Making A Tiny Studio A Home

When Keenan and I unloaded the first of our boxes into our new, empty apartment back in February of this year, I think we were both had the same thought; “How are our lives going to fit into this tiny space together?”

After the initial excitement of being given a bond, signing all the paperwork and celebrating buying our first property together, the reality had just hit that we were in fact moving into a 65m2 room together and calling it an “apartment”.

My heart raced as a looked around the tiny space that was about to become my entire life; love nest, home, office, bedroom, kitchen. I think a little film of cold sweat covered my forehead, and it wasn’t due to the heavy lifting. We were nervous.

Fast forward eight months and it’s hard to believe we ever lived anywhere bigger. We’ve been living more than comfortably in the home where we’ve created a kitchen and breakfast area, dining area, office space, living room and bedroom. I just can’t believe how comfortable we seem to be already and in such a short amount of time. It’s a home, inside a room.

FIVE TIPS FOR DECORATING A TINY HOME

1. It can be hard decorating a studio space. Keep the colour palate neutral, with pops of a single colour throughout. This will help to keep the space from feeling too cluttered and the uniformity of the bright colour will pull the house together.
2. Scandinavian furniture is a good option for small spaces. Its slim design will help save space and it looks beautiful. Mr Price Home and Coricraft both have stunning ranges at the moment for really affordable prices. Check out the Stockholm range on Mr Price Home here. The Bergen Couch we have from Coricraft is available here.
3. Do it yourself. It can be hard to find affordable pieces that work for your small space, so make it yourself. We’ve spent countless hours and rands at Builders Warehouse and we’ve made a lot of the stuff around the house with help from our trusty handymen Clement and Tsepo from Cape Town Builders. Things like wall units, which can be pricey, hard to find and big, can be replaced with a few brackets and a couple of pieces of laminated pine.
4. Plants bring life, colour and decoration into the home and they make you feel so happy. We take ours outside for watering and a bit of air once a week and they repay us with endless beauty. Delicious monsters grow well inside and so do ferns.
5. Get rid of stuff. It can be hard but I promise you, once you’ve given it away you’ll never think about it ever again. I’ve gotten rid of more than 8 black bags full of clothes and shoes and we have given away loads of stuff we thought we needed, simply because we didn’t have space for it. And you know what, I can’t even remember what it was because I never even needed it in the first place.

Thanks to Alex du Toit, our friend and neighbour for the amazing photos of our home.

*Some (not nearly all) of the items in our home were sponsored as part of campaigns or trade exchanges. I estimate we’ve spent around R40 000 on small renovations, decor items, security upgrades and labour costs.

PS. Did you know that we are renting our apartment out over the festive season? Check out our Airbnb listing to book it.