Your Home is Your Palace: Elegant and chic ideas to decorate a small apartment

They don\’t get much tinier than Britain\’s smallest million-pound house, which has just gone onto the market.

The Mayfair property is a studio flat the size of a hotel bathroom. With room for only a joint living and sleeping area along with a small kitchenette and shower room, the apartment may be small, but its interiors are perfectly formed.

So, just how do you make the most of the smallest of spaces? Here are just a few ideas that have been used to good effect in the pint-sized pied-a-terre in London\’s most exclusive enclave…

1. Use clever storage

When you have a small space, it\’s important not to waste any of it. Take your storage right to the ceiling and look for furniture that is multi-purpose. You don\’t have to be stuck with dolls\’ house furniture just because you don\’t have much room. Instead, choose pieces which have more than one function, like the coffee table which has shelves underneath for your books and magazines or the stools which open up to reveal storage space.

2. Hang it up

You don\’t need to stand everything on pieces of furniture. Instead, mount it to the wall and you\’ll find you have a lot more floor space. Rather than use bedside tables for your lamps, mount them on the wall above your bed. Hang up your television instead of putting a cabinet in the corner and use fold-down furniture such as tables and desks that you can stow away when not in use.

3. Slide it away

Doors which open outwards can take away valuable space, meaning you can\’t place anything on the wall next to them. You could choose to get rid of them completely in some cases or instead use sliding doors which are hidden away when you want to open out your room.

4. Give each area a purpose

Carefully define each area so it\’s obvious each one has its own purpose. Put coat and shoe racks by your door to create an entrance hall, place a big rug in your living area and put a room divider with shelves between it and your dining area, for example.

5. Get rid of dead space

You may think you\’re already using all your available space, but look again and you\’ll find there are spots you could make more of. You could put a big basket on top of your fridge to store your tins and packets or install shelving above your doorways. Or you could turn a windowsill into a seating area or install a corner unit.

6. Choose a pale palette

It\’s true that darker colour schemes can make a space feel closed off. So, if you want to add some colour, you could choose a neutral background, adding a splash of vibrancy with your accessories. The Mayfair apartment has white walls and has kept to a grey, white and black colour palette for the rest of its furnishings, adding a splash of turquoise on the large welsh dresser which provides storage.

7. Don\’t be square

Smaller apartments can feel box-like. But you can add curves by choosing the right furniture and accessories, just like the mini apartment in Mayfair where curved retro furniture adds interest and shape. Opt for a large round mirror above your mantelpiece and choose soft furnishings with circular patterns.

8. Light it up

Any good interior designer will tell you that lighting should never be an afterthought and this is especially true of small apartments where lighting can add depth and definition. Light up recesses to highlight all the space you do have and hang a rounded chandelier over your dining table to add curves and define your eating area.

9. Lose the legs

Any furniture with legs will automatically make your space feel smaller. In tiny apartments, floating furniture is best, so opt for a floating sink and toilet for your bathroom and a pedestal table for your dining area. In your kitchen, leave the pelmets off your units so you can see underneath them.

10. And so to bed

One of the things small apartment dwellers can miss is having a separate bedroom, meaning it\’s hard to switch off and go to sleep at bedtime. But you could solve this by hanging up a pull-down screen from the ceiling above the foot of the bed, or putting up a canopy that you can close to create a cosy cocoon.

They\’re just a few of the ways you can get the most out of your living space, no matter what size it is.