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Photo Illustration: Curb; Photos: Nick Poe, Greta Hansen, BAAB
Is the bedroom as wide as the bed?a kitchen Not an inch of counter space? It’s just another day in New York City. It’s estimated that the average apartment size has shrunk by 10% over the past decade, and many of us are doing more with less. It’s a challenge for the designer, but also fun: while the apartment is neither a concert hall nor a museum in terms of its size and ambition, the small interior can be an opportunity to show off. “The smallest space is the ultimate Rubix cube,” says architect Greta Hansen.We spoke with her and several other designers about the small-space challenges they solve, from tiny duplexes to windowless, leaky apartments The bathroom is in the middle of the house.
The 200-square-foot first floor houses the living, dining, and kitchen areas; custom shelving and seating by Wolfgang & Hite bring more space and storage to the small area.
Photo: Greta Hansen
Designer: wolfgang and heit
project: Complete overhaul of apartment
Budget: Approximately US$10,000
Greta Hansen and Shan Raoufi’s Lower East Side apartment is small but comes with a surprisingly spacious terrace overlooking the East River. To get there, though, you have to climb a spiral staircase. That’s part of the apartment’s charm, and part of the problem. “It was really difficult to accommodate both the living room and the dining room with so many obstacles, especially that spiral staircase,” Raoufi said. With just 200 square feet downstairs and a small loft bedroom upstairs, the couple behind architecture firm Wolfgang & Hite decided to design their apartment with more space and storage while meeting their aesthetic standards (not to mention sticking to the small Budget wise – they managed to keep the Reno under $10,000).
“I went crazy drawing this plan over and over again,” Hansen said. Armed with solid carpentry skills and extensive experience in bespoke furniture from 18 years in the business, the duo did most of the serious work themselves – installing a sleek wooden bench that surrounds a bespoke corner dining table (as well as a Place inconvenient heating pipes) and create a pair of matching stools and a round-edged marble table. All of this complements the kitchen, which they also redecorated with marble and white laminate.
The designers then made the bench do double duty as a bookshelf in the adjoining living room, where the space transitions from a minimalist white laminate kitchen to a more ’70s-style lounge. “Creating this secret place for books is basically the only way you can put them in it,” Raoufi said. The first floor also hides an extra secret: a tiny secondary bedroom, “just a little bigger than a closet,” Hansen said, but a convenient hideaway for out-of-town visitors who don’t mind a cramped room. at.
Small loft bedroom with access to terrace.
Photo: Greta Hansen
On the second floor, the small sleeping area presented a dilemma – especially considering the wishes of its users. “We’ve always wanted a walk-in closet,” Hansen said. With little room to maneuver in the five-by-eight space, Wolfgang and Haidt reduced the space even further by placing their dream storage space in the back; they then made it possible by installing almost floor-to-ceiling mirrored doors. Make up for a tight space, make it feel more spacious, and add storage with a built-in wooden headboard and bedside tables.
BAAB creates a central bathroom with multiple functions and no walls.
Photo: BAAB
Designer: baab
project: Bathroom decoration
Budget: Approximately US$20,000
“That’s a shit bathroom,” said Ted Barb. When the architect—a longtime partner at Brooklyn-based firm SO-IL who now runs his own practice—began designing the 75-square-foot space for a client, it was Awkwardly wedged in the center of a three-bedroom house in Brooklyn, Catskill. It has no windows, no air circulation, crumbling tiles, little storage space, and it’s always full after someone takes a shower. Puddle. According to Baab, the client didn’t provide much aesthetic direction other than “making it feel fun and functional,” and there was no specific budget beyond “what’s typical for a bathroom of this size.” (Baab Estimated total is approximately $20,000).
So Baab devised what he calls an “Inside-Out Bath” plan, transforming the room into a 1930s machine-age invention. A large block wall planted in the center of the room, shaped like an isosceles triangle, contains all mechanical equipment and plumbing; all fixtures – sink, toilet, shower cubicle – as well as toilet paper holders, mirrors and curved shower seats Convenient built-in facilities are included. No curtains, no doors, no drawers: just lots of gleaming tile, marble countertops, and a perimeter wall with little cutouts for storage and trash, and a full wrap-around armrest that allows users to hold (or sling) towels ) wherever they like. “There’s a lot to cram in there,” Barb said. Another bonus: it’s easy to clean.
Although Baab’s designs were futuristic, he had to be mindful of some very realistic goals. His retired clients “said they wanted something that felt safe and would meet their needs as they age,” he explains. Therefore, the entire interior space has been designed for ease of use, especially the bar and seating. By the same token, adequate lighting was also a priority, forcing Baab to hide an LED night light in the central space and insert a high skylight into the wall to let in second-hand sunlight from the adjoining living room (but not peek ) comes through.
As Baab points out, although “all bathrooms these days are essentially custom-made,” his design is available as a module that can be installed in any bathroom. Barb also had an artistic goal. “It’s fun to think of it as this interesting sculpture,” he said, or a “totem,” as he calls it.
An actress’s apartment has been renovated, turning two bedrooms into an airy studio.
Photo: Nick Poe
Designer: Nick Poe
project: Studio decoration
Budget: Approximately US$150,000
Designer Nick Poe, who designed the popular Canal Street restaurant Time Sushi Bar and the Tribeca Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, knows how to work in cramped, aging buildings in downtown Manhattan Create a stylish space. But when one of Noho’s actress clients called, redoing her small apartment turned into a surprisingly large job. “This guy had lived there for about 40 years,” Poe said. During that time, age and some idiosyncratic choices by the previous occupants had taken their toll on the less than 400 square foot space, requiring a top-to-bottom overhaul.
“Every detail needs to be worked out,” Poe said. With a budget of $150,000, Poe replaced the curved and uneven floors and added arches, moldings, a raised entrance to the bathroom, and soft arches where the walls met the ceiling. All details give the interior space a sense of diversity while also creating an appropriate period effect. “The building was built around 1920,” Poe said, “so it felt like the space should fit that.”
The least feasible thing about an old apartment is its floor plan. “It’s really crazy,” Poe said. “You have a tiny studio and they use it as two bedrooms.” The unit is divided into three separate rooms, with a pair of intersecting walls dividing the spaces. The two rooms closest to the windows are very small, and the kitchen-bathroom suite behind the wall is completely cut off from natural light. This was not the client’s original intention and definitely not in keeping with Poe’s desire to maximize light and space.
So he knocked down the walls and designed a sleeping nook in a more open floor plan to give the actress a little privacy. “I think it’s really comfortable to own this niche,” he said. “It’s like sleeping on a boat.” In a small alcove to the left of the window, Poe installed a platform bed with shelves below and a recessed channel above to conceal the room when guests were over Curtains: Voila, it’s a miniature bedroom alcove.
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