Tiny Home, Big Life: Expert Tips for Maximizing Small Spaces

In 2010, Colin Chee picked up the keys to his 37-square-meter off-the-plan apartment in Melbourne's city centre. "It was only then that I realised how shit it was." With no design experience and a limited budget, his quest for inspiration led to the birth of Never Too Small, a YouTube channel showcasing clever designs for small spaces, now with over 3 million subscribers.

A housing crisis and surge in apartment building mean more people are searching for ways to make the most of small-scale abodes. Three experts share their experiences of designing their own diminutive domiciles.

Formulate Your Furnishings

When moving into a new space, the first instinct is to settle in quickly. But Chee cautions against hasty fit-outs in smaller spaces. He urges people to move in with whatever fits, then take time to live in a space before finding solutions. "People think a home needs to be finished instantly," Chee says. "But what I try to convey is that homes will never be perfect."

Small spaces take more time to understand, and we should regard our living spaces like a flatmate—with pros and cons, good days and bad.

To keep costs down, Chee furnished his apartment with a mix of second-hand items and budget customisations. In the kitchen, he placed a bar fridge and a separate small freezer to avoid bulk. He installed a DIY entryway shelf months after moving in, once clear on its purposes. He looked for "skinny legs" when sourcing furniture, which maximises visible floor space, giving an illusion of spaciousness. Instead of a coffee table, "maybe you just need a stool for your drink" that can double as a step ladder.

Tahj Rosmarin installed a piece of multifunctional custom joinery along the main wall of his living space. Measuring six metres long, it serves as storage, bench seating, shelving, and a TV cabinet—removing the need for any other furniture.

Don't Default to an Open Plan

Rosmarin says 1960s walk-ups have great external features but inside, the trend was to box everything off, making things feel pokey. "What we tried to do is connect the spaces a bit better while still keeping that sense of separation, because that is especially important for small homes—you don't want to feel like you're in just one big room."

Rather than demolish the wall between kitchen and living areas, the couple knocked through a cafeteria-style window, creating visual connection while hiding mess. Demolishing load-bearing walls is expensive, so "creating these tactical openings" also helps with the budget.

Claire Scorpo and her husband transformed a badly renovated bedsit. In the tiny bathroom, they retained the bath and divided the space in half using a fluted glass partition that diffuses light, breaking the room into separate dressing and bathing areas.

The most sanity-saving design choices keep rooms usable for different purposes by two people at the same time. "We get lured into the idea that open-plan living is the best kind of design for small spaces but often that one big space can only do one thing at once."

Make Use of Vertical Space

With just 23 square meters of floor space, Scorpo's first step was to downsize to a double bed. Rather than let it dominate, they created a "nook" to conceal it. As long as you don't have mobility issues, it makes sense to eliminate wasted bedside space, elevate the bed for storage (a washing machine, in their case), and climb in.

Chee says there are countless DIY "hacks" online that make bed elevation more affordable. With a $5,000 budget, he and his partner leaned into Ikea and Bunnings solutions that emulate custom options while being cheaper. They used an Ikea Elvarli modular shelving system with salvaged wood.

For apartments with standard ceiling heights, raising shelving and curtain rods as close as possible to the ceiling accentuates height. Painting ceilings with a glossy paint adds to the illusion too.