As modernisation takes over, living spaces are compromised to make way for additional amenities and facilities. And a smaller living space means smaller living rooms. However, every living room requires a desk because they are so multi-functional. With living rooms being so small, how can one even fathom the thought of squeezing a desk into the mix? How do I make sure that I have enough moving space such that it does not feel like it’s all cramped up and yet, find the ideal spot to place the desk? Here is where we answer your questions with eight helpful strategies to ensure that the desk is placed right in that sweet spot.
Dress Things Up
For those of you with a smaller apartment of size about 650-square-foot, this is a tip for you to ensure that you can fit in all the essentials and not compromise on any comfort. Instead of trying to squeeze all the furniture into one area, what you can do is to lay the desk beside the sofa in a neat row. This ensures that there will still be sufficient leg space for breathability when you are on the sofa. With this strategy, you will have a win-win situation whereby there will be a desk to support all your needs and documents and also have a break time zone as demarcated by the sofa!
Think Clearly
If however, your room follows an open-layout, the above strategy may not be feasible for you. Fear not, as this strategy will be the one that saves the day. Unlike the previous one, this is for those who do not have sufficient wall space to do the neat row trick. Normally in these situations, the sofa would be in the middle of the room. When that happens, this means to say that there are spaces to manipulate left, right, front and back. The back of the sofa, then, is where you can plan to place your desk. This sleek design helps to separate the work and play station as well!
Mix and Match
Back to rooms with perfect angles at each corner, and straight walls. The best part about a room is that it is supposed to consist of things that you love. You don’t have to set your mind on a standardized decor by buying a whole set. You can buy equally as valuable and aesthetic furniture at places like garage sales and the such. What you would want to do is then to place the objects along the walls so that it helps to frame the room rather than overwhelm it with clustering!
Go Vertical
Now, what we have been covering so far is how to best utilize space horizontally. This is for those rooms who really face problems with having sufficient space after adding in a couch and a desk. Make use of the vertical space. Now, there are easily many available shelves that can best optimize vertical spaces. This not only gives you additional space but also maintains the aesthetics of the room, even if your room is only 500-square-foot big. Furthermore, with spaces going up, it becomes easily manipulatable as to how much space you would actually want or need!
Complement the Surround
Everyone wants their house to look spacious even though it may not be the case. One of the ways to achieve this would be to better utilize the wall spaces. When the furniture is moved to the wall and confined there, it makes the room seem as if it is more spacious. This is because there will be additional walking spaces when measured from the middle which gives it this illusion that there is a lot of space for other activities and also gives it a sterile and ventilated vibe because everything is more neatly placed. If you think it’s not possible, this was achieved in a 200-square-foot studio!
Bring in the Greens
The trick here is to use white furniture so that not only will it blend in white the white backdrop making the furniture seem smaller than it actually is, the green plants will act as a perfect accent to them. Green plants also have a calming effect that transforms the atmosphere of your workspace into one of a zen garden. The calming of the nerves also naturally brings out a more peaceful mentality and this makes the room less cluttered. This gives rise to a minimalist setting that also provides a refreshing input with the plants!
Connect Two Zones
This is for those out there with open-format apartments whereby the distinction between the living room and kitchen is close to nought. This also means to say that walls are shared between the two areas that experience no segregation. So, here we can join up the two areas by placing a desk against the wall that connects the two areas. Furthermore, if the desk is thin and has additional vertical storage spaces, you not only get to have more space for storage but less obstruction for walking as well!
Make it Double-Duty
In some apartments, it is inevitable that there is little foot space to work with and oftentimes, little can be done to mitigate the situation. So, what you can do is to look at the positives and make use of the spaces in ways that have never been thought of before. While there’s little choice, in smaller studio apartments, it is challenging to incorporate a desk of a larger size. As such, a cozy nice circular desk will actually play out very well in this setting. It can be complemented by a mounted desk light as well. This makes it a good dining area and efficient workspace. The mounted desk light will ensure that one stays focused in the midst of completing late-night work!
In conclusion, we cannot change the amount of space that we have in total. However, we can think of various strategies to manipulate the space, with things like thinner desks, vertical spaces and many more!