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12 Design Ideas for Modern Apartment

Easy to follow décor tips for modern apartments.

Updated on

September 16, 2023

A modern apartment is usually designed to offer high comfort for residents seeking to live in a contemporary and elegant setting.

However, most apartments are fairly small – which makes them appear cluttered. Luckily, many apartment interior design concepts can make your space appear bigger.

These include clever use of color, open plan designs, and minimalism, among other modern apartment decorations that give small spaces the appearance of airiness.

Here are 12 decorating ideas for a modern apartment.

1. White interiors

An all-white apartment is a designer’s trick to make the space feel more open and bigger.

However, since all white is not for everyone, you can pair white with natural colors in the furniture to make your apartment feel bigger without losing the warmth of earthly shades.

2. Open plan

An open plan design is a form of style that embraces the erection of as fewest number of walls as possible. Opening up your living space and configuring the walls and rooms in your apartment can help create the illusion of a bigger space.

The open kitchen is almost the standard for modern apartment design.

Instead of having walls around the kitchen, designers of modern apartments often merge the kitchen with the living room to make a small apartment appear larger.

3. Open shelving

Instead of hiding your finest dinnerware behind old-fashioned cabinet doors, you can do away with the cupboards and settle for open shelving on upper cabinets.

Open shelving helps to transform your space by making it feel bigger while giving the appearance of additional height.

Open shelves also give the kitchen the much-needed airy feeling.

4. Kitchen island seating

A modern apartment with an open kitchen is most likely to have a kitchen island – a piece of furniture with a worktop on which food can be served – in the middle of the room.

By placing some seats around the kitchen island, a homeowner can create more sitting space for family and friends. This helps to create a defined space in an open-concept home.

5. Texture

Texture is a key feature of apartment interior design. When used creatively, texture can help create the illusion of space while bringing a unique and modern look to an apartment.

As part of modern apartment decorations, designers use texture in the form of tactile objects such as stone, wood, and fabrics to add physical comfort and visual appeal to a space.

6. White-on-white kitchen

White on-white kitchen is a popular interior design concept for modern apartments. As stated earlier, white color is used by designers to make a space feel more open and bigger.

However, since all-white is not for everyone, you may want to match the white walls with earth-colored cabinets, countertops, and appliances.

7. Dark finishes

Rather than having all-white finishes, an interior designer can make a modern apartment more attractive by using dark finishes and black materials.

Dark decorating schemes make a room feel comfortable and more inviting while hiding all imperfections – from irregularities to sticky fingerprints on the walls.

8. Minimize your décor

Less is more when it comes to apartment interior design.

Keeping your décor to the bare minimum not only makes your room functional but also gives the space a feeling of calmness and comfort.

For your bedroom, consider using simple linen sets as they make the room appear airy and more open. You can also accessorize the space with plants to make the room fresher.

9. Accent wall

A modern apartment can be improved by adding an accent wall.

This is an interior wall that looks different from the rest of the walls, either by having a different color, shade, design or material.

Accent walls create an illusion of space in a cramped area, especially when done in a deep hue, such as black. A dark-colored wall, for example, creates a visual depth in a room.

10. Wall niches

A wall niche is a decorative recess set into a wall to display a flower vase, statue, or any other decorative object.

It is a relief from a dull wall and provides a space to place beautiful items.

11. Create visual height

A white shade pendant light that does not visually clutter the room can be fitted in a room with a low ceiling to create an illusion of height.

Adding some visual height draws the eye up to make a space feel bigger. Besides, pendant light blends into the ceiling thereby making the room feel airy from the ceiling to the floor.

12. Reflect with mirrors

Mirrors play an important role in modern apartment decorations.

Indeed, mirrors are a designer’s trick to make a small space appear bigger. Large mirrors make the space appear larger by bouncing natural light across the room.

In small, dark rooms that do not enjoy much natural light, a designer can place a full-length floor mirror that spans the entire wall’s height to add visual space.