Living Big in Small Spaces

Don't sacrifice the finer things to live in tight quarters

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. (January 21, 2020) — The steady increase in demand for urban living is fueling a drive to build more condominium and apartment spaces in Canada’s largest cities.

The trade-off is often tight living quarters — smaller footprints to fit in as many apartments and condos as possible in a designated area. Such designs make it almost impossible to install the full-size appliances you would find a detached home out in the suburbs or country and still live comfortably. But you don’t have to sacrifice these luxuries completely for urban living.

“A quick look around any of Canada’s major cities tells you there are a lot of condos going up,” says Meaghan Wilkinson, Director of Marketing for Hisense Canada. “When it comes to outfitting these condos, homeowners can still get all the features they want, but just in more suitable compact size for their home.”

Some of the options available to urban condo and apartment dwellers include:

• Counter-Depth Fridge: Esthetically pleasing, counter-depth fridges are all the rage in kitchen design. They fit in with the cabinets without any odd protrusions sticking out. For a condo or apartment, a fridge offering about 15 cubic feet of space is ideal. It has the space you need to keep all of your food fresh without taking up too much of a footprint. The Hisense RB15 models — available in stainless, black stainless and white — are stylish and roomy, featuring a bottom-mount freezer, pocket handles and a hidden digital touch display.
  
  

• Space-Saving Refrigerators : — If space is really tight, look to a space-saving fridge between six and seven cubic feet. Larger than a compact bar fridge but still suitable for tight spaces, these can be found with an interior top-mount freezer and space saving storage, it fits great in smaller kitchens. A stainless finish gives it an upscale appearance.

• Portable AC: As cold as the Canadian winters get, the summers are hot, sticky and humid. Unlike a window unit that restricts comfort to a single room, portable air conditioners only require a simple-to-install window kit, making them relatively simple to move from room to room — with the ability to spread cool air over 500 square feet.

• Big Screen TV: It wasn’t that long ago when you needed a big room to accommodate a big-screen TV and the cabinet that contained it. But this is one area where your small living space doesn’t have to dictate the size of the TV you buy — provided you get the right features. ULED and Quantum Dot technology provides great picture, no matter where you are sitting in relation to the TV. Built-in Android platforms provide thousands of viewing options, including popular streaming services like Netflix, Disney+ and CraveTV. If your walls aren’t big enough for a TV larger than 55 inches, there are still great 4K UHD options that offer exceptional picture and sound for an optimal viewing experience.