Design Ideas for Small Apartment With an Extra Room

Recently I did a redesign of a small apartment - about 55 m2, which will become a home for  a young couple with a child. Their wish was to get separate rooms for parents and a child and still have enough storage space. Since this was an old apartment, they were ready to make complete reconstruction - before moving in.

PREVIOUS STATE

This is the floor plan of the apartment as it was - with a relatively large living room with dining space, one small bedroom, bathroom and the kitchen with a pantry. The entrance to all spaces was from the L-shaped corridor which covered a lot of underutilized space. The bathroom also ate up a lot of space, so the rearrangement started there…

RECOMMENDED SOLUTION

FUNCTION

My suggestion was to completely reorganize the bathroom and a part of it incorporate into the  bedroom. By moving the bathroom door to the adjacent wall - bedroom could get some extra space for a closet, and parents could have a double bed.

The biggest intervention was  the reconstruction of the bathroom. Bathtub needed to be relocated to the narrower wall so there will be enough space to position two built-in lavatory sinks opposite the toilet. Under the base element - the washing-machine can be placed. On the wall behind the toilet is a great place for built-in cabinets. The position of the plumbing and sewage made all this possible, and when you plan a bath you need to do it very carefully.

The closet position in the entrance hall will be transferred from one side to another – the part of the kitchen needs to be taken. But, there is still a lot of useful working space at kitchen counters. They will be positioned near the kitchen entrance to best use the light from the narrow passage. Since the kitchen had no windows, suggestion was to eliminate one part of the pantry wall and let the daylight in. Near the window the double-doors refrigerator with freezer can be placed. The cooking unit and the sink are near the plumbing and ventilation vertical.

The dining area will be converted into a child’s room with a big closet, bed and a desk with bookshelves hanging above the desk.

There is enough space for a dining table by the wall joining the entrance hall and the kitchen. The sitting area should be placed by the bedroom wall and bookshelves and TV – at the opposite wall.

 

CONSTRUCTION AND CRAFTWORK

These are the walls which have to be removed (orange) and the new walls (lavender):

All bathroom and kitchen tiles will be replaced with new ones. The lavatory sink base in the bathroom is easiest to make of plaster cardboard slabs on sub-construction. It will be also covered with tiles.

Parquet was well preserved and had a certain charm, so we decided to keep it. It has to be sanded and finished with a lacquer to protect the wood. Only the bedroom will get new parquet. Since there is limited amount of original parquet, the bedroom flooring will be used in the entrance hall. The former corridor was covered with tiles and now the entrance hall needs to visually keep the continuity of the living room. All the walls and ceilings need to be freshly painted.

INSPIRATION

In small room the light colors will lessen the feeling of space boundaries and massiveness. In this apartment the walls and the most of the furniture will be white. However, there need to be few focus points, colorful  accents which will hold the whole composition. We used color on carpets, cushions, pictures on the walls, of course – the book covers will give a spice of their own. Only the wall by the dining table, as a central place of a family gatherings - will be colored.

Light itself is the best decoration. Catch it on the glossy furniture surfaces, glass reflections from the framed drawings or photos, and just a touch of transparent or shiny details.