Micro-Apartment's Simple Makeover Makes It Bigger and Beautiful

Smaller living spaces are not uncommon in densely populated cities, especially in island metropolises like Singapore and New York City. Hong Kong is yet another example of an island city whose population of over 7 million has had to adapt to a mountainous terrain that doesn't allow for much urbanization to sprawl out. Rather, they've had to build up, with the side effect of the average home being much smaller (and much, much more expensive) than what we might be used to in North America.

But good design can make such smaller spaces feel—and live—much bigger. In Hong Kong's northern district of Tsuen Wan, local design firm littleMORE revamped a tiny, 312-square-foot (29-square-meter) micro-apartment to make it brighter, and more spacious.

The project, dubbed Indihome, was previously a one-bedroom apartment with an existing partition wall that closed off the only bedroom. To open up the space and to redefine the spatial proportions of the existing layout, designers Ada Wong and Eric Liu decided to demolish that partition, thus allowing more light to enter into the rest of the home via one of the two big windows of the apartment, while also making the overall space feel larger.

As one can see, the bedroom now has a half-height wall, which is topped by a glass wall that lets in more natural illumination into the rest of the home.

To maximize storage, storage has been built into the bedroom's bay window. There is still enough space left over to set up a lovely little vanity desk.

Outside of the bedroom, one can see that the glass partition can be closed off with another large, sliding glass partition.

That overall sense of spaciousness is helped along by the high, 10-foot (3-meter) ceilings, which are further accentuated by the minimalist palette of neutral tones and subtle textures of pale-colored wood furnishings and finishes.

Besides that, we have an almost full-height wardrobe with a door made out of oak wood, which allows the client to store their things easily, without adding visual clutter.

The bay window of the living room has also been transformed with a lining of oak wood, transforming it into a usable space where one can sit with a morning cup of tea to watch the weather outside. As the designers explain:

"Although the window in the living room originally is quite large in size, because of the orientation of the apartment, there wasn't enough natural daylight flowing into the house. With the original wall of the bedroom transformed to a full-height glass partition, the whole apartment is warmed and brightened up, offering a high degree of refreshment to the project. The window itself is further emphasized by adding a light-toned wood frame, making the bay window a nice corner to stay on."

There's a lot of great storage ideas here: Even the steps leading up into the bedroom have some kind of hidden storage integrated into it. Hidden or integrated storage solutions are a must if one wants to avoid one's home looking like a mess, or a haphazard collection of bins, cabinets, and drawers.

Looking in the opposite direction from the window, we see the dining area, which features a compact table for meals and work.

The dining table can be extended to create more seating places. In addition, we have some tall wardrobe space here for storing clothes and other equipment, as well as a built-in nook and upholstered seat, designed for the delicate task of putting one's shoes on.

We like the versatile side table here too, which can tuck in under the sofa to save space, or be moved in front of the sofa as a coffee table.

Beyond the glass door, we have the kitchen, which has an irregular layout that has to be maximized with the installation of storage cabinets overhead and underneath, as well as a combination washer and dryer under the counter.

The use of a sleek induction cooktop, small sink, and wall shelving helps to minimize clutter, while also maintaining a high level of functionality in a petite space.

With its bold, textured tiles and blue and gray tones, the bathroom on the other side of the dining area presents an aesthetic counterpoint to the otherwise calm, measured atmosphere of the rest of the apartment.

The glass wall demarcating the shower helps to make the space feel larger and brighter, along with the LED lighting provided by the wall mirror.

There is indeed beauty in simplicity, and this simple redesign of a formerly cramped micro-apartment shows that small and simple can also be quite beautiful. To see more, visit littleMORE.