This French Studio is 226 Square Feet of Tiny Space Perfection

Name: Anne Staver
Location: Pentes de la Croix-Rousse — Lyon, France
Size: 226 square feet (plus a 97 square foot bed loft)
Years lived in: 1 year, owned

I recently had the chance to realize a long-standing dream of a pied-à-terre in Lyon, where I spent several years of my youth. It’s located exactly on the block that I always said I wanted to have an apartment, in the old silkworkers’ neighborhood in Lyon (Pentes de la Croix-Rousse). The location is just fantastic — and the wine bar downstairs is almost an extension of my living room.

The apartment was in okay condition, but it had been a rental and it did not have a real kitchen, just a sink and two hot plates, and it was a sort of dirty white. I hired an interior architect, Claire Salais, to design a kitchen and come up with more of a style and soul for the place, and I am so happy with what she managed to do on a really tight budget. She used cheap materials such as OSB, which I think gives a really fun texture, and then did clever things with paint and custom-printed wallpaper.

I have had it for about a year and it’s been about seven months since the renovations were done. For now it’s a vacation home that I mostly use on weekends, but it’s really become my happy place.

I love the high ceiling and the very functional kitchen, where I can cook all the great vegetables I buy at the market. It’s made from IKEA cabinets, but with custom doors, and it’s all I need.

I was constrained by time and distance and couldn’t do that much myself, but I have to say I found the process of working with interior architect Claire Salais to be really marvelous.

I was able to convey to her what I was after (I made a Pinterest board and met with her a few times), and then she translated that into something I loved but would have never been able to come up with on my own.

Thanks, Anne!

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