In a prosperous economy, people like to live large. Everything seems to take on larger proportions - just look at how big utility vehicles and televisions have gotten lately. Homes and furnishings have grown as well. But the new scale doesn't work well with your small apartment space. What can you do?

The National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of REALTORS have both noted the increasing demand for larger homes, which have added as much as two rooms and 700 feet over the last 20 years for the average new home. As homes are sprawling, furniture is being proportionately scaled to complement these new large spaces. Some retailers are even making a specialty of carrying furnishings sized to scale for the magnificent homes that are being built today.

That is all well and good, but you've just moved to a tiny apartment. And the last time you went furniture shopping, you couldn't find a sofa that would even fit through the front door. What's out there for you?

Until the trend turns around to smaller furnishings, the best idea is to play to the strengths of your apartment and its size.

1. Choose a decorating scheme that complements your home, one that you can afford and that you can develop as you go along. New ideas in decor seem to be nostalgic in nature, heralding back to other eras, from the Victorian period to the Gilded Age/Progressive Era and the Shaker period. The popularity of the movie, Titanic, has brought attention to the opulence and beauty of the era. The Boomers turning fifty have spearheaded an interest in furnishings from the fifties, which have spare clean lines and a Jetson-age utilitarianism. These styles are a plus for you because furniture from these periods are typically smaller in scale and often easily available at good prices from flea markets, antique malls, re-sale shops, garage sales and estate sales.

2. Eliminate furniture except for the essentials - you need a place to sit, to eat, and to sleep. In a small apartment, anything else will be gravy, especially fitting room to entertain friends or to accommodate a roommate. Take care of the basics first.

3. Draw your home to scale, marking the locations of power outlets, phone lines, windows, doors, fireplaces, and bar areas. Before making a major purchase such as a bed or a sofa, ask to measure the piece and cut out a little paper duplicate to place in your drawing. If it overwhelms the drawing, the real thing will overwhelm the room. Be sure to leave room for other pieces that you may want to add later, such as nightstands, end tables, plant stands, etc.

4. Scale down where you can. If you don't have room for a table for four, buy a cafe table instead. You can seat four friends at a 42- inch round table, instead of a 48-inch tabletop - you'll just have to leave off the salad and butter plates. Instead of buying the couch, purchase the love seat. Buy furniture that serves two purposes. Can the dining table also serve as a workstation? Can the bed be folded into the wall or into a sofa? Can you play chess on the end table?

5. What is left must bear scrutiny. When you have pared a room down to its essential elements, whatever is left must be able to withstand the spotlight. A small antique table with an interesting shape and polished patina can take on new importance. A color backdrop on a wall or a piece of fabric used as a throw can draw the eye where you want it to go. If in doubt, throw it out. From a minimalist background, the wrong choice will blare at you like a fog horn.

6. Look at spaces in a new way. Look at every nook and cranny. Is there room for a desk under that dormer window or in that corner by the stairs? Can that sloping ceiling accommodate at bookcase underneath? Go for untraditional arrangements if they will work better in your space. You don't have to have an end table at each end of the couch, and an ottoman can easily serve as a coffee table with a tray placed on top.

7. If small isn't for you, then less may be more. You can add drama to a room by having large-scale furniture, but fewer pieces. One large sofa can offer as much comfort as a bed and a sprawling coffee table (or steamer trunk) in front can offer more table-top storage for books, magazines, drinks, and appetizers than several smaller scaled down end tables and occasional tables would.

8. Keep clutter to a miniumum. The more room you have to move around the more spacious your apartment will feel. If you don't have enough storage, use walls and the backs of doors to hang hats, scarves, and throws. Decorative hooks are an apartment dweller's best friend and can be used to hang pots and pans. Shelves can really maximize space and add to the ambiance of your apartment.

Published: February 22, 1999

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.