How to Design Your High-Rise Condo

How to Design Your High-Rise Condo

  • Choose City Living
  • 04/5/22

Living in the city is a great way to keep your finger on the cultural pulse. But with so much to do and see, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. This is why it’s particularly important that your high-rise condo be the beautiful, peaceful oasis you need in order to escape the bustle.

Investing in a high-rise condo, especially with the help of Choose City Living Chicago, is an excellent way to carve out a space for yourself in the city, but making your new home your own can be a challenge. You have to think about your personal style, the logistics of the space, how you’ll use different areas, and more.

Today we’re going to take a look at a few tips and tricks to help you design your high-rise condo. By the end of this article, you’ll be able to approach your apartment redesign with confidence.

Enhance the view

One of the best things about living in a high-rise is the view. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being above the crowd, looking out over the city. If you’re lucky enough to nab a high-rise condo, you should play to its strengths.

When decorating your high-rise condo, ensure you’re making the most of your view. Opt for sheer, breezy window treatments or compact roller shades that don’t obstruct your line of sight. If you’re high enough up that privacy isn’t of concern, you might be able to forgo shades or curtains altogether.

Get clever with soundproofing

High-rise living has a lot of upsides, but let’s face it, you’ll be sharing walls, ceilings and floors with your neighborhoods. That can mean that you will occasionally hear noise from above or next door. The good news is that there are strategies for insulating your apartment from noise.

Cork wallpaper is a great option for minimalist spaces. If you have the room, you could also opt for filling your walls with elegant bookshelves. Finally, canvas artwork is an excellent way to both soundproof your space and add visual interest to your apartment.

Go natural


Living in the clouds has a lot going for it, but humans are nature-loving creatures. Being so far up, away from trees, grass, and other natural features can seriously impact your mood. Luckily, you can bring the outdoors into your high-rise condo.

Adding plants to your apartment is an excellent way to add a taste of the outdoors to an otherwise man-made space. As an added bonus, plants will also help purify the air and add an element of sophistication to your overall design.

If you don’t have a particularly green thumb, opt for varieties that are easy to care for, such as succulents or air plants. Succulents in particular come in a wide variety of different colors, shapes, and styles. Just make sure you’re choosing plants that will suit the lighting of your apartment.

Include smart storage

High-rise condos don’t typically have a lot of extra space and may lack built-in storage, so you’ll want to be particularly smart about your solutions to maximize and organize your space.

Floating shelves and shelving units are great options as they let you organize your miscellaneous items in a constructive and contained way. You could also opt for furniture with hidden storage when possible. Coffee tables, couches, and beds now offer discreet storage elements; the more items with storage the better, to ease the clutter.

Your high-rise condo should be your sanctuary. You ought to be able to come home to a clean, clear space and instantly relax. To that end, you’ll want to avoid clutter at all costs, particularly as your apartment likely isn’t as spacious as a typical house.

Smart storage, as mentioned, is one great way to avoid your space becoming overwhelmed. When choosing appliances and décor, you should also select items that serve a dual purpose where possible. Finally, be mindful of how you choose to decorate your space. A lot of little knickknacks will make your apartment feel more cluttered than a few, carefully-selected statement pieces.

Apply a light color palette

High-rise condos benefit from bright, light color palettes where possible. This makes the space feel bigger and offers you a sense of serenity.

Paint your walls with this in mind. Opting for a clean white is a great way to brighten your rooms and give yourself a neutral background on which to build your design. Keep your furnishings light and neutral where possible. If you absolutely must make a statement, make sure you do it with only one or two pops of bolder color. 

Use mirror magic

Mirrors are the perfect accompaniment to any high-rise condo. They reflect light, brightening a space while also giving the illusion of a bigger area. When designing your high-rise condo, opt for built-in wardrobes with mirrored doors. This will open up your rooms and ensure the space is functional as well. Hanging mirrors in hallways or over light fixtures is also a great option for smaller spaces.
 

Create multi-use areas

High-rise condos are often more limited in space, so creating areas that serve multiple uses is an excellent way to make the most of your space. You might opt for a multipurpose dining area and office space, for example. If you think about it, there’s very little difference between a desk and a dining room table.

The keys to successfully designing a multipurpose space are storage and accessorizing. You have to be able to transition the space between uses without it becoming unduly cluttered or overwhelmed.

Mount your lighting

To save on space on side tables and other prime surface areas in a high-rise condo, opt for mounting your lighting directly on the walls. This not only frees up space for plants and other décor, it also creates a sleek, modern aesthetic.

There are a number of lighting options you might try, from industrial sconces to more classic shaded lamps. The trick is to position them in areas where they will serve both form and function. A reading lamp won’t be very handy if it’s mounted over your TV.

Use area rugs to distinguish spaces

A lot of high-rise condos offer combined living areas which is wonderful but can present issues of cohesion. The rooms  may blend into one another, creating a confusing space.

To delineate different sections of your condo without the need for physical barriers that will cramp the area, you can employ the use of area rugs. Area rugs are basically different rugs for different sections of your apartment. You might have one rug that ties together the living area and another for the dining area, for instance. While both may be part of one big room, each rug grounds the differing areas.

When choosing area rugs, look for ones big enough to encompass the space you want to delineate and ensure their design ties together with the rest of your décor.

Buy beautiful appliances

Many people overlook their kitchen when designing their high-rise condo, but to create a living space that pulls its weight you should pay attention to every room.
 

Your kitchen should be as beautiful as it is functional. One way to achieve this is to invest in kitchen appliances that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are easy to use. Chic coffee machines, kettles, toasters, and other appliances will ensure your countertop looks great even when in use. This is an especially neat trick if you don’t have that much storage space.

Don’t leave the walls bare

High-rise apartments can be elegant, luxurious spaces, but if you’re not careful they can also feel a little boxy or dorm-like. One of the best ways to ensure this doesn’t happen is to liven up your apartment walls.

We’ve already mentioned mounted lighting or hanging mirrors but installing some beautiful artwork will also do wonders for your space. What sort of work you opt for depends entirely on your aesthetic preferences. Minimalist spaces will work well with abstract or minimalist art while more vibrant aesthetics ought to have hanging art that matches.

Whatever art style you decide to work with, just ensure it’s printed and framed well. The most beautiful art in the world can be let down by a shoddy frame.

Bask in your well-designed high-rise condo

High-rise living is a great way to experience city life. You’re close enough to the action to stay relevant but still have your own space to escape to when needed. Designing your high-rise condo requires a lot of planning and creativity, but when done well it can result in a singularly beautiful home.

Now you have some actionable tips and tricks up your sleeve for designing your high-rise condo. If you’re looking to invest in high-rise apartments in Lincoln Park Chicago, reach out to the team at Choose City Living. They are experienced and ready to help you find the high-rise of your dreams!



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