Tiny 355 Sq. Ft. Micro-Apartment Is Expanded With Adaptable Mini-Loft

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Updated October 11, 2018

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While smaller living spaces may not offer much in terms of square footage, they can feel much less cramped if their layouts or changed or even if one puts some decluttering action into play.

And these changes really do work: Design Milk shows how Taipei, Taiwan based A Lentil Design transformed a tiny, walled-up 33-square-metre (355 square feet) apartment into a brightly lit haven for a couple and their cat, by knocking some walls down, and adding a staircase leading up to a new loft.

© A Lentil DesignOriginally partitioned off to have two bedrooms, as well as the usual kitchen, bathroom and living room, the redesign eliminates the walls of the second bedroom, converting it into a larger living room that suits the couple's needs, while also bringing in more light and ventilation into the once-dim maze of rooms. Instead of having a big TV mounted in the wall, it's been replaced by a lovely, recessed bookshelf that displays the couple's books and mementos.

© A Lentil Design

On the other side of the room is the open kitchen, which has its own small freestanding island for dining in or working on.

© A Lentil Design

The apartment's staircase is one of the new additions to the home that didn't exist before, and it performs a number of functions: not only does it provide a bit of a boundary between the entry and the rest of the home, it also has some storage cabinetry built in, and also offers access up to the secondary loft that could someday be adapted into a room for a child, or used for extra storage.

At the base of the stairs is the main bedroom, with a view of the city from the bed, which is elevated on a platform, equipped with storage drawers underneath.

Small spaces don't have to feel like a cage, especially when there are so many micro-sized apartments are cropping up as a response to rising housing prices. A few changes can make a big difference, opening up a tiny space to more natural light, and giving the impression of much more space, as we can see here. More over at Design Milk and A Lentil Design.