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My first apartment
The new term will begin soon and after searching for an apartment, it’ll be time to move! Either solo in a studio or with roommates, we can be left feeling powerless in the face of a downsized or shared space where everything needs to find a place and where all home essential need to fit. Feeling constrained by adaptability? What if you look at it as a solution?
The sofa
In both a large and small spaces the sofa is the cornerstone of the living room, and when that’s the only room you have … ah well, it’s the same thing! Except that in a studio, it’s often also a bedroom and an office. To choose a sofa bed, two criteria are the most important – comfort for sleeping, and the simplicity of the fold-out mechanism.
Among the different levels of comfort on offer, choose one that’s suitable for everyday use with a sufficiently thick mattress and a base that guarantees a good night’s sleep (even if it’s a short one).
Likewise, there’s nothing worse than leaving the bed open because you need to wrestle with a mechanism that’s too complicated. There are many different systems, from a simple banquette whose backrest tilts to become a double bed, to a fold-out bed that can be transformed in the blink of an eye – don’t hesitate to test them in-store to find the most convenient one.
Feeling constrained by adaptability? What if you look at it as a solution?
Sofa bed Carl
Entertaining
To serve dinner for one or for many, choose a lightweight and “modular” coffee table because things often need to be moved around in a small space. Missing some storage space? Opt for a “storage” model. Restricted by your space but you love to entertain? Choose little nesting tables or even several small tables of the same height that you can arrange around the room and adapt to the available space and the number of guests.
To seat everyone comfortably and at table height, the ideal option is still an ottoman or a low stool, just like in Japan, that can also serve as a bedside table or a console table on which to display a vase or some books.
Blyth, table d'appoint en bambou
Storage
If you don’t have a built-in wardrobe, you’ll appreciate the flexibility of a clothes rack - it can become a real dressing room with some carefully chosen suspended modules (shoe racks, drawers, covers…). Choosing a model with casters makes it easier to move around and it can even be covered with a slipcover or a beautiful fabric to make a mobile office partition to separate your spaces – great when entertaining.
Books and papers find their place in modular storage solutions fixed to the wall. Some very practical solutions are on the market which are both aesthetic and adaptable to all spaces, but do it yourself enthusiasts can try their hand at creating shelving solutions by stacking together cubes or boxes – preferably of different sizes for a more dynamic look.
Study
It’s possible to study your subjects between the sofa and the coffee table, but it’s also essential to have a real working environment with a computer at eye-height and notes within arms reach. There are many solutions for small spaces such as the secretary table, a great classic that’s always being revisited, and that can also be fixed to the wall in order to maximise floor space. But there are also smart offices featuring extendable shelves and integrated storage. The most transformable option remains the traditional trestle with table tops of various sizes for every need that take up very little room if space is a commodity.
Table ton Lagon and trestle Nic
Light and decorate
In the design world, vases are everywhere this season and the good news is that they’re present in all their forms, all their colours and all their sizes. It’s a great, low-cost way to bring some colour and interest to a beautiful interior. Strategically placed lightweight lamps can also sculpt a space using light to give an overall impression of openness instead of the “heaviness” that can result with just an overhead light. A little standard lamp, several table lamps, some candles and it’s done!
Lightness, modularity, versatility, functionality and aesthetics – what if your first apartment was also your first dip into the world of design?
Skil, desk
