Short on space? Design tips for small homes.

Make the most of the space in your home with a few handy tips to increase the look and feel of your home.

Living in an apartment can present some spatial challenges. Perhaps you’ve found yourself having to sell a bulky hobby item to accommodate a more practical item, like a vacuum cleaner? Bye, bye bass guitar!

Well, we’re happy to say that small apartment living no longer means avoiding entertaining friends and family at home, having difficulty accommodating guests and kissing your most cherished hobby goodbye. With a few key pieces of furniture and a tiny bit of installation, you can double – even triple – the functional area of your home. In other words, you can have your hobby and enjoy it too!

From the living room through to the bedroom, we asked the experts for some furniture swaps and space-saving hacks to ensure you get the most out of the space in your home. Ready to learn how to live large in a small space? Let’s go!

Conquer a compact living room

The living room is an area bursting with space-saving potential. With one very important piece of multi-functional furniture and a few smaller items, you’ve almost got yourself a spare bedroom! While the sofa bed is not a new invention, Plush’s 3-in-1 Dex Modular lounge certainly takes functional to a whole other level.

On first glance, this lounge is a simple but sleek piece of furniture, but underneath its modern façade are a number of hidden features. Crafted out of high-quality timber and foam, the design conceals both a storage chaise and sofa bed that make it an all-in-one solution for any overnight stays. 3-in-1 Dex Modular lounge, POA, Plush.

Compact cleaning

When cupboard storage is slim, cleaning equipment such as a mop and bucket and bulky vacuum cleaner can take up much-needed space. Thankfully, JB Hi-Fi stocks a 2-in-1 Vacuuming & Mopping Robot by Ecovacs, which is compact enough to live under the couch! Ecovacs DEEBOT OZMO 950 Robotic Vacuum, $999 from JB HiFi

Dinner for ten? Let’s dine in!

Entertaining in a small space is entirely possible with extendable furniture! Kiss the days of dining out goodbye and say hello to big gatherings around your very own dinner table.

On a normal day, the Belgrave extension table by Focus On Furniture seats six to eight people. On a special occasion (or just a Saturday night), this solid wormy chestnut table can be transformed into a ten-seater in just a few minutes. Belgrave extension table, $1,799 from Focus on Furniture.

Dream big in a little bedroom

Small apartments often mean small bedrooms but with a little consideration and a few handy tips, you can more than double your available storage space. Perhaps surprisingly, a bedroom can hold a whole lot more than any other room in the house thanks to beds featuring gas lift functionality.

Stow away your summer clothing, bed linen or books, but access them whenever you need with a quick and easy lift of the bed frame. The Paddington Bed Frame with gas lift storage by Snooze combines stylishness with versatility. Available in four different sizes in Oatmeal or Slate colour. Paddington Bed Frame (with gas lift storage base), $1,199 from Snooze.

A super simple solution

Floor space can be hard to come by in an apartment, so move what you can from the floor onto the walls. Thanks to IKEA’s chic SKUGGIS bamboo hooks, you can store anything from bags to clothing or baskets, stylishly on the wall! SKUGGIS from IKEA. $6.99