How To Buy Furniture For A Small Space Without Compromising on Style Or Class

Awesome furniture and a tiny apartment don't usually go together. And if bachelor houses conjure up images of a cheap plastic chair, a checkered uncovered mattress and footwear lopped on top of cardboard cartons in the living room, I don't blame you!

But to me, having great furniture in the house is 50% of what a great house should be all about. Rest is about decor, organisation, theme, etc.

When you live in a smaller house, each piece of furniture needs to thought through, every inch of your space needs to be measured, and the furniture visualised in the space before buying it. And that's when you get creative and stretch your imagination beyond just picking the "best piece" of furniture money can buy. You have to invest in furniture that doesn't only save space, but optimizes it, looks great, and make a small space come alive

Here's my top recommendations on how to pick and buy stylish and space-efficient furniture inspired from my own pieces that have aided in my small house makeover.

1) Use a sleek and slim sofa for the entire length of the wall

This sofa seats 3 adults or 5 kids (though that's never been tested), and has sharp, straight arm rests and a 3 inch elevation off the ground. It almost wastes no space with its bulk or unnecessary trims or patterns. What's more? It opens out into a queen-sized bed when needed with just a push from behind. Its no-nonsense aesthetic, and a melange grey allows me to play around with colors in the surroundings. I must say this Sofa from Urban Ladder was the best, if the most expensive, furniture buy i've made in the house.

2) Get big on vertical storage rather than horizontal

Meant as a birthday gift for a friend who drinks (a lot), this piece ended up being mine! Originally positioned as a bookshelf on the site I bought it from, I have repurposed it as a bar shelf. It's just around 1.5 feet wide and 7 feet tall which means it uses the vertical, and not horizontal space - a must for a small space. It displays all my glassware in the glass-window section, and hides all the alco-bev bottles (and random pieces of crockery) in its closed cabinets.

4) Use sleek mid-century chairs

I love any furniture that has diagonal legs. The famous Eames replica chairs are all the rage right now, but I got these way before this familiar tripod-leg was even a thing. These cushioned faux-leather chairs are super modern, comfortable, and add oodles of style to the house without looking bulky or requiring too much floor space.

5) Get a high-low study table that lines along the wall

For health reasons I like to work while standing every now and then, but instead of investing in a bulky hydraulic standing desk, I got this high-low table instead! I love how it's a normal study table, a storage shelf and a standing desk all rolled into one! This desk again has straight edges, no frills, and its black steel framing just needs so much character to my room.

6) Use sleek bar stools for utility

Originally meant to facilitate eating on the bed (that a house mate used to do quite often much to my chagrin), these stools have become a space-adding saviour. Their legs slide under the sofa and their just big-enough table tops let me work or eat while sprawled in from of the TV on the sofa. The other table in the set serves as a table to keep my dishes tub and the trash bins underneath.

7) Get taller, cubical and open furniture that doesn't waste space on uncesssary doors

Chancing randomly on this on a second-hand goods group on Facebook, this 3-tier storage rack is just what the doctor ordered for my small kitchen. I needed something that could hold onions and potatoes in the open, but without using those tacky plastic baskets in horrendous colours. This 2*2' storage rack has two slide-out baskets that are great for those potatoes and onions, and the best part has to be its tiled top which acts as an extension of my kitchen platform. Under is a small drawer that stores and hides away random kitchen knack-knack such as dish-scrubs, wipes and more.

8) Get a statement piece to tie all the sleeker furniture together

I know this chair goes against the advice of going for smaller and sleek furniture, but you don't want your house to end up looking like an IKEA catalogue. So to balance the simple, minimalistic furniture, have a statement piece or two like this wing chair. Notice even though it's large, it's sleek with a taller back so it doesn't actually eat up a lot of space. Not only is this chair exquisite to look at it with its tall back, sleek armrests and beautiful Ikat fabric, but it's the most comfortable seat in the house too. If there's a party in my house, grabbing a spot on this chair is considered seating privilege. :)

9) Get a lot of tall corner shelving units

Repeat with me. When you live in a small house, LEVERAGE those corners. Every room has 4. Make sure you have at least one piece of corner-furniture in one. I have 4!

But this is the one that I like the most. Its top is just one foot wide! It takes hardly 2 feet of space in the corner, but stores books, lamps, planters and hides a bunch-up of TV and cable wires all while framing the wall perfectly.

Buy it here: Engineered Wood shelf in wenge finish

10) Repurpose planter shelves for kitchen appliances

The latest entrant in my furniture family, this is a "Hegg rack" that I bought from Ikea Hyderabad. This thing was on a sale and you'd be surprised if I tell you how much it actually cost!!! But it was worth every penny of the grand SIX HUNDRED rupees i bought it for. It's the perfect grey neighbour to the white bar cabinet, and its tapering shape holds the toaster, the sandwich maker, and the mixer-grinder in each of its racks, according to the width and height required. Somehow lugging it all the way across cities and spending a good couple of hours on assembling it feel worth every bit of the effort for what it gave back.

Let me know in the comments about which furniture you liked the best, and if you have any questions re: how to optimize a small space with the right furniture or ideas on furniture to buy.