Compact Living 101

2021-12-07

Being a student often means living in a very compact space with limited storage. This often makes a room look messy since all your things end up a bit everywhere. This can easily be avoided with planning, smart solutions and creativity. In this post you find 4 tips on how to maximize your compact living.

1. Use unused space

The bed is the number one furniture to take up the most space in your room. It is possible to make use of the space under the bed, by either investing in higher bed legs and storage boxes that fit under the bed. Here you can store clothes, bedclothes or towels. Another smart, but more complex, option is to build a bed frame from a couple of drawers. The height in a room is often unused space that can be good to utilize, for instance use high bookshelves, wall shelves or maybe build a loft bed.

2. Light and colour

Which colours and how much light you incorporate into your space can make a major difference in how the room is perceived. Light colours and the right lights make the room perceive larger than it really is.

3. Curtains, carpet and mirrors

How you decide to furnish and decorate your room can also make an impact on how the room is perceived. If you have curtains a good idea is to hang them as high up as possible, preferably from the roof. A big light carpet can do wonders for your space, it creates an illusion of bigger floor space. Another smart tip is to set up mirrors close to your windows, they create a feeling of depth and reflect natural and artificial light and make the room brighter and feel bigger.

4. Smart organization

There are a lot of smart storage solutions that can be worth investing in. By overlooking and maximizing your organization can make a big difference for your space. You can make your storage more compact with smart and stackable solutions. To ease your organization it can be a good idea to clear out the things you do not use and make space for all your important things.

Hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to maximize your compact living space. Take your time to plan and find the smartest solutions for your personal space and then do the make-over and feel the difference.

Winners

What They Say

Manish Sonal, India

Winner of KTH Masters Challenge 2015 – Full Scholarship and living costs paid for at KTH

“I was always reluctant in applying to foreign Universities due to my financial constraints. Today I am pursuing my Master’s in a subject which I love and feel more confident about my future.”

Saravanan Yuvaraja, India

Winner of GE Light the way Challenge

“GE Light the Way Concepts for the future of Office Lighting Innovation Challenge Competition was one of my best life time experiences. This challenge had given me a chance to know exactly, what the organization is looking from the innovative student community for creating smart and sustainable world in the future.”

Arlisa Febriani, Indonesia

Winner of the Blue Bag Competition 2015 – Full Scholarship and living costs paid for at Lund University

Arlisa’s story is very unique and proof that given the right opportunity, the greatest ideas will succeed. By developing a revolutionary water cleansing system, she proved that anything is possible. This is great news for her, the people of Jakarta, and quite possibly the rest of the world who live in places with little or no access to clean water!

Avon Haughton, USA

Winner of The New School Competition 2014 – Scholarship at The New School in New York

“Winning the competition has been one of my greatest achievements thus far and participating was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I can’t wait to go to The New School!”