An Eclectic Modern Mini 288 Square Foot Brooklyn Studio

Name: Akhira N. Ismail
Location: Fort Greene; Brooklyn, New York
Size: 288 square feet
Years lived in: 3 years

Akhira is beautiful and brilliant and welcoming and warm, and her apartment is no different. With only 288 square feet and a modest budget, she’s created a space so stylish and functional that when you see the photos, you may want to move in immediately.

Thanks to the layout of the apartment — and Akhira’s ingeniuty — this little space feels much larger than it is. There’s a cozy nook for the bed, surrounded by beautiful art that Akhira made herself, and a quite spacious living room, which shares a breakfast bar with the kitchen. Akhira designed and built the bar herself, and it serves as a prep space, dining table, and workspace all in one. Akhira doesn’t see her small space as a limitation, so much as an opportunity for creative solutions — and she definitely doesn’t let it keep her from entertaining. “You can always fit people in your space as long as you have a place for them to sit.”

Like what you see? Akhira works a designer — you can check out more of her work here.

Our Style: Eclectic, modern cozy.

Inspiration: Nature, color, architecture, tiny houses, women’s and men’s fashion.

Favorite Element: My plants and my man’s chair, which is a leather safari chair. Oh and my windows. Love my windows — I can actually sit in them.

Biggest Challenge: Making sure I can fit everything and leaving room for me to welcome something new in my life.

What Friends Say: Wow, this is gorgeous. It doesn’t feel like a studio. This is well laid out and so many liitle cool details.

Biggest Embarrassment: Well, it’s not an embarrassment to me, but I would have to say most people complain about my TV. It’s a tube TV. Yes, I still have one and I love it .

Proudest DIY: My bar, because it made with old shelves from an IKEA Expedit unit. It created the right width for bar in a small space. Oh, and my large painting — it came to me in a dream.

Biggest Indulgence: My closet. It’s an Elfa closet, and it’s well planned to hold all of my clothing and all of my shoes !

Best Advice: Keep only the items you love and leave a little space for you to allow something new space in your life.

Dream Sources: Tom Ford closet, shops in Copenhagen, Ethiopia, oh and Texas for amazing antiques.

• Storage bed frame from IKEA

• Fulani tribe African hat- Brooklyn African Festival

• Elfa closet system from Container Store

• Headboard – DIY

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