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Design Dilemma
raniedhillon

How to maximise space in a small apartment?

Ranie
6 years ago

I live in Singapore , where space is a constraint and majority of the people like myself live in small apartments.

How does one plan and maximise the space inside so a family can live comfortably and yet have enough storage space?

Storage seems to be a perpetual problem in Singapore apartment homes.

Please advice.

Featured Answer
  • Andrew Baisley
    6 years ago

    I'm not a pro (and I hope a real designer answers your question), but here's how my family does it in Singapore:

    1. Get rid of things.
    Don't fall prey to sunk cost fallacies. Just because you bought a piece of furniture or a bunch of clothing or books or toys or whatever, doesn't mean you need to keep them if they are no longer working for you. You can sell stuff on Carousell or donate them to needy people. Sometimes not having those things will provide more value, by freeing up space, than the false belief that you need to keep things around because you paid for them.

    2. Everything should be multi-function.
    Especially here in Singapore, everything should have multiple uses. Your bed can lift up to provide storage. Your book shelf can also be your entertainment stand. Your coffee table can double as a breakfast nook or homework table. No tool in your kitchen should be a one-job tool (for example, if you have a blender, a food processor, a spice grinder, an immersion blender, a coffee grinder and a mortar and pestle - maybe it's time to clean out the kitchen cabinets).

    3. Rotate toys
    We have a baby at home and try really hard not to accumulate too many toys. To do that we have two toy bins. Every two weeks we switch the bin that's in rotation, so every two weeks our baby gets "new" toys that he hasn't seen for a few weeks. That allows us to keep the total number of toys to a minimum and he seems to be pretty happy (and hasn't caught on to this trick yet).

    Hope that helps some. Google around for "small apartment" blogs and ideas - there is a ton out there.



    Andrew

    Comments (6)

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