The apartment-style hallway offers the first glimpse of a home where a busy urban lifestyle reflected in its pared-down, stylish decoration. The furniture streamlined, the storage practical, and the color scheme distinctive. Utilizing space in a visually pleasing and innovative way is a priority. Hallways can be small and narrow, or airy and open plan, with boundaries between the hall and the living or work areas not traditionally defined.

Color, shape, and texture create an essentially upbeat mood. Space-enhancing neutrals are balanced with vibrant color accents and simple furniture and accessories. These have sleek organic or geometric lines, in pale wood, metal, glass, or plastic, perhaps counter-balanced with high-tech industrial-look pieces, or flattered by natural textured fibers. Simple accessories, such as an ugly table lamp, are in keeping with the pared-down look.

WALLS AND CEILING
Fresh white walls and ceiling reflect the light and create a spacious atmosphere as well as a neutral backdrop for colorful furnishings and accessories.

ACCESSORIES
Framed posters reinforce the blue and white color theme and break up the wall space. A few well-chosen accessories - vases of flowers, bedside candle lamps, and single knickknacks - add a personal stamp.

SOFT FURNISHINGS
Blue and white bed linen in a robust and naive design adds a bold splash of pattern. A blue and white ticking roller blind softened with voile drapes, provides night-time privacy.

STORAGE
Bedside tables provide storage space for books and other items. Clothes may be hung in freestanding or built-in wardrobes or from a screened-off hanging rail.

LIGHTING
Slender candle lamps are an elegant choice and provide ample light for bedtime reading. Wall-mounted torches, in white to match the walls, give soft overall lighting.

FURNITURE
A wrought-iron bedstead and wicker bedside tables and chair have a straightforward, contemporary feel and clean outlines which are perfect for the look.

Furnishings
Furniture: Apartment-style decorating revolves around maximizing space and minimizing cost, so try to choose furniture that offers plenty of storage space and serves more than one function. If your bedroom is tiny, consider installing a sofa bed to free up maximum floor space during the day. Futons have a suitably modern feel and are reasonably priced.

Regarding style, keep to functional furniture. Pale, stripped, or stained wood, in white or primary colors, laminate furniture, and polished or painted metal are just right. Avoid cluttering up the bedroom with too much furniture. In addition to the bed and built-in storage, all you need are bedside tables and, if there's room, a comfortable chair and perhaps a basic dressing table or desk. Wicker furniture is inexpensive and adds a friendly touch, especially if another furniture in the room is stark. Glass-topped tables take up little visual space and add emphasis to any ornaments or objects displayed on them - a clock or vase of flowers, for example, seems to float in the air.

The bed: Like the other furniture, the bed should be simple and functional in style. Choose a primary wooden bedstead, natural, painted, or stained, or a wrought-iron one for the contemporary chic; or opt for a simple daybed and dress it up with boldly patterned and colored bed linen. Set against the walls with a bolster at each end and some scatter cushions along the back, such a bed provides sofa-style seating during the day.

Storage: With space at a premium, built-in floor-to-ceiling cupboards and wardrobes make sense, along one wall, filling an alcove or fitted in an arch over and down the sides of the bed.