While there are so many different elements of this apartment that we find inspiring, the biggest would be the clever introduction of ample storage space; the most impressive being the "magicians box" that divides the kitchen from the office and the built in shelving surrounding the wall of the bedroom. In the bedroom there is also a wall of storage space, inside which all of the draws and cupboards are orange — too special!
Scott so kindly took some time to answer some of the questions we had about this project:
What attracted you to work on this project?
The Clients attracted me to the project because rather than upscaling to a bigger apartment or home they decided to stay put and purge themselves of unnecessary clutter in life which was very liberating.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with this project?
Balancing the Clients budget with the greater scope of work because the apartment needed total gutting, re-wiring, plumbing and these are big ticket items when renovating. A large portion of money was put aside to bring the apartment up to date and then the remainder was carefully allocated against the different rooms (bathroom, kitchen, office etc.) and associated materials and finishes.
What is your favorite element of the finished apartment?
I think the hand-painted multi-functional box that straddles the kitchen, living and office spaces. It provides both functional and aesthetic consideration to the apartment and reminds me of a giant magicians box with hidden concealed compartments to all three sides.
If you could do the project again, would you do anything differently?
There is nothing I would do differently as it was designed and documented specifically for the Client. As with all projects you constantly learn along the way and in hindsight always use what you have learned on the next project.
Thank you Scott!
Be sure to check out Scott Weston's websitefor a lot more inspiration and of course his Apartment Therapy House Tour.
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Absolutely Beautiful!
Purple!
(love it)
I love flush faced built in cabinets SO MUCH! This just seems like an awesome place to come home to, even though it's small.
I'm wondering if purple is going to be our generation's Harvest Gold...
Eh ... yeah, I'm not loving this. Except possibly the bathroom.
This apartment turns me on.
If I were the clients then I'd want never to move. Having everything this customized to their tastes would be hard to leave.
I like one of the 'during'-pictures where the walls were taken down, it made the place much bigger and lighter..
Unfortunately a 'magician box' was placed, blocking all the light and enclosing the space again.
@Ansela, That camera lens distortion makes the crowdedness more intense, but I know what you mean.
I like it! Is that a sectional couch? If it is then it's the first time I've seen one that looks gorgeous and perfect. My only question is how do you reach the books at the top shelf?
It's amazing that the entire place is only 515 sq ft.
I'm with greatkate.. I only like the bathroom. The issue I have about all bit in furniture is what happens when you get tired of it. I happen to love being able to change around a room and buy new furniture-dressers and such- to get different looks. You can't really do that here.
Love the couch and the bathroom, but other than that... muh.
I think it's beautiful, but there doesn't seem to be much room for lounging, other than that gorgeous sectional. That's nit-picky, though, it's a beautiful space!
The crucial design component was balancing purpose designed joinery and flexible pieces (like the dining table that is moved from it's docking area to the banquette) without overcrowding a very small room.
The L-shaped banquette was placed under the north facing window for views and light.
The magicians box does not prevent light or reduce the natural quality of light into the space. I was there this week as its been shot for Vogue Living and everybody commented on the ZEN like atmosphere of the spaces,
The Client requested that most furniture items be purpose designed and simple things could within time be changed like upholstery. Most of the joinery is neutral apart from the hero library wall which is mostly concealed by books, with the occasional glimpse of lilac.
The magicians box is in dusty lilac and hand-painted and routed to give an additional texture/layer to the room.
The box also has a flush lightbox component to the corridor side to provide elegant uplighting.
Artwork was not hung in those pictures taken by me as the job had just been completed. In the next month or so I will have the photos that show the finished apartment with artwork.