Small Apartment Ideas, For Spaces Under 50 Square Meters

These three small apartment tours illustrate three very different ways of creatively utilising limited living space, all measuring under 50 square metres. The first tour is all set to show off how a super stylish space can be possible on a budget, featuring a glass wall bedroom and a surprising volume of storage. Tour number two is a pine filled picture of bespoke furniture and unique elevated viewing platforms that increase the square footage. Lastly we tour a high-end interior on a tiny footprint, which still manages to squeeze in a double workspace, a glass wall bedroom, and a chic little bathroom with a multitude of storage niches.

Designer: N.Team Design Visualizer: N.Team Design

This 45 square meter one-room apartment was designed to be rented, and therefore only allowed a small project budget. The designers transformed the flat into a spacious studio with a combined kitchen and living room, a separated bedroom area, and a bathroom. A sectional couch, set of round coffee tables, and a floor reading lamp form the simple but stylish lounge.

A glass wall serves as a room divider between the living areas and the bedroom, whilst maintaining the complete visual area of the apartment.

Bespoke storage makes the most of every inch of space.

In the narrow home entryway, a rattan stool tucks neatly into a nook within the closets.

A sleek linear suspension lamp illuminates the dining end of a bench. The other end becomes a shelf below the wall mounted tv.

Bookshelves tower at the end of the kitchen installation, providing a pleasant focal point to the rest of the living area.

The support leg of the dining bench is transparent, which complements the aesthetic of the glass wall bedroom nearby. See more modern fruit bowls like this one here.

Inside the glass wall bedroom, an orange bed matches with the orange area rug in the lounge.

A black bathroom sink dominates the light grey and white bathroom scheme.

Black towel rungs stripe the adjacent concrete bathroom wall.

A black shower and toilet complete the black bathroom kit.

The floor plan illustrates the banks of plentiful storage installed in the limited space.

Architect: A6A

Our second tour is set over 49 square meters, in Bordeaux, France. It has been entitled ‘the pine flat’ by its designers, for obvious reasons. Bespoke furniture, wall panels and doors all swim with wood grain.

Green scatter cushions compliment the lumber interior. An arc floor lamp stretches over one block side of the timber sofa.

Neat modern wall sconces are mounted onto the timber headboard wall inside the bedroom. Wooden bedside cabinets are built into the bedframe.

Pine plywood panels engulf the room. Knotty pine planks fashion the door.

Back out in the main living space, a round dining table stands in front of the bespoke wooden couch, with four modern dining chairs.

Indoor plants populate the space, flourishing in the sunlight from high windows. The extra ceiling height offered by the eaves facilitates a double layered design, where platforms on top of deep storage volumes increase the surface of the small flat to an optimized 50 square metres. The platforms also provide access to the view.

The cool grey kitchen contrasts with the color and patterns of the surrounding wood. Stainless steel doors allow the storage space inside the kitchen island to be accessed from both sides.

A stainless steel sink is undermounted to the varnished concrete worktop.

An induction hob occupies the other end of the concrete countertop.

Industrial style kitchen pendant lights complement the steel and concrete kitchen materials.

Two tall timber doors stand beside the kitchen island, with cut-out holes for handles. One conceals the fridge and the other a bathroom.

This is a studio with lofted bed too; a ladder provides access to the elevated alcove.

The hideaway bedroom goes almost unnoticed from the main floor.

Pine panelwork continues inside the bathroom.

Steps lead up to a tucked away tub.

Floor plan illustrating the two bedrooms inside the tiny home, plus the deep storage volumes that double as platforms beneath the high windows.

Designer: Tyoma Atsone Visualizer: Tyoma Atsone

Our last tour is a compact 38 square metre abode in Kharkov, Ukraine. The layout includes a living room dining room combo with a double workspace, and a glass wall bedroom.

A modular sofa backs onto a dining table. Its upholstery varies between different shades of grey to break up its visual bulk.

In front of the sofa, a small side table nestles into the crook of its L-shape.

Wood slats trim the lower half of the room beneath the windows, in continuation from the wood effect kitchen base units.

The dining chairs look into the lounge area, past the wine glasses.

A decorative wall mirror softly illuminates one wall of the living room.

A creative slatted lighting solution glows in the hallway, opposite a smooth grey coat closet and a shoe storage stool.

Inside the glass wall bedroom, a storage headboard is built into the closets. The black bookshelves contrast with clean white cupboard doors. Two modern wall sconces provide reading light inside the dark bed nook. A silver grey comforter gives the bed an inviting luxe look.

Cabinets above the desk and computer chair in the living room follow the same aesthetic as the bedroom storage units. Wooden drawers underline the desktops beneath each of the computer monitors, at either end of the workspace.

An illuminated vanity mirror glows inside a wood and white bathroom.

Concrete tiles speckle the floor.

The space around the toilet cistern is harnessed for clever bathroom storage. Candles and nicer toiletries can be displayed within a cut-through section above the loo, whilst excess items are tucked behind the face panel and accessed from the side.