Choosing the right furniture for your apartment will make it more functional and spacious.

Here are some tips for making even the smallest of rooms look larger.

•  You may love that overstuffed chair or sofa, but larger furniture can make a room feel small. Instead choose smaller, multi-purpose furniture.  For example a stream lined couch and nestled end tables can give a living room an open, airy feeling and the nestled tables can be pulled out when guests arrive and you need more table top space.  A coffee table with hinges that raise can be used as a dining room or a desk.  An expandable dining set that folds down for maximum space and up when you need to seat more is a perfect solution.  A dresser drawer can be re-purposed as a bar, remove the top drawer and use this space to store bar accessories, add a basket to hide napkins and smaller tools.
• Select materials that add the feel of space, such as glass, Lucite or acrylic. These materials visually disappear adding the appearance of more space.
• Choose chairs and sofas with legs to make the room feel more spacious.  Not only are exposed sofa legs more contemporary, they help make smaller floor spaces appear larger.
• Arrange the furniture away from the walls to give a more open feel.
• Choose colors that are neutral such as white, beige, tan or gray. If you want color choose something light like light blue, light yellow or light green; these colors are soothing and will make the room feel bigger.