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nicholas531

Compact Living

Nicholas531
9 years ago

Hi everyone, I am currently designing and working on my GCSE project to design a compact 500 sq-foot apartment in Hong Kong. I plan to have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a study. It will be a lofted apartment so there'll be lots of extrra space. I have an "industrial" theme but with a strong modern influence. Any tips or comments would be of great help. Thanks.

Comments (3)

  • graywings123
    9 years ago

    What kind of tips or comments are you looking for? Design ideas? Types of furniture? There are a couple forums here where the creative types hang out - Home decorating forum, building a home forum, and the small house forum.

  • phidauex
    9 years ago

    - Murphy Beds!
    - Integrated storage everywhere - no furniture is allowed that doesn't store something inside of it
    - Combo washer/dryer unit (take a long time to do a load, but very convenient - can slide right into a cabinet space since they are ventless)
    - 24" induction range
    - 24" dishwasher
    - Use curtains or folding wall screens to divide spaces instead of making it a warren of walls and tiny rooms, screens move in and out, or up and down, and let you open the rooms up.

  • camlan
    9 years ago

    Real beds that aren't a lot of work to get ready. So no sofa beds or inflatable beds. Nothing that you have to strip the bedding off every morning and re-make the bed every night. Murphy beds, that can stay made up and just need a push or pull to get them out and put them away, are fine.

    Nothing too complicated. I've seen the video of an apartment that has sliding walls to make different "rooms." I don't want to have to wait for a wall to move to get to the kitchen or pour a glass of water. The most basic functions--cooking, sleeping, the bathroom, should easily accessible at all times. Sometimes designers of small spaces get carried away with form over function.

    My chief suggestion is to build in storage everywhere you can, but do it carefully. Look at boats and RVs for examples of fitting storage into odd spaces. The more built-in storage, the fewer pieces of storage furniture people will need. So a Great Wall O' Storage in the living room, for example, could have cabinets on the lower part and shallower bookcases above. That gives you a display shelf on the top of the cabinets, or a place to put a flat screen TV. The cabinets can hold everything from holiday decorations to china to kids' toys. The shelves could be for books, or decorative objects, or pretty baskets/bins to hold more stuff.

    The study, depending on how large it is, could double as a dining area.

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