Tips for Apartment Furniture

How wonderful the feeling of luxury, comfort and the undemanding, low-maintenance allure of contemporary Apartment living.

Luxury apartments offer a new perspective on life in the 21^st century. With a refreshing outlook on how we value our time, no longer are we chained to the commitment of mowing the lawn or cleaning the gutters. When choosing apartment living, we get to take a step back and dissolve these worries.

So the question is then, when transitioning from larger spaces, how do we translate that to apartment footprints? Here we explore elements to look for when choosing furniture to perfectly suit and enhance any apartment space.

When choosing a statement dining table for your apartment space, pay close attention to the table legs. Table designs with slim-line legs and bases help make a space feel less cluttered. They are graceful in appearance without the heavy/chunky appearance of thicker legs and bases.

You will also want to pay attention to the style of the tabletop. Look for designs with a chamfer or bevel to the underside of the tabletop edges. This helps the table top appear ‘thinner’ and ‘lighter’ in the space.

Equally another unique option is to seek out a table design with a shadow-line detail. A shadow-line is a recess between the table frame and tabletop and aids the illusion of a ‘floating’ tabletop. It will appear to ‘hover’ on the frame and be less cumbersome and heavy-looking in apartment spaces.

Dining chairs with an open back are an excellent option for apartment living. By this we mean there is ‘see-through’ space in between the backrest and seat and not one solid bulky back. Tall bulky chair backs don’t equate to extra comfort, (read our guide to comfy dining chairs here for more details on this), and can make a room look smaller and more congested.

Being able to see through a dining chair opens up a room allowing natural light to filter through without being blocked. It retains an airiness to a dining set and these subtle visual cues add up to make a big impact.

It goes without saying the key is to make any apartment feel as spacious as possible. A great way to achieve this with sofas is to choose a style that is elevated off the floor. Sofas that go all the way to the floor are bulkier and make a living room feel smaller. Choose a sofa with legs that allows you to see the floor underneath, helps light flow through the space, and makes the sofa look much smaller than it really is. It will appear elegant and slim-lime with the added bonus of being easy to vacuum underneath.

Take into consideration what the back of the sofa design looks like. With many luxury apartments adopting an open-plan layout, what your sofa looks like from a 360-degree perspective is also important. It will be seen from all angles and sometimes the design of the back can be overlooked until it’s too late.

Coffee and side tables suited to apartment living follow the same ethos as dining tables. Open, see-through legs are a must with slim-line leg profiles. No chunky pedestal bases or legs here. Keep the style minimalist so it doesn’t overpower other hero pieces in the room and if the tabletop design has the allure of ‘floating’ or ‘hovering’ in the space even better.

Consider a coffee table and side table design that nest together. This will avoid the need for side tables on either side of the sofa taking up precious space, while still providing flexibility to move the nested side table to suit your needs each day.

Consoles are versatile pieces for any home but especially apartments. When a bookcase or sideboard is too cumbersome for an apartment layout, we encourage you to lean into consoles as a strong alternate. A perfect solution to fill awkward study nooks and a great accompaniment for lackluster blank walls. The vital principle is to choose a minimalist design with a small footprint to support the hero pieces in the room without competition for attention.

It is a well-known element that mirrors help a space look larger. Even mirrors small in scale and size can have a substantial impact on a room. Natural light bounces gracefully reflecting off a mirror and the illusion of more space is a notable advantage in apartments. If wall space is limited, we encourage you to unify art with the practicalities of a mirror. There are many stunning mirrors that are works of sculpture today.  Selecting a piece that is beautiful to look at can be as rewarding as hanging a piece of art on your wall.

For those who prefer not to see their reflections, a handy tip is to mount the mirror just above eye level out of your view. You get all the benefits a mirror brings to a space without a surprise reflection staring back at you.

Combining these subtle elements really does add up to have a big impact on the look and feel of an apartment.

We appreciate the nuance of each space is as individual as a fingerprint. When you’d like to chat through the specifics of your unique apartment, we’re here to help. You are welcome to visit us in one of our flagship studio showrooms or touch base via phone or email with any queries.

Flagship Melbourne studio showroom

259 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria 3121

Flagship Adelaide studio showroom

442 Pulteney Street, Adelaide, South Australia 5000