Not Sure About Your New Apartment? Open Things Up With These Tricks

Welcome to your new home at the Cottages of Fort Collins! The goal of our construction was to create spacious, beautiful alternatives to traditional on-campus living situations. That said, as big as our apartments might be compared to dorm rooms, you might still feel them small to what you are used to. The good news is that there are some pretty easy and effective ways to make any small room feel larger than it actually is. Get started today with the following tips perfect for maximizing the space in your Cottages of Fort Collins student apartment:

6 Ways to Make Your Cottages of Fort Collins Apartment Look and Feel Bigger Than Ever

  • Mirror mirror on the wall. Mirrors are a tried and trued method of improving the depth and feel of any room. This is because mirrors reflect light and reflect other parts of a room. This tricks the eye into perceiving that there is more space than actually is there. Hang or prop up mirrors on dark walls or walls opposite your windows to best reflect the natural light that comes in.
  • Add a large striped rug. Striped shirts often make people look taller, and striped rugs can have a very similar effect on your room. Before putting your furniture and boxes in your bedroom, consider heading down to the local big box store and grabbing a long striped rug. Pick colors that either match with your room’s aesthetic or that nicely contrast it. Adding such a rug to the floor of your room will help give it a longer appearance. Floor rugs also nicely unify spaces and give the whole of a space a cozier, more welcoming feel.
  • Keep furniture small. With apartments and shared spaces, you want to avoid bringing in excessively large furnishings. Proportions are everything and scaling down is essential. To keep a room open and feeling larger, you need to keep a good amount of space between each piece of furniture. So instead of a large couch, opt for a loveseat and matching chair. Instead of bringing in the queen-sized bed, consider if a twin or full won’t suffice. Leave the oversized armoire at home and instead utilize your closets and pair them with a small but effective dresser.
  • Keep things low to the ground. Another thing to keep in mind when buy furniture for your new home is to go low. Furniture that is lower to the ground makes a room feel and appear larger than it is as there is more space left above it. Yes, it really is that simple! For ideas on this, research mid-century and 19th-century furniture and styling as this was when low profiled furniture was really in style. At the same time, while you do want to keep things low, you also want to show a little bit of leg. Short sofas on short wooden legs are ideal for apartments.
  • Add lamps and keep the overhead light off. Sure, overhead lights can provide a lot of illumination all at once. But, is that really a good look for space? Too bright of a solitary overhead light can make a room feel like a cramped office space. Instead, consider experimenting with multiple lamps and lighting sources interspersed throughout a room. Use them to contrast the natural light that comes in through your windows. Speaking of which, avoid using any heavy drapes or materials that might otherwise block out the natural light. A room with a fair amount of sunlight will feel more open than one without.
  • Make decluttering a habit. While the aforementioned tips are about setting up your room so that it looks as spacious as possible, this one is more about long-term work. Once you have everything situated and looking great, it’s time to live in your place. And living is messy. Student living tends to be very messy. There are the school projects and books and papers that tend to collect atop tables and desks. Then you have the projects you’re working on for sororities or student groups or just because you want to do something different. In any case, chances are by the time the end of your first month in the apartment rolls around, you’ll find your room full of items that weren’t there at the start. Decluttering all of that excess pile-up can be stressful and easy to procrastinate. But don’t! Make decluttering easy by setting aside one day every month to clearing out your room of the clutter that makes it feel small. Make it the same day every month and get into the routine now to encourage better long-term decluttering habits.

Questions About Move-in Day? Contact Our Team

If you have any questions or concerns about moving things into your Cottages of Fort Collins apartment, don’t forget our team is here! Contact our front staff and let us help ensure your move-in goes easy and efficiently.