For many young people, a first apartment might be a cramped studio or a bedroom in a shared living arrangement. Juggling that room’s living, dining and sleeping spaces requires creativity.

Simple design can make small chic – and livable, said Kathy Speas, owner of Speas Interior Design. The clean, spare lines of minimalist design could be just the ticket.

“Keep clutter to a minimum because if you have a bunch of little things everywhere, it’ll feel cluttered, small,” said Speas, who has decorated Colorado Springs interiors for 30 years.

A few good rules of thumb from Speas:

– Keep your furniture small scale, so that it doesn’t overpower the room.

– Use lighter or neutral colors on walls with a pop of color in a pillow or a rug.

– Don’t use patterns, which can make a small space feel claustrophobic.

– “Believe it or not, bigger tiles will make the room look bigger,” she said.

“In my house, if it was a studio, I would do a Murphy bed that would go up into the wall so you won’t have a bed in the middle of the room,” Speas said. “Clever things like that.”

Not surprisingly, furniture and accessories manufacturers have sensed the need and created special collections to serve thimble-sized living-eating-sleeping spaces.

IKEA has embraced this mobile-renter demographic with its P.S. collections. Now eight years running, the collections feature pieces that are portable and inexpensive but well-designed. The Havet sofas have wheels; a stool has an embedded LED lamp.

Peter Klinkert heads the retailer’s Special Collections. He says this year’s 50 pieces came from collaborations between young international designers and the IKEA in-house team.

“Small space doesn’t always mean no space,” Klinkert says.

Buy furniture that’s multifunctional, he advises: storage cubes that also work as coffee tables, or a dining table that offers storage, so it can be used as a workspace. (ikea.com)

Bookcases can be clunky and cumbersome. Consider floating bookshelves that take advantage of wall space without taking up floor space.

IKEA’s Lack wall shelves come in a variety of colors, and there’s also a corner shelving unit in the P.S. 2014 collection that would maximize a dead space.

Check out Umbra’s clever Conceal wall shelves that give you a steel bar on which to anchor a hardcover book; stack a few more or add a small accessory for a neat combination of wall storage and art. (umbra.com)

Consider mirrored or clear acrylic pieces to give the illusion of more space. Overstock has side tables and chairs priced a lot lower than high-end designer pieces. (over stock.com)

A great coffee table can serve a lot of functions. Entertaining, dining and crafting all can happen at a decent table in front of the sofa and television. Dania’s got the cool Harwich oak-veneered table: four stacked slabs, and the top two swivel. Two sturdy levels of elm veneer and steel create a workhorse piece in the Matson coffee table. (dania furniture.com)

Meg Volk, a New York-based producer and photographer, is a seasoned veteran of the tiny-home trenches; she’s on her third, under-300-square-foot studio apartment. She says her spaces seem bigger when she uses furniture with legs rather than pieces that squat solidly on the ground. Choosing light-colored woods and fabrics also contributes a sense of airiness.

If you’re strapped for cash, consider TV trays for side tables and park a bin or basket underneath for storage. Target sells them individually for around $10, or buy a set of four and use them in both the living room and bedroom. (target.com )

One good thing about a small living space is that it doesn’t take much to add a lot of punch. A peaceful palette might be just right, but if you love color and pattern, inexpensive textiles are easy to add. Buy a couple of yards of interesting cotton, or use neat towels or cute baby blankets to cover seat cushions or throw pillows. You don’t need sewing skills – staple guns handle the job on furniture, while iron-on tack, Velcro, diaper pins or knots work on pillows. (joann.com)

A block-printed shower curtain can work in the bathroom or at the window and be cheaper than drapes. (world market.com)

Check out apt2b.com for contemporary wall-art designs at good prices.

Finally, exercise self-control when it comes to tchotchke displays and tempting but unnecessary gear.

“Piling stacks of books on the floor, covering your desk with collectibles or using your coffee table to show off the trinkets you picked up in Paris sounds lovely, but generally comes off feeling as though you had nowhere else to put them,” Volk says.

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T.D. Mobley-Martinez of The Gazette contributed to this story.

This photo provided by Ikea shows a wall shelf with lots of knobs from P.S. 2014?s collection, designed for the mobile resident. Available in birch or anthracite/birch, the piece provides storage and hanging space in one unit. (AP Photo/Ikea)

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This photo provided by Ikea shows a P.S. 2014 lamp stool that features a handy stool embedded with LED light. A great item for a studio, small living room, or bedside. (AP Photo/Ikea)

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This photo provided by Ikea shows a Havet sofa bed that has casters for easy moving, and is covered in a durable cotton upholstery which is available in several colors. (AP Photo/Ikea)

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This photo provided by Ikea shows Lovbacken side table which is the first flat-packed item that Ikea ever offered. It?s reissue has pleased young renters like New Yorker Meg Volk who appreciate the small profile yet high style of the table. (AP Photo/Ikea)

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