This Small Apartment is Superbly Set Up

Sarah Tolle – Homify Canada Sarah Tolle – Homify Canada
APARTMENT “VERBI”, Polygon arch&des Polygon arch&des Living room
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If you're looking to make the most of a small space, take note of what you're about to see in this ideabook – there's something for everyone in this cleverly designed flat. Following an intense remodel, interior designers from Rover BC swept in to create a fun and unique home for a young family in a very small amount of space. The family's passion for all things creative can be seen all throughout, reflected in the playful patterns, funky lighting, dynamic mix of textures, and ingenious tweaks that have turned a tiny space into a convenient family home.

The Space

On the right side of the room, you see the dining room table fitted snugly up against the partition that gives a bit of separation between the living room and kitchen/dining room area. The layout is friendly and sociable, but still gives each room a sense of its own space, with the kitchen displaying more woody tones and the living room featuring a mix-and-match color scheme. In both spaces, you can see how the designers have opted for geometrically inspired patterns – hexagon blocks make for an interesting partition, while the triangular-patterned rug in the living room ties the geometrical theme into the space beyond.

The (Tiny) Floor Plan

This little box is bustling with life! Here, a lovely and detailed rendition shows four main sections of the home: starting in the bottom left, there's an entrance area with kitchen and dining room table; moving clockwise there's a living room sharing space with a bedroom, then a bathroom, and finally, a linen closet and laundry area. This little space has it all! 

The Kitchen/Dining Room

Here's a perspective that focuses on the kitchen area that's formed against the wall as a series of well organized functions. Lightly-stained wood and white laminate cabinetry keep things light, an important aspect for widening a small space. Notice how the sleek cabinets (free of handles!) seem to press back against the wall, giving the maximum amount of space to the corridor that runs between the dining room table and kitchen appliances. 

The designers have snuck in another geometrical pattern in the playful backsplash, featuring an assortment of browns and blues that add an artistic, laissez-faire look to the kitchen. 

A Step Back into the Living Room

Here, the kitchen is still visible beyond as the living room couch enjoys its own little space, partially sheltered by the partition. The clever placement of these dividing walls throughout the home has enabled the designers to create many diverse spaces within the 400 square feet that they were given to work with. This view provides an excellent example of how the color scheme in each room is just distinct enough to give it the feel of a separate space, while the family can still benefit from the openness that the partitions provide.

The decor in this room draws the eyes all around, enjoying the full volume of the space – a funky, dangling ceiling light draws the gaze up, while a more edgy pattern on the rug creates interest below. Patterned pillows on the couch offer a patterned accent that compliments the subtle geometric theme that you see throughout the home. 

Just behind the couch, you get a glimpse of the bedroom, resting behind a clear glass partition – next, we'll take a closer look at this clever design in more detail.

A Well-Lit Bedroom

To be fair, the one thing that this bedroom lacks is privacy. A clear glass dividing wall is not exactly the most practical choice for someone who wants a lot of privacy in their bedroom (for reference, the living room couch rests just on the other side of the glass partition wall). However, the transparent glass dividing wall has been chosen for a very important reason: natural light. If the bedroom were enclosed by a solid wall, the room would have no access to natural light, becoming entirely dependent on artificial light. This may not seem like a huge problem, but anyone who has slept in a bedroom devoid of windows will know that waking up on a sunny morning in  pitch black darkness is a very strange and unnatural way to start the day. With this design, some of the living room noise is deafened by the wall, and even though the slightly lofted sleeping area is in a sheltered nook, the bedroom still enjoys access to a huge stream of natural light.

A Pattern-Filled Bathroom

Adding a lot of pattern to a small space can often result in a cluttered look. However, this grey tile pattern doesn't overwhelm the senses, despite being splashed across the floor and back wall of the bathroom. There are elements of the bathroom that balance this geometric pattern, sending it into the background where it belongs; for example, the eye-catching orange hue of the natural wood counter, and the well-placed pops of teal throughout the space. With these brighter, bolder blocks of colour to catch your eye, the subtle grays of the patterned tiles relax, forming a more gentle backdrop.

A Surprisingly Roomy Space

It's not exactly the type of bathroom you'd imagine for an apartment that tops out at 400 square feet! This lengthy bathroom is actually quite roomy! The bathroom carries the partition-filled theme, with a glass wall partially sheltering the tub, along with a shorter tiled wall. Once again, the addition of a clear glass has opened up the space, maximizing every nook and cranny of this small home. Long horizontal lines in the counter run parallel with the rectangular tub and long white tiles of the upper walls, drawing long, continuous lines that widen the space wherever you look.

A Space-Saving Toilet

So rare is the occasion when a toilet takes the spotlight. Nevertheless, this cute little toilet is worth noting! While some designs house a bulky tank (which often gets stacked with candles and hair dryers and who knows what else), this toilet's design is pressed neatly against the wall, allowing for optimum walking space through the bathroom. What's more, the circular design – along with the fuzzy, circular rug – balance the sharp, straight lines in the rest of the room. 

Another noteworthy aspect of this bathroom is the wall that a stylish tiled wall also doubles as a convenient bathroom shelf – in a space where storage is at a premium, the construction of this tiled wall has provided ample space for housing lotions, shampoos, and even a decorative plant.

If you like seeing how designers manage to make incredible living spaces, even in the tiniest conditions, check out this tour of a tiny home we think is perfect to tuck into Toronto!

What do you think of these small apartment decorating ideas? Share your insight below!

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