How to Decorate a Small Townhouse Condo

Use the Rooms as Needed, Not as Marketed

• Repurpose your space based on your specific needs, not necessarily on what was originally intended. Don’t be afraid to turn a dining room into an extra bedroom with the addition of built-ins for a closet, or to lose a linen closet in favor of a small guest bath. Other rooms that may not be useable as-is include formal sitting rooms, which make for great offices, or an oversized landing at the top of the stairs, which easily converts to a playroom or family area. You can also move a laundry room into a large closet with stacking units, turning the former laundry room into an oversized pantry.

Choose a Home-Wide Color Palette

• Choose one overall color palette for the main living spaces and common areas in the townhouse. Without obvious separation between each room in the form of different paint colors, you maintain an airy effect that downplays the lack of square footage. Use light, cool paint colors, such as white, blue, green, purple and gray to make the walls appear farther apart than they actually are. Shades such as red, orange and yellow make the walls move toward you, closing a space in and highlighting the lack of space in the townhouse condo.

Create a Thoughtful Lighting Plan

• Any property that shares walls with another home is out at least a few windows, making the space darker than it would be as a stand-alone unit. Make up for this by incorporating plenty of different light fixtures in the home. A basic combination includes recessed lighting throughout for overall illumination, overhead lighting, such as a chandelier, in each room, and task lighting and table or floor lamps for area-specific illumination. Include nature’s finest, sunlight, as part of your lighting plan as well. Layer window treatments so that the innermost layer allows for plenty of light and the outer layer creates privacy when closed. If it works with your decor, install privacy film on your windows instead of using traditional panels or shades. This keeps the home bright while still maintaining discretion.

Use Flooring and Rugs to Dampen Sound

• Make the rooms in your townhouse condo feel bigger and muffle sounds between units with flooring treatments. Replace your current floors with wide-plank wood flooring, installing a soundproofing underlayment between the subfloor and the wood. The wider planks make rooms feel bigger, and the underlayment will keep your home quieter. Wall-to-wall carpeting also dampens sound. Choose carpet that closely matches the color on your walls to eliminate a strong visual break between the walls and floors, which will also make the condo feel bigger. Whether carpet or hardwood, place large area rugs throughout the townhouse to further dampen sound and to soften and add warmth to hard flooring.

Incorporate Plenty of Storage

• Nothing makes a small townhouse condo seem smaller than overstuffing the space with clutter. Use vertical shelving in small rooms with baskets to keep the floor space open, and convert any empty space underneath stairs, which are common in townhouses, to house seasonal items or other pieces that aren’t in use. Install closet organizers to get the most out of each one, utilizing all of the available horizontal and vertical space, and regularly go through your household goods to get rid of what you don’t need.

Focus on Furniture Size and Arrangement

• Properly size your furniture to the room it’s in, even if that means reworking the item or purchasing a new piece. For example, rather than try to shove a too-large sectional into a small townhouse condo living room, separate the piece, using the main seating in the living room and moving the chaise portion into a bedroom or office. Arrange furniture so that it flows with the natural foot traffic of the home. This prevents a closed-off feeling, keeping the space open.