House Tour: How To Live Beautifully In 500 square Feet

We are right now smack dab in the middle of downtown Toronto, 52nd floor. This condo in the sky is, believe it or not, 538 square feet, which is crazy. But I mean, that's living in the city. This is the reality for a lot of people. The other challenge is the fact that there are two people living in here. So it's my client and her boyfriend, you know, two different personalities and two wardrobes. The unit itself was pretty standard. It actually lacked a lot of character. We had a very tight timeline. From the time where she actually got the keys to when she moved in, we had to complete and install everything within six weeks. So she brought me in to be able to personalize the space and just bring her ideas and her creative vision to life. Now the budget itself, $30,000 may sound like a lot of money. It's not a little bit of money. It is an investment. However, when you're talking about outfitting a space from scratch, that's actually not that much money. This included everything in the entire unit, including things like cutlery, shower curtain, waste paper basket, hiring of the tradespeople, the contractor to be able to install the floor, to be able to install this paneling in the living room space. Things like even purchasing the television, all the side tables, accessories, dining table. And believe it or not, in 538 square feet, you can still have a dining room. At $1,200, the marble top dining table was a little bit of an investment. However, it just made sure that we were able to get the right size table for the unit. She actually works from home as well. So this serves as a portable office space for her and her boyfriend. We opted for an apartment style sofa, which still can sit two people comfortably. We decided to include two ottomans as well for extra seating, but also they function as additional decorative element. Our top saves in the apartment were definitely the area rug, which we actually got for $150. I know, on Wayfair. We also bought this fantastic brass and glass bar cart for $99. We painted the entire apartment white, including the box paneling. And I think this just makes the space feel a lot larger than it is. And it also makes it feel a lot more expensive. And paneling is not that expensive to install. These are MDF panels glued to the wall, believe it or not. It completely just elevated the space and created an instant wow factor. The kitchen itself is small. However, there were two worthwhile investments in here. One of those being that amazing Chevron backsplash that we had installed. The backsplash itself, the material and the grout cost about $800. One of the other worthwhile investments that we made in the kitchen was the kitchen faucet. We upgraded, spent a couple hundred dollars, so not a whole lot of money. And it functions a lot better than the one that was in here previously. We also installed some floating shelves as well on the one wall to be able to display her cookbooks. But also it's functional. Installing shelves vertically offers a great solution to be able to provide that extra storage. Let's talk about the bedroom. I mean, wow, that wallpaper is totally transformative. The doors are open all the time to the room. So the wallpaper is not just a wall covering and a bedroom, but it also functions as art. We were able to fit in a queen size bed as well as two functioning side tables. $250 each, which is a total steal. And again, they were purchased online. We were also able to fit in a vanity area for my client. We brought in that Lucite table, which stands right in front of this gigantic window wall. And it's great because it doesn't obstruct my client's view. And it still allows us to get that light into the room. We gave the bathroom a complete refresh. We decided to add a really graphic wall treatment. A totally easy DIY. It's a weekend project. One day to paint the entire wall white. And then the second day to tape out and paint the stripes. And again, it just sort of makes the space feel that much more special and custom. I think one of the most important things living in a small space is choosing the appropriate scaled furniture. If there's one tip that I can always give to my clients is do your floor plan a couple of times. It's very easy to fall in love with that sofa. But just remember the scale. And remember that it may not necessarily work in a small space. My client just is absolutely thrilled with the result. And we were able to provide her with a clean and unique and modern space that appealed to her design aesthetic.