Living in a studio apartment means no bedroom, which means your sleeping and living quarters will be shared and not private. However, there are some really fun ways to maximize your living space in creative ways that can make your studio apartment layout feel bigger, function better, and still, allow you some glimpse of privacy in your “bedroom.”
Studio apartments, in most cases, have one open layout, including your kitchen and living space in one, with a separate bathroom and closet. This means a few things—you will have all of your belongings on display and little privacy without a bedroom. Because of this, studios are likely best suited for single persons and maybe the occasional couple who doesn’t mind sharing space all the time. It also means you may have to incorporate minimalism or get creative when it comes to designing your open layout.
There are a few things you may have to forgo to fit what you need in your space, but you can replace them with equally functional pieces. For example;
When you are searching our database of available apartments on the Bigos website, we offer free use of our Decor Planner software. This software allows you to pre-design your studio apartment before you ever come to take a look. You can place your furniture, decor, and try to envision what may or may not fit into your space. Simply click on the building you’re interested in, click on floorplans, and design away!
We’ve taken the liberty of designing a few studio apartment layouts that can work for various styles, and that all include a bed, a living room with TV, and a dining area, respectively.
At our BE @ The Calhoun Greenway Apartments, we designed the “Believe” studio apartment layout to work in various combinations that allow for optimal living situations.
This unit, in particular, has a balcony, sleeping area, full bath, a full kitchen with an island, a coat closet, a walk-in closet, laundry, and extra space for storage or other uses. It is a rare find for a studio apartment, and the options are seemingly endless, within some constraints. We came up with three different layouts that could work fantastically for any tenant, and they all include a full bed and a sofa—no futon or murphy bed here!
Our first design includes putting the queen-sized bed in the corner of the main room, allowing it to be out of the way and still fully functional. With a dresser at the foot of the bed, it can be easily accessible without taking up too much room. The full kitchen island is perfect for gathering around and food prep.
The way we placed the bed means there is room for a small two-person dining area as well. No need to eat at the counter! With the couch placed in the center of the main room, you can have your own little living room, with the bed behind, so it’s not distracting, and seemingly you can’t tell that you are centered in the middle.
In the next layout, we have made the bedroom and living room more of a synchronized space where you could watch TV from the couch or your bed — up to you! We’ve put tall stools at the kitchen island in place of a dining table, which freed up room for an armoire to use for extra storage underneath. It also allows more room for the couch and bed to share the same space.
Lastly, we used the couch and headboard as a room divider of sorts. The tenant could feel free to separate with an actual room divider between the two, and ultimately give the illusion of two different rooms, especially with how this design is laid out. There was still plenty of room for a dresser, rugs, china cabinet, floor lamps, couch, coffee table, and TV. This might be our favorite layout in this unit, for sure! Flip flop the bedroom and living room for even more privacy.
Our next series of designs come from our Galtier Towers in St. Paul, in the Clay studio floorplan. It’s a bit smaller than the last layout and doesn’t include a balcony or extra closet space, but the design does allow for a more unique and functional furniture layout.
First, we decided to include a small dining table for two, next to the kitchen, despite there being a potential breakfast bar. We believe that this wall could end up being an underutilized space, and with an extra-large walk-in closet, this unit has tons of extra storage despite its small size. This layout also has entirely separate living and sleeping areas. We put the bed in a perfect little corner, with room for a large dresser or credenza near the foot of the bed.
Also, with the way the bed is in the corner, it’s possible to fully hide your bed with a curtain rod or ceiling-hung shade to separate your bed from the rest of the open space. This can give a bit of privacy and also “hide” that area from your living room area. We can now fit a full-size couch in the center, with a TV stand, TV, and floor lamps. This layout is super cute, keeps the windows unobstructed to allow natural light, and our extra-large plant can hide the utility closet or laundry on the right side.
Our second layout puts all of the tenants’ furniture up against the walls, which keeps the feel of openness in the apartment, but melds the three “rooms” into one giant space.
This time we did utilize the kitchen island from the corner kitchen layout. Two high chairs make it a cute little dining area, and with the open kitchen, it is the perfect hangout spot for everything from a small gathering to catching a cup of coffee at the counter while you answer some emails.
There is no TV in this space, but the double duty furniture all faces the center of the great room, with beautiful natural light and a serene little bed area. Maybe the tenant watches Netflix on their laptop, or they just enjoy books and music more—either way, this single room space sure seems homey to us!
Our third space design is also in The Galtier Towers in St. Paul but in the Rock studio floorplan. This space is actually smaller, at just 439 sq. ft, but has still been able to have both a sofa and bed in the small area.
The Rock studio floorplan is one that is a very common layout for small spaces. You may have lived in one growing up or seen friends or family in something very similar. You walk in and have a bathroom to one side, a closet to the other, a small little galley kitchen, and the great room. This small apartment is very lucky in that it has an actual dining room area, plus a separate coat and walk-in closet/pantry.
In this first layout, we decide to utilize the dining room floor space with a small two-person table. Putting a drop-leaf table here would be perfect for a person who loves to host a few friends for dinner. There is still plenty of room to be able to fold out the table and move it away from the wall space. Second, we choose a back corner to put a queen-sized bed and nightstand or small dresser. With the bed sitting behind the sofa and living room area, it can go fairly unnoticed when you go about your daily life. Plus, it’s butted up right to the window, which can be lovely for cooler summer nights with the window open.
In our second layout, the tenant didn’t want to sacrifice a full-size couch and dining table, so we got a little creative. By putting a queen or double bed in the “dining room” space, we are able to create a pseudo bedroom in that little cozy bedroom nook. That makes it the perfect place to hang a tall curtain or room divider to make a bedroom and save space —how perfect!
The living room includes a full couch and full 50 inch TV space, plus a rug, plants, and a floor lamp. We can then put a round table in the corner by the window, and after all is said and done, this apartment is indeed getting more bang for its buck with the illusion of entirely different zones.
As you can see, a studio apartment does not necessarily mean one layout. We have seen tenants get incredibly creative with how they separate their sleeping and living areas, and we love to see it! The best part of it all is being able to use our Decor Planner tool to determine what you can or cannot live without if you choose to go with a studio under 500 square feet.
No matter what you choose to do, we’d love for you to come and see for yourself! Call us anytime for more information and to check out our available units at 763 – 367 – 7400.
