Headed for condo life? Excited about your floor plan but not sure how you’ll fit your whole life into 600 square feet? Maybe you have a little bit more space than that but when you divide it by two people, you still have to be pretty careful.
Shawn from Richmond Hill, Ont., wrote in with just such a dilemma. He and his wife, Lori, are waiting for their new condo to be finished before moving everything into 713 square feet. They want to know what the best layout is for a full-length sofa, dining set for four, an entertainment centre and storage for Shawn’s collection of over 500 CDs!
It was a challenge Steven and Chris could not resist. They set about getting Shawn and Lori organized for good condo living. Their ideas for Shawn and Lori included four basic points to consider:
1. FLOW: If you want to figure out where to put furniture, first look at the floor plan. Take a marker and draw lines pretending you are running through the space. Watch for where the lines overlap — you’ll know that’s a high-traffic region and you don’t want to put furniture in that area.
2. FURNITURE LOCATION: Steven and Chris designed a plan for Shawn’s living room that incorporates a sofa, a dining area, an entertainment centre with storage and three moveable cubes instead of a coffee table as more storage for his CD collection. A large piece of artwork or a big mirror behind the sofa will also enhance the illusion of space.
3. WHAT FURNITURE ITEMS TO CHOOSE? Choose furniture with clean lines like items from EQ3. You’ll also like to choose pieces with dual purpose. For example, in the living/dining room of your condo: we suggested four matching chairs for the dining table. Keep two at the table and you have the option to seat the others at the table when you have people over for dinner or arranging them around the sofa. When they aren’t in use, you can keep them on either side of a television console.
4. PAINT: Colour is very important. You’ll want a uniform look throughout much of the apartment to make it look bigger. Use one shade for most of the apartment. If you want a splash of something different, use it in the bedroom or the bathroom only.
EXTRA TIP: Drawings are deceiving and spaces always looks bigger on paper. Try to wait to buy furniture until your home is constructed so you can be sure to have the right measurements for your unit before spending a lot of money.
Alex on 
