A small room can feel surprisingly roomy when every corner has a job. Renting adds a twist: the walls are not yours, so drilling, nailing or repainting should wait until the landlord says yes, and you will want to hand the room back the way you found it. Here are renter-friendly ways to make a small apartment, condo or dorm room in Thailand look bigger without drilling, plus the questions to ask your landlord before you start.
Measure first, then give each zone a job
Measure the room and the door width, and note where the windows, sockets and air conditioner are. Sketch a rough plan on paper. To test a piece of furniture before you buy it, cut cardboard or paper to its size, lay it on the floor and walk around it. No tape on the floor needed.
Hypothetical example: a 24 sqm studio with its own bathroom and balcony. If the listed 24 sqm includes the bathroom and balcony, the space you can actually furnish is smaller, so ask the landlord what the size covers before you book. One way to zone it:
| Zone | Where | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance | Beside the door | A slim shoe rack, over-the-door hooks |
| Sleep | The far corner, against a wall | A bed with lidded boxes underneath |
| Work or eat | By the window, for daylight | A folding table, stackable chairs, a desk lamp |
| Relax | Between the bed and the table | A small rug, a storage ottoman |
| Storage | The same wall as the wardrobe | A tall, narrow shelf, boxes of one size |
- Keep tall pieces along one wall and low pieces near the window, so your eye can travel across the room.
- Push the bed into a corner or against a wall to free the middle of the room.
- Keep a clear path from the door to the window, and do not block the window: daylight does a lot of the work.
- Declutter before you buy anything new.
Light colours, mirrors, fabric and plants
Do not repaint without permission. Change the look with things you can take with you when you move:
- Two or three colours: bedding, curtains, rug and boxes in light shades or close to the wall colour, with strong colour in small doses such as cushions.
- One large mirror placed to catch the light from the window: a free-standing floor mirror, or a mirror hung on over-the-door hooks (check that the door still closes).
- Sheer curtains let light in and keep your privacy. Use the existing rail, or a tension rod that fits inside the window frame; measure the frame and check the weight it can hold.
- Furniture on legs shows more floor and looks lighter than solid blocks.
- Small potted plants on saucers, so water does not mark the floor or the sill. Ask about building rules before putting pots on the balcony.
Peel-and-stick wallpaper is held on with adhesive too, so ask first and test a small hidden spot.
Storage that goes up and under, without drilling
- Free-standing tall shelves with a wide base, over-the-door organisers, hanging organisers inside the wardrobe, and floor-standing racks over the toilet or washing machine.
- Suction-cup hooks (no adhesive) on bathroom tiles or glass.
- A small rolling cart for coffee things or desk supplies that you can park out of the way.
- Under the bed: measure the clearance, then pick lidded boxes, ideally on wheels. Vacuum bags shrink blankets and out-of-season clothes.
- Furniture with two jobs: a storage ottoman, a folding or extendable table, a sofa bed, nesting side tables.
- Want to swap the landlord's bed for one with drawers? Ask first and agree where the original bed will be stored.
Tall furniture safety: the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says thousands of people in the US are injured every year when TVs or furniture tip over, often young children and older adults. It advises anchoring bookcases, dressers and TVs securely to the wall, keeping heavier items on lower shelves and not storing tempting items such as toys and remotes up high. If anchoring is not possible, put the TV on a sturdy, low base and push it back as far as possible. In a rental, ask the landlord whether they can anchor tall pieces for you.
Adhesive hooks and double-sided tape: when you remove them, they can pull off paint or wallpaper, especially if you remove them the wrong way. Ask which walls you may use, test one in a hidden spot such as the side or back of a wardrobe, follow the surface, weight and removal instructions on the pack, and photograph the wall before you stick anything on it.
Layered lighting and safe cables
A single ceiling light makes a small room look flat. Add plug-in lamps instead of new wiring: a floor lamp that bounces light off the ceiling or a wall, a white desk lamp for work, a warm lamp for the evening, and LED strips stuck on furniture rather than on walls (they use adhesive too). The U.S. Fire Administration advises keeping anything that can burn away from lamps, light fixtures and bulbs, and using bulbs that match the wattage recommended on the lamp.
Bundle cables with hook-and-loop straps and run them along furniture, out of the walkway. For safety:
- Power strips: choose one with the Thai Industrial Standard mark TIS 2432-2555 (มอก. on the label), a three-pin plug and a switch, plus overcurrent protection if it has three or more sockets. Thailand's Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) warns against two-pin power strips because they have no earth.
- Do not run several high-power appliances, such as a microwave, an electric pan or an iron, from one strip at the same time, and never plug one power strip into another.
- Plug the fridge straight into a wall socket; the U.S. Fire Administration advises never using an extension cord with a major appliance.
- Keep cords out from under rugs and away from places where they can be pinched, and keep power strips dry and in a well-ventilated spot.
- Stop using a cord or strip that is damaged, loose, unusually hot or smells of burning, and switch strips off when you are not using them.
Ask your landlord before you change anything
- Which walls can take adhesive hooks, tape or peel-off wallpaper?
- Can tall furniture be anchored, who will do it, and what happens to the holes when you move out?
- Can you store or move furniture that came with the room, and where would it go?
- Can you change the curtains, and should you keep the old ones to put back?
- Which socket is best for the fridge or the microwave?
- Do the building rules allow pots or furniture on the balcony?
- Does the listed room size include the bathroom and balcony?
Ask in writing, in simple English or with a translation app, and keep the reply. Before drilling, nailing or painting, read what your lease says about changes to the room and get permission first. When you move out, remove hooks as the pack says, put the landlord's furniture back where it was and take photos of the room.
Find a room that is easy to furnish on RentKrub
- Room size: listing pages on RentKrub have a "Room types" table with the "Layout" and the "Size" in sqm, and search result cards show the room size when the owner has entered it.
- What comes with the room: the "Amenities" section has an "In the room" list ("Faded = not available"), so you can see which furniture is already there before you buy any. Search results can also be filtered by "In-room amenities", such as "Furniture, wardrobe, bed", and by price range per month.
- Map search: drop a pin at your office or campus and pick a radius of 1–5 km
- Rooms near BTS, MRT and ARL stations
- Rooms near universities and schools
