Music Lover’s Small Paris Apartment with Clever Storage, 47sqm/506sqft

For this apartment, I imagined soft dark wood and warm walls. I was looking for a timeless look and materials and finishes that could stand the test of time. My name is Viviane Tchela Gopian and I am an interior designer. My client is a very kind and handsome entrepreneur in his 40s. His hobbies, including reading, listening to music and doing sports, they are not just a pastime but something he completely organizes his life around. He wanted to make sure there was an ideal spot to read and store his books. He wanted the reading experience to be enhanced by high-end music listening. Together, we found a way to create a design that could house his hobbies comfortably. They are at the heart of the design of this flat. The apartment is at the foot of the Canal Saint-Martin. It is away from the obvious tourist path and it has a lot of coffee shops and one of the most famous Parisian bakeries. The main attraction of the neighborhood is the lock, made famous by the film Amélie. It's an Osmanian building from 1875 that has always been residential. The owner found the place when it was still divided in three parts. There was a one-bedroom apartment, a corridor and a studio. He was able to buy all three of them together all at once. The apartment had great natural lighting with tons of windows and even a small skylight in the corridor. However, they were dingy with old flooring and crinkly paint and although they had retained their original moldings and fireplaces, they needed to be completely gutted. The first thing we did was to enclose the previously open corridor into the apartment. The bathroom in the studio was enlarged and divided in two to create a main bathroom with a new window and a separate toilet. We decided to keep the bedroom entirely in what used to be the studio apartment and turn the other apartment into a large open living dining and kitchen area. Is it a book? Is it a mag? I'm a magazine all right, but a magazine like no other. Look at me go. I'm designy and architectuary with experimental furniture and design ideas for your small home coming out my... and specifically designed page by page to make you go, ah, and oh, that's cool. Hang out with Italian artist Zuzu in her cave of dreams. Get inspired by Barcelona-based punk product designer Kuro Claret. Try not to smile in response to Camille Wallala's Technicolor masterpieces. Delight in the shape-shifting, interactive, and small-space-friendly textile furniture of Luna Haverkorn. Meet some bastards from Bangkok. Learn what car crashes have to do with Aldo Rossi's sexy coffee pots and poetic cemeteries. Get your small home's fix with three very different pads from Spain, Australia, and Japan. And plunge into the playfully nostalgic world of Brazilian duo Two Lost Kids. You've never met a mag like me. Subscribe now to get yours with free worldwide shipping. The entrance immediately sets the tone. Because of the thick insulation in the apartment, the window sills are quite deep, which made this a perfect spot to install a built-in bench to take your shoes off. Beside the door, a mirrored coat closet bounces light in this small entryway, keeping the entryway clean and uncluttered. From the entrance, a low wooden passage invites you to step directly into the open living dining kitchen area. Where a fireplace once stood, we installed a custom-built music wall. We worked with a speaker company to create bespoke integrated speakers that would fit seamlessly into the piece. We designed the lower shelf specifically to fit his turntable and the amplifier, which is also integrated into the piece, as well as a ledge to display the vinyls he is currently listening to. The music wall also holds one of the many bookcases in the apartment. On the lowest part, a slim set of smoked glass doors hide the more unsightly tech pieces. The large blank space serves as the projection screen. We also took advantage of a small spot above one of the speakers to add hidden closed storage. Below a slanted wall, a large wall of books captures your attention. Inside it, we placed a beautiful lamp designed by Jean Nouvel. The small cabinet has perforated wood doors that, aside from adding texture to the design, allow for a better music listening experience. The apartment walls are entirely covered in limewash finish, making it incredibly sustainable and resistant to wear. Because the client often helps a friend look after their dog, putting rugs down in this place wasn't an option. I ended up sourcing end grain wood tiles like the ones that were originally used in the street of this apartment in the 1930s. This felt like a clever way to add the warmth of rugs, as well as a wink to the history of the apartment. After we removed a load-bearing wall, we had to install a beam across the entire living area to replace it. We decided to take advantage of it by creating a small drop ceiling that holds a 5.5 meter long bookshelf. Inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the bookshelf is purposely tilted to make book titles easier to read. Because there wasn't much space in this room, we decided to condense a lot of functions into one single piece, allowing for better circulation. We created a bespoke piece that looks like a natural extension of the Muto sofa. It holds a small library as well as an indented side table, which he specifically requested to avoid knocking his drinks off the table. The bespoke furniture piece wraps around the sofa to create a bench for the dining area, which made it so there were less chairs and visual clutter in this space. We decided to pair it with a slim glass table and a set of classic aposter chairs. The kitchen blends into the dining room and feels more like a design piece than a regular kitchen. Because the client doesn't do a lot of cooking, we kept its functional features to a minimum, including only two stovetops with an under-counter oven, a small dishwasher, a washing machine and a small fridge. The kitchen doors have a wood framing with white laminated veneer that closely matches the chairs in the dining room. It adds a little sophistication to the whole space. The true showstopper here is the Patagonia granite used for both the countertop and backsplash. Its spectacular artistic effect turns the wall into a beautiful painting. Above the counter, instead of a range hood, we decided to prioritize the projector. Because the kitchen is close to a window, it ventilates the area quite well. The sleeping area is hidden behind a pocket door. As soon as you step through the sliding door, you can see the low bed which makes this room feel even larger than it is. We decided to place it right below the tilted skylights so that the client can gaze at the stars during the night. The custom bed frame and side tables were purposely built to look like a single large piece of furniture, which helps to make the room feel like one cohesive space. The wall behind the bed is covered in a rich textured faux-eel leather wallpaper from Elitis that serves as a soft integrated headboard. The platform also houses a custom-built dresser with bespoke handles where he stores his clothes and his gym equipment. A large mirror wraps around the back wall to help him check his postures during his workouts. It also makes this narrow space feel a lot wider. In the corner of this room, we decided to create a hidden gaming area that isn't visible from the bed or upon entry. To do this, we designed a custom media unit that holds the large TV screen and gaming consoles. To complete this look, we placed a bench along the wall that has a dedicated spot to put away the controllers and a simple speaker system. The unavoidable amount of cables are hidden behind a wooden panel accessible from the back to make cable management easier. The bathroom is very narrow but functional. Beside the washbasin, a hidden shallow cupboard serves to hide his toiletries. We utilized the curve of the communal stairwell behind the wall to design a unique structure that integrates a bench, a planter and a washbasin all in one. The toilet was made to be extremely simple as the client didn't want this to be a spot for lingering. It has a simple floating toilet and some storage that hides cleaning products and a water softener tank. Directly across from the toilet, there is a highly functional hidden drying cupboard. It provides a secret space to dry clothes and swimwear quickly. For a decade, I lived in a 19 square meter apartment and my life was beautifully simple. Everything was practical and within reach. If I needed something, I only had to extend my arm. This experience taught me that we don't need more space than what is absolutely necessary. As someone born and raised in Paris, I've always held this conviction. In a city like this, there simply isn't space for more. Upgrading and repurposing existing tiny spaces is crucial for the future of urban living because it challenges the notion that we need excessive space to live well.