Houzz Tour: A Small Two-bed Flat With a Clever Open-plan Layout
Every centimetre counted during this London flat renovation, with clever lighting and joinery playing a key role
On the first viewing of their client’s flat, Sara Ripamonti and Amit Malhotra of Aflux, a design and build company in London, knew they had a job on their hands. “The space was totally different before,” says Amit. “The previous owner had lived in there for 15 years and it hadn’t been all that well looked after. The kitchen was closed off and, to be honest, it was quite claustrophobic with ceilings only 2.4m high.”
The brief was to make this dated, small, two-bed flat more liveable and bring fresh colours and a flash, international look to it. This involved knocking down walls and adding lots of space-saving fitted cabinets and a beautiful selection of furniture, designed to sit low to the floor. “This property is styled very much to the client’s taste,” says Amit. “It has a bit of an English classic vibe, and a contemporary European feel to it.”
The brief was to make this dated, small, two-bed flat more liveable and bring fresh colours and a flash, international look to it. This involved knocking down walls and adding lots of space-saving fitted cabinets and a beautiful selection of furniture, designed to sit low to the floor. “This property is styled very much to the client’s taste,” says Amit. “It has a bit of an English classic vibe, and a contemporary European feel to it.”
The team started by organising listed-building permissions with a planning consultant, which took around eight weeks. Then the process of design and building took around four-and-a-half months in total, and getting all the furniture and installations in took another month on top of that.
“Working with our regular builders means we have all bases covered in one team,” says Amit. “They’re a one-stop shop – builders, plumbers, electricians, all under one brand. It makes the whole process easier and quicker.”
Amit is very proud of this striking fireplace. “I sourced that. It’s a Gazco design – a hole-in-the-wall remote-control fireplace. When it arrived, I gave it straight to our joiners, who built the joinery around it.”
Rug, sourced by a developer from India. Armchairs, Giogretti.
“Working with our regular builders means we have all bases covered in one team,” says Amit. “They’re a one-stop shop – builders, plumbers, electricians, all under one brand. It makes the whole process easier and quicker.”
Amit is very proud of this striking fireplace. “I sourced that. It’s a Gazco design – a hole-in-the-wall remote-control fireplace. When it arrived, I gave it straight to our joiners, who built the joinery around it.”
Rug, sourced by a developer from India. Armchairs, Giogretti.
After the first consultation, Amit and the client had a series of design meetings. “We had to modify the drawing to hide the beams when we knew which walls had to stay. Then the space was stripped out and we went into full construction.”
Moodboards were created with many visits to the site beforehand, so Amit could source all the interior elements before work started. This way, everyone involved in the project knew exactly what was going in.
Moodboards were created with many visits to the site beforehand, so Amit could source all the interior elements before work started. This way, everyone involved in the project knew exactly what was going in.
The Aflux team use joiners based in Holland on their projects. “The team come over and fit everything in one week. The fitted cabinets are classic contemporary in their finish, and spray-painted. The TV is concealed inside. We tried to go for as much storage as possible – even if it was a shelf of just 15cm, we were going to make use of that space!
Here Comes the Sun pendant lights, Nest.
Here Comes the Sun pendant lights, Nest.
The kitchen is quiet and discreet in design, so the emphasis remains on the living room, dining and entertaining. The cabinets were spray-painted the same colour as the joinery and walls, all creating the impression of a larger room.
“The clever thing about this kitchen is that the exhaust for the induction cooker is located inside the island,” explains Amit. “The air gets sucked into the middle. That was another key decision in us saving space – we didn’t want to create an obstruction hanging from the wall to disrupt the view.”
All kitchen appliances, Gaggenau.
“The clever thing about this kitchen is that the exhaust for the induction cooker is located inside the island,” explains Amit. “The air gets sucked into the middle. That was another key decision in us saving space – we didn’t want to create an obstruction hanging from the wall to disrupt the view.”
All kitchen appliances, Gaggenau.
Recessed lighting in the ceiling was an important part of this space-saving project, too. Amit made sure there weren’t too many downlights, and that lighting accents were used instead. Mirrors also enhance the light and sense of space.
The floor is a light oak engineered wood, which also allows the heat from the wet underfloor heating system to permeate easily through it.
“Due to the original height issue, we wanted to attract more attention to the floor and used a clever technique of mixing up the widths of the planks from 15, 18 and 21cm wide,” explains Amit.
The floor is a light oak engineered wood, which also allows the heat from the wet underfloor heating system to permeate easily through it.
“Due to the original height issue, we wanted to attract more attention to the floor and used a clever technique of mixing up the widths of the planks from 15, 18 and 21cm wide,” explains Amit.
Art is important to the client, who found many of the decorative elements in the flat at the Maison&Objet show in Paris. Smaller, “cheeky bits and pieces” were sourced by Amit with the client in Holland.
“It’s our duty to work out where to put all of our client’s art,” says Amit. “I include plans for picture fittings and shelving for other elements from the beginning.”
“It’s our duty to work out where to put all of our client’s art,” says Amit. “I include plans for picture fittings and shelving for other elements from the beginning.”
In the hallway, the team designed a veneer and antique-mirror-wall finish.
“Most of the walls in this flat are covered by joinery,” says Amit. “It’s the most we’ve ever done in one project, and the reason for that is that it distracts from the ceiling height.”
“Most of the walls in this flat are covered by joinery,” says Amit. “It’s the most we’ve ever done in one project, and the reason for that is that it distracts from the ceiling height.”
Again, more space -saving tricks were used in the second bedroom/study. A sofa bed sits under the window, with plenty of storage to hold bulkier items of clothing as well.
The master bedroom and en-suite bathroom, which has a space-saving sliding door.
“In a small space, every room has to be multi-functional,” says Amit of the veneer-finish fitted storage in the master bedroom.
In both the ensuite and the guest bathroom, the porcelain tiles were sourced from Via Arkadia in Chelsea to give a wet-room function in each.
Both sink cabinets were designed and made bespoke by Aflux’s joiner. “It was a challenge to make these as spacious as possible,” he says.
Walls throughout painted in Slipper Satin, Wimbourne White, Wevet and Lichen, all Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you think of this flat’s space-saving tricks? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Walls throughout painted in Slipper Satin, Wimbourne White, Wevet and Lichen, all Farrow & Ball.
Tell us…
What do you think of this flat’s space-saving tricks? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lives here A Dutch man, who uses the flat as his London base
Location Hyde Park, London
Property A top-storey flat within a Grade II listed building, around 100 years old, overlooking Hyde Park
Size 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Design Project management, technical drawings and sourcing by Sara Ripamonti and Amit Malhotra of Aflux
An awful lot of planning went into this project before the first wall was knocked down. “When the engineer came in to look at the flat, we realised it had a strange construction,” says Amit. “Two beams hold the roof from the bedroom to the living room, and the rest of the structure is basically there to create a platform for the loft space. We wanted to open the ceiling up to the roof to get around the lack of height, but we weren’t allowed to because of that.”
So instead, Amit and the construction team took every wall down they could, leaving just a few beams. “Our scope was to make more room for the en suite bathroom, push the kitchen into the living room to create an open-plan space, and take the walls down that divided the two bedrooms. This project literally goes down to the centimetre!”