Your home's interior design should meet two major criteria - functionality and appearance.

With a small apartment, you should start by considering functionality. Understanding the way you use the various areas of your home is of utmost importance when you have limited space. Plan the location and arrangement of functional zones first, then move on to colours, details, and accessories. Consider answering the following question before you embark on an interior design plan for a small apartment:

1. What are your goals for the interior design of your apartment?
What are your priorities? What do you want to include in the interior? What is of major importance to you and what not?
2. For whom will you be designing the apartment?
Are you going to live in the apartment or are you going to rent it out? If it is for you, will it be your first home? If you are a couple, are you planning to have children soon? Are you going to seek a new home if your family status changes?
3. For what kind of arrangement are you looking?
Smart furniture arrangement determines your home's feel and functionality. Do you prefer cosy nooks or a more open flow?
4. Are you willing to make bold decisions?
Don't be afraid to act radically when determining your furniture arrangement, especially if the apartment is newly built and you have plenty of time. Engaging a specialist can be of great help for using a small space well.
5. How many people will live in the apartment?
Will you need separate bedrooms for each person? If you have a child or children, think about providing them with the optimum space. Usually kids sleep, study, play, and invite friends into their rooms, so they need space.
6. What are your everyday habits?
How do you spend your day at home? Where do you rest and relax? How much cooking or entertaining do you do?
7. What kind of storage will you need?
Suitcases, vacuum cleaners, bins and buckets, dusters and winter blankets are things you can't do without, but don't necessarily want to look at on a daily basis.
8. How much space do your clothes, shoes and linen need?
All of these need their own storage space.
9. Which room will be the living room?
This is the room in which you spend most of your time when you are at home---and the room in which you entertain guests. Choose the brightest and most spacious area of your apartment.
10. What is your colour preference?
Consider the colours you like, but don't forget that small spaces are not suitable for dark colours because they make them look even smaller. Large motives and patterns on the curtains, coverlets, wallpaper, and flooring also require a large area.

These are just few of the questions you should think about before creating your dream home.

Tips for designing your small apartment's interior:
1. Use light colours. Leave the dark and bright colours for accents.
2. Stay away from large patterns on your furniture, wall-papers, and flooring. They require a lot of space.
3. Do not "break" the space with colours or shapes; this will visually downsize it.
4. Use reflective surfaces and materials as they create an illusion of larger space. Be careful, because shiny and reflecting materials emphasise the smallest defects.
5. Provide at least two wardrobes - one for clothes and the other for bulky belongings. Floor-to-ceiling built-ins look as if they do not occupy a lot of space and wardrobes with sliding mirror doors or glass surfaces optically enlarge spaces.
6. Choose furniture with a plain design. You may like Baroque, but it would look too "heavy" for a small apartment and would constrict the space.
7. Choose lower furniture. It does not block space but tends to optically enlarge it.
8. Pay attention to illumination, which can achieve interesting effects and shape space without using material items.
9. You might opt for a folding sofa when choosing one for your living-room, since it is easily converted into a supplementary bed.
10. Carefully consider the purchase of the kitchen table. Limited place dictates one with a falling board or casters to roll under the cupboards when not in use.

And last but not least: use your own discretion and trust your taste and preferences.