bookshelves, hanging shelves and more With just a little bit of research and some small space style tricks from the pros, you can curate a space that feels like a homey personal style haven, all within constricting parameters.
We also consulted a trend expert at Etsy, who offered some guidance on how to make the most of every inch of your space.
The interior designers we spoke to offered several tips for making the most of your space, plus recommended some of their favorite pieces of furniture and accessories for opening up a smaller apartment or room. To ease the transition for new and returning city dwellers, we consulted interior design experts across the country about how to optimize small spaces.
Across the country, too, former suburban residents are cashing out on their homes and giving the metropolitan lifestyle a try. But by March 2021, New Yorkers had returned to the Big Apple in droves: According to Douglas Elliman’s March rental report, apartment contracts had ballooned by 89 percent from their March 2020 levels, and a recent report from CBRE shows that consumer spending in New York City has almost returned to pre-Covid levels after falling in March 2020. Over the course of 2020, the pandemic emptied New York City of a net 70,000 residents for more airy abodes and less densely populated towns, according to location-analytics company Unacast. With a bedroom sans closet and a kitchen without drawers, we had to quickly adjust to new constraints while prioritizing efficiency… and attempting not to break the bank.Īpparently, we're not the only ones retreating to small spaces. In March 2021, my partner and I moved from a one-bedroom Venice apartment to a cramped two-bedroom in Manhattan. After nearly three decades of airy residency in Southern California, I’m officially a New Yorker.