5 Ingenious Small-Space Ideas Seen in Apartments on Houzz
Living a good apartment life often means being extremely savvy with space. What can these homes teach us?
If you live in a small home, chances are you’ll want to make the most of the available space. And where better to look for smart solutions than in apartments, where a little bit of clever design can make a massive difference, turning a collection of cramped rooms into a supremely functional, free-flowing home.
Here on Houzz, you’re spoilt for choice. Better still, the architects and designers are on tap to spill the secrets of how they maximised a petite footprint. Read on for all the details…
Here on Houzz, you’re spoilt for choice. Better still, the architects and designers are on tap to spill the secrets of how they maximised a petite footprint. Read on for all the details…
The glass has the same opening-up effect in the narrow hallway, too.
Find an architect near you on Houzz to maximise space in a compact floor plan
Find an architect near you on Houzz to maximise space in a compact floor plan
2. Trick the eye with mirrors
It’s an oldie but a goodie – installing large mirrored doors on a wardrobe to bounce light around and give the illusion of more depth in a small room. Painting everything white, when you have this amount of daylight, can also really maximise the sense of space.
Positioning the mirrors opposite the window in this London apartment was a key decision that architect Amos Goldreich of Amos Goldreich Architecture made. Doing this gave the previously dark and cramped bedroom a bright, airy feel.
It’s an oldie but a goodie – installing large mirrored doors on a wardrobe to bounce light around and give the illusion of more depth in a small room. Painting everything white, when you have this amount of daylight, can also really maximise the sense of space.
Positioning the mirrors opposite the window in this London apartment was a key decision that architect Amos Goldreich of Amos Goldreich Architecture made. Doing this gave the previously dark and cramped bedroom a bright, airy feel.
The space inside the wardrobe was planned meticulously. “I worked very closely with the homeowners to design [the interior],” says Goldreich. “I took note of all their needs in terms of storage and included a mix of drawers, hanging space and shelving.”
Looking at the ‘before’ photo here, it’s easy to see how the space is now used much more efficiently.
Sorted! Expert Advice for a Perfectly Organised Wardrobe
Looking at the ‘before’ photo here, it’s easy to see how the space is now used much more efficiently.
Sorted! Expert Advice for a Perfectly Organised Wardrobe
3. Say yes to shallow storage
“The only way to make a small flat look tidy is for everything to have a place,” says Ebba Thott of Sigmar, who redesigned this home on the top floor of a Victorian house in London.
At the top of the stairs, she designed these generous, built-in cupboards that contain everything from golf clubs to coats and the vacuum cleaner.
11 Hallway Storage Items to Make You Feel Blissfully Organised
“The only way to make a small flat look tidy is for everything to have a place,” says Ebba Thott of Sigmar, who redesigned this home on the top floor of a Victorian house in London.
At the top of the stairs, she designed these generous, built-in cupboards that contain everything from golf clubs to coats and the vacuum cleaner.
11 Hallway Storage Items to Make You Feel Blissfully Organised
Here, on the floor plan, you can see the position of the cupboards, which flank the walls of the entrance without making it feel cramped.
“We played with the perception of depth here,” says Thott. “The cupboards are only 37 centimetres deep. They look bigger than that, but you don’t need a 60-centimetre-deep cabinet for efficient storage, you just have to be clever.”
“We played with the perception of depth here,” says Thott. “The cupboards are only 37 centimetres deep. They look bigger than that, but you don’t need a 60-centimetre-deep cabinet for efficient storage, you just have to be clever.”
4. Gain a bedroom
Now this is the ultimate space-making feat: conjuring up an extra bedroom. That’s what designer Katy Stevenson Bretton of Katy SB Design pulled off in this third-floor apartment in a former public-housing building.
The designer spied the opportunity to add a second bedroom by moving the kitchen into an open-plan living and cooking space.
Now this is the ultimate space-making feat: conjuring up an extra bedroom. That’s what designer Katy Stevenson Bretton of Katy SB Design pulled off in this third-floor apartment in a former public-housing building.
The designer spied the opportunity to add a second bedroom by moving the kitchen into an open-plan living and cooking space.
Bedroom two, seen here on the floor plan, was originally the kitchen. The designer converted the main space into a combined kitchen and living room.
“There’s a large peninsula for dining,” she says. “The whole space suits how people want to live nowadays.”
“There’s a large peninsula for dining,” she says. “The whole space suits how people want to live nowadays.”
5. Lose a bathroom, gain two showers – and a laundry
This two-bedroom, 1970s apartment in Dublin, Ireland, was once dark and short of the impressive washing facilities (for humans as well as clothes) it now has.
This two-bedroom, 1970s apartment in Dublin, Ireland, was once dark and short of the impressive washing facilities (for humans as well as clothes) it now has.
Architect Eva Byrne of Houseology saw the potential for creating the two showers the homeowners wanted. She chopped the original bathroom in half and cleverly reconfigured the hall, as seen in the ‘before’ and ‘after’ floor plans here.
Byrne also created this functional concealed laundry inside a cupboard.
Your turn
Which of these small-space ideas could help you make more of your home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for future reference, and join the conversation.
More
Are you gearing up to renovate your home? Read this Reno Checklist: 7 Essentials To Do Before You Get Hammer Happy
Your turn
Which of these small-space ideas could help you make more of your home? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for future reference, and join the conversation.
More
Are you gearing up to renovate your home? Read this Reno Checklist: 7 Essentials To Do Before You Get Hammer Happy
A lack of natural light is often the key cause of a room feeling poky. Consider, then, the power of a well-placed internal window.
In this two-storey Victorian apartment, a solid wall originally separated the kitchen from the hallway, but London-based architect Daniel Rees of Rees Architects opened this up with an internal window and glass-panelled door. “It makes the kitchen feel bigger, as you can see part of the stairs,” he says.