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Houzz Tour: Ingenious Built-in Furniture Maximises a Small Flat
This apartment has all the features of a much bigger space thanks to multi-functional units and clever design thinking
The young couple who own this flat had a total budget of €300,000 (around £259,000) to spend on accommodation in Bordeaux, France. After some research and a lot of maths, they came up with two options: they could either afford a three- or four-room flat in need of a renovation on the outskirts of the city, or a one-bedroom flat in the city centre.
Encouraged by a couple of friends who happen to be interiors professionals, the couple chose the second option and bought a maisonette made up of two studios on different floors that had been joined together. It was then up to architect Elodie Gaschard of Atelier Miel and interior designer Mickaël Martins Afonso to turn the apartment into a comfortable, high-functioning home.
Encouraged by a couple of friends who happen to be interiors professionals, the couple chose the second option and bought a maisonette made up of two studios on different floors that had been joined together. It was then up to architect Elodie Gaschard of Atelier Miel and interior designer Mickaël Martins Afonso to turn the apartment into a comfortable, high-functioning home.
Floorplan before.
The flat is in a building made of local stone in the centre of the historic city of Bordeaux. The previous owner had created the maisonette by illegally joining two 26 sq m spaces on the building’s first and second floors – the legal issues have since been addressed.
The young couple fell in love with the home’s location and bright interior, which gets light from 10 windows on two sides of the building.
The flat is in a building made of local stone in the centre of the historic city of Bordeaux. The previous owner had created the maisonette by illegally joining two 26 sq m spaces on the building’s first and second floors – the legal issues have since been addressed.
The young couple fell in love with the home’s location and bright interior, which gets light from 10 windows on two sides of the building.
Floorplan after.
The first storey houses the open-plan kitchen and living room. A wooden staircase leads to the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. Both spaces have the same configuration: a rectangular room with three large windows, and two small, box-shaped spaces – with their own windows – on two sides.
Inspired by this unusual layout, the pros proposed taking advantage of every nook and cranny to recreate, on a smaller scale, all the rooms one might find in a normal house.
The first storey houses the open-plan kitchen and living room. A wooden staircase leads to the bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. Both spaces have the same configuration: a rectangular room with three large windows, and two small, box-shaped spaces – with their own windows – on two sides.
Inspired by this unusual layout, the pros proposed taking advantage of every nook and cranny to recreate, on a smaller scale, all the rooms one might find in a normal house.
Before, the small maisonette was in good condition, but the pros planned to replace the basic layout with a tailor-made unit worked out to the smallest detail.
“It was so small that we decided to build everything into it, including the furniture,” Mickaël says. “The constraint of limited space guided us towards the solutions we needed, helping us to come up with new ways to use the space.”
“It was so small that we decided to build everything into it, including the furniture,” Mickaël says. “The constraint of limited space guided us towards the solutions we needed, helping us to come up with new ways to use the space.”
Now, the kitchen is housed in a custom-made unit. Bespoke built-in pieces are expensive, so the team had to keep an eye on the budget. “After the purchase, we had €140,000 [around £121,000] left for the complete renovation, or about €2,700 [£2,330] per sq m,” Mickaël says. “It was a comfortable budget, provided we made some economical choices: keeping the original chestnut floor and the existing double-glazed windows, and keeping the wet areas in the bathroom and kitchen in the same places.”
The choice of finishing materials was also crucial, since they had to place an order for 200 sq m of panels. They selected a solid rubberwood glulam (engineered wood), which is useful for its stability, mechanical qualities and, of course, lower cost.
The choice of finishing materials was also crucial, since they had to place an order for 200 sq m of panels. They selected a solid rubberwood glulam (engineered wood), which is useful for its stability, mechanical qualities and, of course, lower cost.
The architect and interior designer wanted to free up as much space as possible for the living room, so they came up with the idea of a layout based on two units built along the walls, leaving breathing room in the centre.
Recreated in its original location and jutting out like a peninsula, the new kitchen takes up more or less the same footprint as the previous one, but with added functionality. The appliances are also spaced out better throughout the unit, and no longer crammed into one side of the peninsula between the island and the window.
The unit was custom-made by a joiner. Each cabinet front has an invisible grip. A black granite worktop adds contrast. It has “a knife edge and a leather finish,” Mickaël says.
The storage units above the work surface are cantilevered. “To prove they were properly secured, I lay down on top of them on the day the project was delivered,” Mickaël says with a smile.
The storage units above the work surface are cantilevered. “To prove they were properly secured, I lay down on top of them on the day the project was delivered,” Mickaël says with a smile.
Although the kitchen is small, a high-end extractor fan from Novy was included. It hangs on plasterwork boxing, which extends upwards to create a solid banister for the staircase.
Behind the kitchen, blinds conceal the entrance to the tiny utility room located in one of the two protrusions of the original room.
Behind the kitchen, blinds conceal the entrance to the tiny utility room located in one of the two protrusions of the original room.
Opposite the kitchen is the second wall unit, with the sofa in the centre of the room. “We chose a fully modular one, the Air sofa by Lago,” Mickaël says.
Made of pale wood and MDF dyed black to the core, this unit combines the functions of a bookcase, TV cabinet, storage area and dining table, and even extends into an office. A 55in flatscreen TV is concealed behind the doors of the four central modules.
Made of pale wood and MDF dyed black to the core, this unit combines the functions of a bookcase, TV cabinet, storage area and dining table, and even extends into an office. A 55in flatscreen TV is concealed behind the doors of the four central modules.
Un grand PETIT nid « entre optimisation & modularité »
The base, which Mickaël calls “the catwalk”, is a 75cm-tall platform. As it’s designed to offer access to the bookcase and the office, it’s made of a single-piece, 48mm-thick rubberwood panel designed to support the weight of an adult.
Inside, four large, 90cm-deep drawers provide ample storage space. Cables and electrical outlets are hidden between the platform and the bookcase.
Inside, four large, 90cm-deep drawers provide ample storage space. Cables and electrical outlets are hidden between the platform and the bookcase.
A second modular platform on top serves as a dining table.
The table can be fixed in two positions depending on the owners’ needs. “The couple can pull it out to eat every day while sitting on the retractable stools from Flux. When they have friends over, however, they can seat up to six by securing the table to the platform in a discreet slot provided for this purpose,” Mickaël says.
Finally, there’s an office nook, also known as the “reading room”. This corner of the room was originally a closed wardrobe. The platform extends into this space. It’s topped by a 120cm x 190cm mattress of foam blocks.“It’s not very big, but it can be used as an extra bed for friends,” Mickaël says.
But that’s not all. When the mattress is removed, a hatch lifts to reveal ‘the cockpit’, as Mickaël has nicknamed it. A built-in step makes it easy to descend into the space, turning the extension of the platform into a desk. There’s also a stationary but height-adjustable office chair.
Keen to maximise your space? Find local interior designers on Houzz, see their past projects and read reviews from previous clients.
Keen to maximise your space? Find local interior designers on Houzz, see their past projects and read reviews from previous clients.
The staircase is between the entrance and the kitchen. It, too, is fitted with a pull-out storage unit that serves as a wardrobe and shoe rack. The lower steps double as seats.
The finishes on the staircase show the level of attention to detail that went into the project. “We wanted the steps to be a perfect outgrowth of the shelves,” Mickaël says. “This led to the design of a riser that covers the step, which is the opposite of how it’s usually done. So the direction of the wood grain is always the same on the steps.”
A landing over the top of the kitchen cupboards ensures the stairs aren’t too steep.
The plasterwork banister that extends from the boxing of the extractor fan connects to the lower, wooden banister with a tidy recessed joint.
The plasterwork banister that extends from the boxing of the extractor fan connects to the lower, wooden banister with a tidy recessed joint.
To the left of the landing is the bathroom, separated by a frosted glass door, which allows more natural light from the bathroom windows to diffuse into the rest of the space.
The door frame, threshold and all wooden bathroom features – such as this stool pictured here, designed by Mickaël himself – are made of chestnut.
The door frame, threshold and all wooden bathroom features – such as this stool pictured here, designed by Mickaël himself – are made of chestnut.
The floor, shower enclosure and vanity unit are marble, all carved to measure from the same block. This is not such an expensive option, if you know how to select the right material. “The cheapest material at the marble shop was this grey marble from Portugal,” Mickaël says. “It was awful, but sandblasting brought out its veining in a blur effect. Then it came out great, simply unrecognisable.”
The shower, which is in a small recess over the utility room, is entirely covered in marble. Flooded with the light from a window, it’s a very pleasant place in which to spend time.
Facing the bathroom door is the toilet, which is almost imperceptible behind its full-height pivot door.
After. The wall between the landing and the bedroom has been adapted to house two full-height storage units.
“We wanted to connect the two windows on the landing with these partition-wall units,” Mickaël says. “It seems rectilinear, but in reality, we had to build it as a trapezoid to make up for the fact that the windows are not aligned.”
Who lives here? A young couple who are first-time buyers
Location In the heart of the historic centre of Bordeaux, France
Size 52 sq m
Date of work 2014
Designer Mickaël Martins Afonso
Architect Elodie Gaschard of l’Atelier Miel
Project budget €140,000 (around £121,000)
Photos by Mickaël Martins Afonso