apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i know its a major challenge in such small studios but i still think beds and bedrooms should be more private. When i lived in a studio i had two very tall screens separating my bed from the living/dining/kitchen area. It worked fine.

Haha... aww, thanks for including my space in this post, guys! But I must admit, it looks sooooo much better since I changed things up a bit.
See? http://www.flickr.com/photos/elissamae/3499352663/

yes sparkle, i love your space now!! uber chic

great gallery! i looked at the first picture and had an inspiration and moved my sectional couch around & now I have some more space....

i thought about screens but i don't want to disrupt the flow of the room... plus i have a great view & want to be able to see it from the dining area, the bed & the living/couch area...

best,
jlb

sparkle, where did you get your divider and how did you hang it?

I got the divider from IKEA. Just some lightweight white curtains hung on their DIGNITET curtain wire system.

i wholeheartedly agree. sometimes the partition just gums up the flow and makes everything cramped.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63122153@N00/3771113118/

Whenever I am at a loss as to how to deal with a small space with style and efficiency, I just think two magic words: hotel suite.

Whether you use your local Hilton or the Mercer in New York as your reference, hotel websites provide an endless supply of photographs and inspiration detailing exactly how design professionals have styled small space, multi-functional rooms that include a bed.

If people pay $450 a night for the pleasure of staying in one of these spaces, why wouldn't those same solutions work in your home?

I'm with hiding the bed. It's better for a day-to-day basis. Yes, motel rooms are made up like this - but you stay in what, a week, two weeks tops? It's not for long term.

that first image is amazing! which small space is it from?

and of course... if i read the article better, i would have seen it is nick's smart space! i think styling your bed is a great way to incorporate it in a small space. i think the idea of private is a dated one at that. divided rooms connected with narrow hallways. openness, one room and simple are more modern concepts that exist within the realm of being public and not hidden. just a thought.

and for those that think making your bed everyday is a nuisance; all my friends that do are great people and their spaces always look amazing. it is the little details that make modern spaces modern.

My bed is out in the open in my little studio apartment. The style of the frame is similar to the style of the "living" furniture, the bedding is the same color as the rug and the curtains, the seating is arranged so it doesn't face the bed . . . you forget the bed is even there. Partitions would make the room feel smaller, and I'm too lazy to deal with a convertible.

I always think of studio apartments as "mini lofts" and organize the furniture accordingly. For me, a four poster bed with a canopy frame around it allows you to hang interesting curtains or fabrics all around so you end up with a "room within a room" or a "sleeping chamber" effect when all the curtains are shut. I like silk curtains of many colors with embroideries for a harem feel.
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

Guess I'm just oldskool, but I don't want to see a bed out in the open in a studio space: TMBI (too much bed information leaves little room for the imagination.)

Where's the sense of mystery? Of romance?

This is just what I need. I hate it when folks tell you that you need a bedroom and such when you have a studio. I like the open floor plan and the mulit-purpose that one room can function. Instead of a messy bedroom, living room, dining area....I just have one big space to clean and de-clutter. Wish me luck on duplicate and using some of your ideas.

My yea or nay for a studio apartment design is almost always based on whether or not the bed is somehow separated or hidden from the rest of the apartment. Even if it's a curtain that is hardly ever used in daily life, I much prefer the ability to hide, or disguise, the bed if company is over.

I think, like everything in design, it's about making choices that suit the space. I happen to have an alcove studio and my full sized bed fits the space perfectly. I have a tension rod with some drapery panels. I keep them pulled back with hold backs, but it helps differentiate the space a little. I personally like the idea of keeping such a private space a little shielded. I've seen a few apartments on here that use the Ikea open shelving really effectively. That said, if the space is just one open room, go with the bed out in the open. I saw an episode of SATC the other night where the Berger character has his apartment styled that way and it looked great.

blackink - Maybe you need to remember a valuable part of history. People used to live in one room cabins - where everything was out in the open. That's kind of why we started building walls after we found other ways to heat than a huge stove or fireplace. It's far far far from modern.

I wouldn't be comfortable looking at my bed in the middle of the living areas without hiding it somehow. And I know I'd feel extremely awkward being the company at someone's place that did. Like I said, with all the options to "hide" a bed, not hiding it I find even more lazy.

It's far far far from modern.
says who?
so you can't be 'modern' and live in a studio space? i couldn't disagree more. tell that to thousands of city dwellers. i live in a rural area myself, but i dream of one day owning a tiny home, less than 500 sf, and i love studio living.

I meant the idea of open spaces being a modern thing - it isn't. The idea took place long before we had studio apartments.

Is it the possibility of sleep or sex that makes people uncomfortable viewing someone's bed in a studio apartment? I'm all for privacy, but we're talking a made and styled bed incorporated into the decor and layout of a small apartment, not a toilet in the middle of the room.

"ldmortensen" is basically a spammer promoting its own website. AT, please block that user!

I like the idea of keeping my bed in it's own space. I need my sleeping space to feel private, especially when living in a one room apartment.

It gives me the illusion of a bedroom.

it isn't lazy to not hide your bed. my home isn't arranged to make visitors comfortable. that's a luxury. it is arranged to make me comfortable since i live there. if someone is uncomfortable, they don't have to visit.