7 decorating lessons I learned from my first apartment

They always say that "talk is cheap" and that the hard part is getting your hands dirty. Although this is a rather harsh statement, it has its truth. I've been writing about decoration and architecture for 5 years and I've had contact with several renowned professionals in the field who have given me great tips – which I often share here with you. But when it was my turn, the first thought I had when I saw my apartment, with its flagstone floor and all-white walls, was "what now?". I have lived my entire life in rented accommodation and in my parents' house, and when I realized my " dream of owning my own apartment ", I wanted it to reflect my identity above all else. I wanted every friend or family member who came here to think "wow, this house is just like her". I can say that I achieved my goal, but to do so, I had to do my homework, and I took the opportunity to write this article to share some important lessons - which you can read below!

Floor choice

My apartment is 38 m² and has an integrated living room, dining room, kitchen and hallway . The bedroom and bathroom are more separate. Although there is a large window in the living room, which allows for natural light , I wanted the space to feel larger, so I opted for a light porcelain floor. To avoid making a mistake with the measurements, I spoke to the architect at the store where I bought the flooring and took the floor plan with me to avoid any mistakes. It is important to always ask for an extra 10% if you want a skirting board. It is important to try to be as accurate as possible when purchasing the flooring because the lot may change, and if you need to buy more, you may notice some differences - especially if, like mine, your floor has some "designs".

Custom furniture

Thinking about optimizing the space as much as possible , I decided to plan all the environments , so I could also choose colors and styles in the way that made the most sense to me. Since I bought the apartment off-plan , I designed the project while I was still waiting for the construction to be completed. This not only gave the designers a comfortable time frame to adapt the project calmly, but I was also able to pay gradually in a way that wouldn't weigh heavily on my pocket.

One wall kitchen

The American kitchen model has always been a dream of mine and I had some problems during the project to create the island – because the space is small and I didn't want to compromise circulation. To achieve this, I opted for an island that fulfills two roles : bringing more privacy to the kitchen and housing a cabinet that I use as a pantry.

Improvised bar

I love having friends over and I wanted to have a bar in the dining room to display drinks and make the space more welcoming . However, I couldn't find a model that I liked and the ones I liked were so big that they would get in the way of the passage. To keep the idea of this little corner alive, I asked the designer who made the rack to create a space for bottles in the furniture itself, like a real wine cellar . On the top of the furniture, I included fun pictures with a drink theme and also a tray that holds the prettiest bottles and glasses.

Sofa size

Finding the perfect sofa wasn't easy either. I wanted a model that was comfortable and no wider than 180 cm . The designer responsible for my project suggested this size to match the rack she was designing and not look disproportionate.

Perfect dining table

Since I didn't want to give up having a counter, I had little space to put the dining table. I needed a model that was up to 100 cm high , and I found the ideal model for me: a "pizza" table . These models are more practical because the chair is inside the table, so when it is not being used, it saves a lot of space. I also thought about adopting a German corner , which would also work really well.