ARCHITECT REDESIGNS - A Tiny Budapest Studio Apartment - 19.1sqm/206sqft

in this video i'm going to be redesigning an  apartment for subscribers axel and leela who have   a small studio in budapest the capital of hungary  and its largest city budapest is considered as one   of the most beautiful cities in the world but  with a higher cost of living than other cities   my challenge was to see if there was any  way to make this small studio apartment   more efficient and as beautiful to  be in as the city that surrounds it   so in this video i'm going to show you  how i use sketchup v-ray and photoshop   to reconfigure it into this incredibly  versatile yet minimal studio apartment   upon entering axel and leela's apartment you'll  see that it consists of a small hallway with   storage as well as a separate kitchen and bathroom  but the main living area is going to be the focus   of this concept as a freelance graphic designer  and remote admin worker axel and leela have a   joint goal of spending more time outside of work  and it's clear to see from axel's workspace that   he's quite into gaming and music whilst leela  has recently switched careers from a pastry chef   so that she can now work remotely with both of  them having a shared interest in minimalism and   buddhism simple living and flexibility is  a big part of their lives so i imagine that   keeping costs low is a big part of maximizing  the time that they can spend outside of work   but the problem they're encountering in their  apartment is that natural daylight isn't   reaching leela's new workspace as the main  room only has one window and the fact that   this room still needs to do everything else  at the same time doesn't really help things i started out by modeling the space in sketchup  with the measurements the axle provided   by extruding the walls and adding in the  room's skirting door window radiator and   air conditioning unit before they met  the apartment was originally leela's   and much of the existing furniture hasn't  really been changed since with most of it   consisting of affordable ikea items such as  a set of mom drawers a calyx storage divider   a sofa and a pair of desks as well as a  bed that was made up from recycled pallets   all of which i managed to pull together using  existing models from sketchup's 3d warehouse   modeling the room gave me a good sense of how  it currently feels and it helped me to photo   match the model to the photographs which is not  only useful for creating accurate before and   after images later but it also helps me consider  what i could do by simply rearranging what they   already have although the current layout uses  the ikea calyx shelving as a handy room divider   it does completely block the light to leela's  half of the room and i find that shelving is   often just a magnet for clutter which doesn't  really do a minimally styled apartment any favors to see if there's a way to keep the shelving  i'm inclined to move all of the storage to the   far wall away from the window as head height  furniture in the middle of a room often makes   the space feel much smaller than it actually  is however this doesn't really work behind a   bed and the mom drawers are too deep to fit  behind the door which made it difficult to   arrange them in a way that makes the best  use of the space that they already have   also the pallet bed takes up a lot of space and  i think that it's costing the apartment more than   it saves by taking up valuable space when it's  not in use as it can't be easily moved or hidden   because of this i decided that i create  an aspirational design that switches all   of this furniture out rather than forcing the  layout to accept all of this existing furniture   which can then leave axel and leela with  the decision of what's really worth keeping in well-designed small spaces you often find  that they're filled with custom bespoke cabinetry   as off-the-shelf products typically just don't  fit this is problematic as hiring a carpenter   can be expensive but an overlooked option is  simply using kitchen carcassing as a means of   creating furniture that has an enormous array  of configurations to choose from with the added   benefit of being easy to assemble at home the  450 millimeter space behind the door meant that   i could comfortably fit 400 millimeter kitchen  cabinets along the entirety of the wall's length   almost completely disguising storage even being  there as it appears as one continuous surface   although 400 millimeters isn't deep enough  for hanging rails these cabinets are the   perfect solution for storing cleaning and  laundry items as well as axel's guitar and   because it's kitchen cabinetry you could even  configure it with drawers for clothing or for   office supplies and ikea actually make this  really easy with their online kitchen planner   the next thing that i wanted to tackle was  a way to hide the room's aircon unit as they   aren't particularly the prettiest things to  look at i imagine that the kitchen cabinetry   could be modified in a way to hide the unit or  better still bespoke button fixed screens could   be fabricated to allow the air to freely pass  through whilst effectively camouflaging the unit   something that i imagine could be easily  put up by a capable tradesperson or diyr   alongside a tall 600 millimeter deep cabinet would  provide a sense of enclosure for axel's work area   without being too intrusive to the rest of the  room and because this is deeper than the cabinetry   along the storage wall it has a suitable depth  for a hanging rail or even concealed computer   equipment whilst creating a 600 millimeter deep  look for axel's desk right next to the apartment's   data outlet when it comes to sleeping in the same  space that you use for work having a way for it to   transition from bedroom mode to living or work  mode is crucial so i chose to put in a day bed   as this can be left out or just hidden away when  guests are over which is useful as it gives you   the flexibility to affordably create more space  in the apartment when it's not in use daybeds also   have the added benefit of providing additional  seating and when placed on felt furniture pads   they can be easily slid around on the laminate  floor so that the lower cabinets remain accessible   of course much like a pallet bed a day bed isn't  for everyone however it is a lot cheaper and   more functional than other solutions but if  the budget allows a murphy bed could also be   neatly installed into the cabinetry  instead which would make for an even   more streamlined solution that's  completely hidden from plain sight   in their email axel mentioned that he'd also  been looking into getting a standing desk for   a while for health reasons so for his workspace  i chose to pair a 1400 millimeter wide kitchen   countertop with a motorized standing desk frame  which fits seamlessly into the small nook created   by the tall kitchen cabinet next to it i then  place the two-seater sofa from ikea opposite   the desk so that it can enjoy the natural light  from the window and because this one has legs it   also helps the room feel more spacious than the  previous one due to the fact that you can see   the floor continue beneath it lastly for leela's  desk instead of going for the same configuration   as axles i figured that it could be placed on  casters so that she has the freedom to move   it around as a versatile surface throughout the  apartment a hardware and kitchen countertop and a   manual hand crank standing desk would effectively  allow this surface to change between dining desk   or countertop height without being bound by wires  which provides the perfect wireless solution for   leela's laptop setup that also offers additional  flexibility for things like hobbies or dining   as the floor to ceiling height is quite generous i  decided to add full height curtains to the entire   length of the external wall as these are a  great way to emphasize height and make the   window feel much larger than actually is similarly  curtains work as a great way to divide space too   so using a matching curtain on a flexible track  is a great way to hide the sleeping area which   not only continues the aesthetic but provides  the option of privacy for overnight guests   in the living area and helps in breaking up the  perceived length of the room when it's not in use   i then went about considering how to  design axel's desk so that it accommodates   his hobby of pc gaming while maintaining an  aesthetic that's suitable for a living area   i started by replacing his old gaming chair  with the same affordable non-corporate looking   swivel chair from ikea which i love and  currently use myself and i then place the   necessary computer equipment on the desk which  i managed to find in sketchup's 3d warehouse   in their email axel and leela mentioned that they  were also considering upgrading their antique tv   so i thought that this potentially could be used  as an opportunity for axel to upgrade his monitor   as his desk is placed directly in front of the  seating area there are now a lot of tvs that   function as great monitors with high refresh rates  and good color accuracy so this would be ideal for   this current layout however for the sake of this  concept i just stuck with a 32-inch monitor which   is a little bit more conventional and utilizes a  monitor arm that frees up a bit more desk space   although all the white cabinetry and walls do  a great job of bouncing around natural light   i was starting to notice that the model was  looking quite sterile so i went about adding some   character by adding a slatted wall to the desk  area to match the ventilated screens for the air   conditioning unit above i continued to help the  apartment feel a bit more welcoming by adding in   a few smaller furniture items too such as a plant  stand to introduce some greenery a handled tray   table and a poof that doubles as a seat and a foot  rest as well as an additional surface for a drinks   tray then instead of choosing just another chair  with casters i added a comfortable upholstered   size chair for leela's desk to help stop the  apartment from feeling too much like an office   one of the last things to consider was to  bring together the material palette by choosing   a cohesive range of finishes for the slatted  feature wall desks and upholstery i then added   some final touches like an ikea table lamp to vary  the lighting and some picture ledges installed   above leela's desk for stationary and photographs  i then chose to incorporate some exposed shelving   within the storage wall to display treasured items  and books and also help to break up the monotony   of the cabinet doors finally the last thing to do  was to change the light fixture on the ceiling and   with that i could start positioning my scenes and  start the rendering process for the final images from all the projects i've ever done for some  reason this concept is the one that produced   the most blemish free renders as the images  required hardly any work and v-ray did an   incredible job of creating convincing  visualizations when it came to bringing   them into photoshop everything i did mainly  consisted of just fixing tiny mistakes that   i'd made in the model as well as adding in some  context outside of the window and apart from that   all i did was some basic photo adjustments  which i do to all of my photography anyway when it comes to seeing this final design i can't  help but be really happy with how it turned out   but in hindsight i feel like i actually did very  little in terms of changing the actual layout of   this space it's quite amazing what consolidating  storage to the far side of a room can do   as it still provides all of the utility that  a small apartment needs without dominating the   space and it does a great job of hiding the  unsightly clutter that every household has   creating a beautiful space that combines the use  of a bedroom living area and study is no easy task   but it's fascinating how furniture and material  choices play a role in how a room's experienced   and considering how the cost of living in many  countries only seems to be increasing implementing   techniques like this can go a long way in getting  the most out of the space that you already inhabit   the slatted wall and full height curtains do so  much for this apartment in providing some warmth   and visual interest whilst also serving a  purpose in emphasizing the room's height   and camouflaging the pipework and the ac unit  and along with the storage wall and flexible   workstations i think that these features  really help to distinguish the apartment as   a place that's comfortable not only for work but  also for relaxation and having guests over too   is this space too small or do you  think that you could live here   i'd love to know what you guys think about getting  the most out of small homes like this one down in   the comments and if you're interested in the full  process for how i create these designs you'll   be interested to know that you can get the full  length screen recordings over on nebula for free   with a subscription to curiositystream who are  kindly sponsoring this video i make content on   nebula because it's an ad and algorithm free  video platform that's completely separate from   the youtube algorithm which allows creators like  myself to freely post content without worrying   about things like view durations or analytics and  as a viewer you get all of our usual content plus   extended and bonus content as well with no  ads so the nebula version of this video has   this section removed entirely and there's an  additional separate video including the full   screen recordings of my process this is bundled  for free with a subscription to curiosity stream   which in itself is the world's leading documentary  streaming platform that has thousands of titles   ranging from science to architecture to history  space and nutrition the series i've enjoyed like   faster on humanity's quest to save time which  talks about the things that we've developed in   the modern world to try and get the most out of  life and optimize the way that we spend our time   using the link in the description below you get 26  percent of this nebula and curiosity stream bundle   which works out to be just 1.26 a month and when  you think about it it's a bit of a no-brainer as   you end up getting a year's worth of incredible  content for the same price as the cheeky nando's   when you sign up you immediately get access to  nebula through a link to your email and when you   watch my content over there it's also a great way  to support myself and all of the other creators   over on nebula 2 so we can keep making videos like  this one thanks curiositystream for sponsoring   this video and if you enjoyed it you might also  like checking out one of my last redesigns too you

Channel: Daniel Titchener

Views: 970,323

Keywords: minimalism, productivity, interior design

Id: KWzWRgGNzcI

Length: 13min 50sec (830 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 09 2022