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Houzz Tour: A Tiny Crash Pad Cleverly Reworked for a New Life
This makeshift studio flat has become home sweet home thanks to a few décor tricks and a smart new layout
The owner of this studio flat – a management consultant in her fifties – bought the property in the 9th arrondissement of Paris so she could stay in the city for part of each week. The space is on the eighth floor and faces the inner courtyard of a building dating from the 1970s.
It had recently been renovated, so all she did was refresh the floor and put in a mattress and a small sofa. However, when her personal life got complicated, she decided to leave her house outside the city and move into the studio permanently. That’s when she suddenly had to start thinking about the layout and décor.
The owner had managed home renovations in the past, but rethinking a small place for comfortable everyday living is a different story. She quickly realised she needed help and contacted an architect, who then directed her to interior designer Aude Groshaeny.
It had recently been renovated, so all she did was refresh the floor and put in a mattress and a small sofa. However, when her personal life got complicated, she decided to leave her house outside the city and move into the studio permanently. That’s when she suddenly had to start thinking about the layout and décor.
The owner had managed home renovations in the past, but rethinking a small place for comfortable everyday living is a different story. She quickly realised she needed help and contacted an architect, who then directed her to interior designer Aude Groshaeny.
Before the renovation, the apartment was already reasonably laid out, with the plumbing for the kitchen and bathroom at the entrance and a roughly 215 sq ft (20 sq m) living area, which opens up towards a balcony and a clear view over the inner courtyard and the city rooftops. The apartment also came with several good-quality, custom-made cabinets.
When she first bought it, the owner simply installed oak laminate flooring and popped her mattress on top. For the living room, she bought a sofa and an armchair.
When she first bought it, the owner simply installed oak laminate flooring and popped her mattress on top. For the living room, she bought a sofa and an armchair.
Layout before the renovation.
Layout after the renovation.
“The owner came to me with a budget of €20,000 [about £17,000] to optimise the space, with the bedroom area being the priority,” interior designer Aude Groshaeny says. “She also wanted a proper dining area for possibly inviting guests over, and also sought to bring some light into the kitchen, which looked like a dark hallway. Storage was the final problem.”
When she first moved in, the owner had already decided she didn’t want to have to unfold a sofa into a bed every night, preferring instead to lay a mattress on the floor along the kitchen wall.
So creating a bedroom was paramount. “It was a priority for the owner to have a real bedroom. She shared her idea of using openwork panels and realised she wanted to incorporate beautiful materials. We saw that her budget wouldn’t be enough, so she decided to extend it,” Aude says.
The bathroom, which can be accessed from the hallway (not visible in this render), was in very good condition and wasn’t changed. The kitchen, which had been fitted recently, also remained in place. Aude’s biggest task was to create a pleasant, about 1.5 x 2m bedroom area in the living room, partitioned with geometric openwork panels.
The original kitchen looked like a narrow hallway and had minimal natural light. Aude saw an openwork cocoon as a great opportunity to brighten the space.
Removing part of the wall between the kitchen and living room allowed Aude to place openwork panels on three sides of the bedroom. Now, natural light from the balcony door filters right through to the kitchen.
“The kitchen was not essential for the owner: most of the time she just uses it to make coffee or warm up some food. Still, we placed a pane of glass on the kitchen side of the partition to prevent grease and odours [from getting into her room],” Aude says.
To get a more spacious feel, she added about 20cm of ceiling height by removing the old air conditioning system and the 1970s panelled drop ceiling that had concealed it.
To get a more spacious feel, she added about 20cm of ceiling height by removing the old air conditioning system and the 1970s panelled drop ceiling that had concealed it.
All of the work on the ceilings was carried out by contracting firm Elm Bat, while carpentry firm Hopfab made the bespoke woodwork.
“I spotted them long ago on Houzz because of their creative projects, which have a contemporary feel,” Aude says, “but I was waiting to have a major project to offer them. They didn’t disappoint! Without them, my drawing couldn’t have come to life.”
“I spotted them long ago on Houzz because of their creative projects, which have a contemporary feel,” Aude says, “but I was waiting to have a major project to offer them. They didn’t disappoint! Without them, my drawing couldn’t have come to life.”
The openwork timber panels were placed on 90cm-tall plaster supports. “They’re raw pine on the living room side and white-painted MDF on the kitchen side,” Aude says. “As I wanted the panels to be flush with the 72mm-thick wall, the uprights were cut from massive pine pieces. To avoid it looking too regular, like prison bars, 11mm-deep niches were added to animate the setup.”
The bedroom is accessed through two 74cm-wide sliding doors attached to a rail at the top. “They make it possible to get out from either side of the bedroom, which can be quite practical,” Aude says.
Feeling inspired? Find a local professional on Houzz to help you create your own dream home.
Feeling inspired? Find a local professional on Houzz to help you create your own dream home.
Spotlights have been integrated into the dropped ceiling over the headboard, while a 16cm-deep shelf offers open and closed niches that double as bedside tables.
The 60cm-high bed is supported by a slatted frame and has two drawers underneath to store bed linen and extra blankets.
See more ingenious ways to fit a bed into a small space.
See more ingenious ways to fit a bed into a small space.
Once the problems of the bedroom area and kitchen lighting were resolved, Aude moved onto the next challenges: the dining area and storage.
“We kept the original cabinets – which were well designed – as much as possible, particularly the ones at the entrance and the floating cabinets in the living room,” she says. “We used shallow, 16cm-deep cupboards to extend the line [made by the support] of the openwork room to form an L up to the glass doors. Crockery is stored here.
To make it visually lighter, the carpenter created faux drawers by cutting grooves in the MDF and then painting them. We finished off the look with leather handles and wallpaper {just seen on the left and fully visible in the first photo].”
“We kept the original cabinets – which were well designed – as much as possible, particularly the ones at the entrance and the floating cabinets in the living room,” she says. “We used shallow, 16cm-deep cupboards to extend the line [made by the support] of the openwork room to form an L up to the glass doors. Crockery is stored here.
To make it visually lighter, the carpenter created faux drawers by cutting grooves in the MDF and then painting them. We finished off the look with leather handles and wallpaper {just seen on the left and fully visible in the first photo].”
It took some time to come up with a plan for the dining area. “It had to be pretty and, especially, easy to handle, because the owner didn’t want something that would be cumbersome to open and stow,” Aude says.
“We thought about several mechanisms before going with this table, which has feet that unfold like the wings of a butterfly,” she says. “Guides at the top bring them to a stop, and it’s not necessary to manually support the top while opening it, as the whole thing supports itself throughout the process.”
“We thought about several mechanisms before going with this table, which has feet that unfold like the wings of a butterfly,” she says. “Guides at the top bring them to a stop, and it’s not necessary to manually support the top while opening it, as the whole thing supports itself throughout the process.”
Since she’s not held back by a student’s restricted budget, the owner treated herself to two iconic TS chairs by Roger Tallon. These are a reissue of the original folding chair from 1977. She bought them at Sentou for €240 (about £205) each. She doesn’t regret it, because a small space always makes a bigger impact if it has one or two classic pieces of furniture.
“It was an ideal project that appealed to my favourite part of my profession: a little hard work instead of a hardcore renovation,” Aude says, “allowing me to focus on space optimisation and aesthetic creativity.”
Detailed budget (including all taxes)
What do you love about this tiny home? Let us know in the Comments section.
“It was an ideal project that appealed to my favourite part of my profession: a little hard work instead of a hardcore renovation,” Aude says, “allowing me to focus on space optimisation and aesthetic creativity.”
Detailed budget (including all taxes)
- Custom-made woodwork (Hopfab): €16,500 (about £14,200)
- Contracted work (Elm Bat): €12,000 (about £10,300)
- Décor: Roger Tallon chairs, €480 (about £410) for two, Sentou. Wallpaper (10m), €100, (about £85), PaperMint.
- Interior designer fees: €5,600 (about £4,800)
What do you love about this tiny home? Let us know in the Comments section.
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Who lives here? A 55-year-old management consultant
Size About 323 sq ft (30 sq m)
Location Paris, France
Completed July 2019
Duration of work Five months
Interior designer Aude Groshaeny of Décodage Création
Contractor Elm Bat
Woodwork Hopfab
Budget €35,000 (about £30,000); detailed budget at the end of the story
Photos by Thibault Pousset