Small but Ingenious

Amazing small outdoor spaces

2011-06-29T11:39:00.000+02:00

Cute 40m2 apartment with lots of light

2011-06-07T11:02:00.000+02:00

Lovely 1 bedroom apartment in the South of France with a separate kitchen and living room, all opening straight unto the long balcony where you can enjoy the sun most of the day. The apartment, due to its location and the many windows, is extremely bright and airy despite of its small space (40m2).

"Unfolding Apartment" Turns Studio Into Four Rooms

2011-06-07T10:43:00.001+02:00

Manhattan. This Upper West Side 450 square feet studio was designed to fit all the essentials and even a few extras. The place includes: living room, kitchen (with plentiful counter space), bar area, home office, sofa bed, extra bed for guests, closet, even library. A large blue custom-made cabinet allows the transformation to happen.

Via Shoeboxdwelling

A small apartment transformable in 24 rooms

2010-06-04T10:38:00.003+02:00

Via home-designing

1 bedroom apartment of 31m2

2009-11-18T14:37:00.010+01:00

Along the French Riviera there is a big diversity of properties going from extremely large mansion to lots of small studio's and one bedroom apartments, such as this one, only 31m2 (333 sq ft) and can sleep up to 4 people. This property shows that not only big places can be nicely decorated and lovely to live in or to spend your holidays in. The few rooms the apartment has are decorated in the same spirit which creates a more homogenous idea. As there is no direct sunlight in the apartment they have chosen for a nice, light but brown colour to brighten up the place and to bring warmth in each room.

+ info on holidayfrenchriviera.com

ILLICO the new 'tatami' bed

2009-11-17T14:29:00.002+01:00

It reminds me of Japanese interiors where people bring out their blankets in the evening to sleep on the tatami. ILLICO, is an authentic ready-to-use "pop-up" style product, like a many-layer mille feuille French pastry or a Russian puppet: a back-up bed comprised of a floor mat, a mattress, a pillow, a quit, bed sheets, a kimono and a pair of slippers, all this hidden in a smart surprise cushion. This whole packet is easy to store and brilliant for small spaces, for yourself or when having people over for a sleepover.

+ info on Pyrenex Literie

Studio/duplex of 19m2

2009-11-15T23:31:00.002+01:00

This was originally a studio of just 12m2 (129 sq ft) in the centre of Paris. But luckily due to the high ceilings it was possible to put in a 'mezzanine' to enlarge the surface up to 19m2 (204 sq ft). And as you can see, very small but everything is present.

+ info on cotemaison.fr

40m2 for 4 people

2009-11-15T20:41:00.001+01:00

This 40m2 (430 sq ft) apartment in Paris has been completely been redesigned so that 2 adults and 2 children can easily live together and put away all their belongings without cluttering the place. The architect Jessica Label had been asked to reorganise the spaces and to make sure they were multifunctional in order not to miss out on certain activities.

+ info on Jessica Label
+ info at cotemaison.fr

Fold-away dining-kitchen

2009-11-13T10:59:00.001+01:00

This would definitely be one of the solutions for a small apartment where kitchen and dining area are integrated and can be 'stored away' when not needed to create more space and to give a clean impression.

This fold-away kitchen-table-and-dining-room combination designed by Melanie Olle and Ilja Oelschlägel is a brilliant blend of formal simplicity and ingenious engineering. This new interpretation of a kitchen buffet is called 'Oma's Rache' with its height of 2.48m, depth of 0.67 m and width of 2m, can be easily build in and serve as a proper wall.

Pocket wall by Maja Ganszyniec

2009-11-08T16:23:00.005+01:00

Maja Ganszyniec designed a smart wall where one could storage lots of small items. Ideal for a small spaces.

Starck's compact version of the luxury kitchen

2009-11-05T23:06:00.005+01:00

Philippe Starck designed a series of luxury kitchens for Warendorf. His objects accompany us through our everyday lives. His new kitchens over intelligent design with a healthy portion of humanity. One of his proposals is a luxury kitchen for small spaces. 'The best things come in small packages.'

A very slim table by Nilly Landao

2009-11-04T09:04:00.003+01:00

This table could definitely offer a solution in a small apartment. It can provide seating for 4 people. With the right plates you can dine or just have a cup of tea at the table. No tablecloth, just all very simple and clean.

+ Nilly Landao

Colours in small spaces

2009-11-03T13:22:00.003+01:00

We all know that white makes your room/apartment look light and more spacious as the walls are reflecting light and it will increase the natural daylight. But small rooms can still work nicely with colours but don't forget they can have an enormous impact on the room. One solution could be to colour just 1 or max 2 walls in the room to keep a fresh and light interior, not too cramped. 1 or 2 colours are usually the maximum amount of colours in a room to bring out the feeling of space.

Different colours will play on your mood and will have an effect on how you view life around you. The room can look more young and trendy during the day while it creates a more mysterious feeling from sunset on.

Once you have decided on your colour scheme try to keep it simple, don't forget that once the furniture is placed back in the room that its colours will be added to the initial colour scheme you have choosen.

Painting every room in a different colour will outline each small room and will create a bundle of tiny rooms. Therefore a small apartment can be given the impression of being larger from the moment all rooms are painted in similar colours/spirit to make the different rooms look like one bigger space with separations inbetween. It will give your smaller interior a feeling of being 1 bigger united area.

ON/OFF beds

2009-10-27T13:27:00.011+01:00

Motorised Mobile beds, from Espace Loggia, for small places fixed to the concrete ceiling.
+ info...

Small apartments the norm for the future?

2009-10-16T12:51:00.009+02:00

Of course we would all love to have a big house. But that is not always the case. Small apartments on the other hand, can be very attractive and comfortable once they are designed and decorated cleverly. And small doesn't always mean cheap looking. By being innovative, without spending lots of money, you can definitely increase the value of your apartment. Let this be our challenge.

We will find plenty of sites referring to lovely, big houses and their decoration but let's focus only on small places and how to propose clever ideas for the ever lasting issues of 'lacking space' etc.