Boho Small Space Living Update

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It’s been a hot minute since I lived in an apartment, but when I did it was a big mix of furniture brought together by 3 roommates and myself. GO TIGERS!  My old college roommate and dear friend Hannah and her fiancé are small space living in downtown Nashville, TN post college. Which means, lots of apartment bachelor furniture meshed together and calls for a stylish upgrade with furniture meant for small space living from homedepot.com/decor. Let’s give this living room a rental friendly upgrade, y’all!

Nashville Small Space Living Update – Before

Let me start by saying, there is nothing wrong with this space! However, my sweet friend Hannah has always dreamed of having a Boho Living Room and I wanted to bring those dreams to life. Living in an apartment calls for furniture that’s meant for small space living, here’s where I get to combine small space living and boho goodness!

My overall design for this small living space was to optimize the space without adding unnecessary furniture and making it feel bigger without any paint or remodeling. Let’s make this small living space a boho dream!

Boho Small Space Living Room Reveal

Welcome to the beautiful boho living room oasis full of small space living furniture and allll the plants!

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone who is small space living, functional decor that goes hand in hand with storage solutions and multi-purpose pieces. I liked the layout that she already had in the space, so I wanted to make it work for us a bit better! First things first, we removed all the furniture and the photos off the wall for a clean slate. 

With the living room serving as a dining room and pass-through walkway to the kitchen we had to make sure only the necessities stayed! We started with the correct size rug and guess what? A larger lighter rug actually made the room look larger! The Savannah Center Medallion Grey/Gold 8 ft. x 10 ft. Area Rug was the first piece we started with when designing the room. The boho and vintage feel of the rug was the perfect starting point

I paired the rug with the StyleCraft 17 in. H Natural Wood Edge Teak Coffee Cocktail Table Clear Lacquer. The hairpin legs are perfect to give the illusion of a larger space since it’s not bulky and doesn’t take up a lot of visual space.

Tips for Designing Small Space Living

The biggest piece of design advice I can give is if you want to make a space feel bigger without paint and knocking down walls, think “light and bright.” The linen color of the Modway Engage Beige Upholstered Fabric Sofa with tapered legs looks bigger even though it’s an apartment sized sofa! The sofa color also brings out a different color with the paint on the walls too, your eyes aren’t fooling you! Some of the sofas and sectionals on homedepot.com/decor have the option to purchase fabric swatches too.

By mounting lighting to the wall we were able to free up space where there was once an end table and the Kenroy Home Alvar 2-Light Black Sconce adds double lighting with a “puck light trick” that’s very apartment friendly.

Openly displaying things that you wouldn’t always display if you lived in a larger space. Y’all know I was excited when I saw that Hannah’s fiancé played guitar! It felt very fitting living in the heart of Music City to display the guitar proudly on the wall as part of the gallery wall!

Plants don’t have to stay on the floor or a shelf, these FLORIDIS Small and Large White Resin Wall Planters made my heart go “pitter patter” and I knew they would make a great fit for her boho living room. They are specially made for hanging use and don’t have to be pulled off the wall to be watered and cared for.

A gallery wall is a great way to add in more personal touches to small space living, including apartment living. By adding more textile framed seagrass art to the gallery wall it helps brighten up the space and bring in warm boho touches, like these Litton Lane Abstract Earth Tone Rope and Wood Wall Art that comes in a Set of 2 and Litton Lane Abstract Natural Beige Rope and Wood Wall Art.

Small Space Living Solutions

We opted for a Litton Lane Golden Brown Teak Wood and Top Grain Leather Chair and Ottoman Set corner chair with a footrest to double as additional seating for guests, it also makes for a side table too when not in use! 

The living room is set up for conversation, so the more guests there are you can just swing over the StyleWell Donnelly Black Metal Dining Chair with Natural Finish Wooden Seat (Set of 2) to double as living room seating. The dining room seating is pushed up against the wall to the old dining table. I styled the dining area as a sideboard with a beautiful 3R Studios Handwoven Beige and Green Rattan Wall Decor and of course Hannah’s plant collection.

Personal Design Touches for a Boho Living Room

A great way to make a space feel more at home is adding a collection of curated pillows, and you bet your bum I karate chopped all of them! I added a Artistic Weavers Leake Orange Solid Polyester 18 in. x 18 in. Throw Pillow (reads more rust), along with a Howard Elliott Collection Avanti Browns and Tans Solid Polyester 5 in. x 22 in. Throw Pillow (faux leather) and a black/beige geometric print pillow.

We added a 5 ft. Bird of Paradise Plant in Plastic Pot to balance out the wall with the TV and to create a “starting point” for the living room starting once reaching the end of the entryway.

I’m so happy with how this boho living room turned out! This Boho Small Space Living Update was just what Hannah had envisioned and bringing it to life was so thrilling just to see her reaction to the space. You can have a beautiful home no matter the size especially with the right small space living furniture pieces. You don’t have to own the space you’re in to make it home, y’all!

Be sure to check out homedepot.com/decor for some amazing pieces and to scoop up all of these great finds and more! 

1. Litton Lane Abstract Earth Tone Rope and Wood Wall Art, Set of 2
2. StyleCraft 17 in. H Natural Wood Edge Teak Coffee Cocktail Table Clear Lacquer
3. 3R Studios Handwoven Beige and Green Rattan Wall Decor
4. The Howard Elliott Collection Avanti Browns and Tans Solid Polyester 5 in. x 22 in. Throw Pillow
5. Litton Lane Golden Brown Teak Wood and Top Grain Leather Chair and Ottoman Set
6. Artistic Weavers Leake Orange Solid Polyester 18 in. x 18 in. Throw Pillow
7. Nearly Natural 7 ft. Willow Artificial Tree
8. Home Decorators Collection Halford Pecan Brown Finish Round Dining Table for 4 with Black Metal Base (46.3 in. L x 30 in. H)
9. Savannah Center Medallion Grey/Gold 8 ft. x 10 ft. Area Rug
10. StyleWell Donnelly Black Metal Dining Chair with Natural Finish Wooden Seat (Set of 2) (17.72 in. W x 37.40 in. H)
11. Modway  Engage Beige Upholstered Fabric Sofa
12. Litton Lane Abstract Natural Beige Rope and Wood Wall Art
13. Kenroy Home Alvar 2-Light Black Sconce
14. FLORIDIS Large White Resin Wall Planter
15. FLORIDIS Small White Resin Wall Planter
16. Nathan James Kalos Solid Wood Drop Leaf Folding Dining Table

Let me know if you have any questions about anything building wise or product questions! I’m an open book 🙂

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