Houzz Tour: From One Bedroom to Three in 70 Square Metres
This family downsized to a smaller flat, but still needed three bedrooms to accommodate them all. Cue a clever design
Agnès Carpentier
22 March 2022
This young couple and their two-year-old daughter lived in a large Haussmannian flat in Paris when the pandemic broke out, inspiring them to change their priorities when it came to location. They decided to buy a smaller flat in the capital, so they could free up budget to buy a second home in the countryside in Brittany, where they could take refuge as often as possible.
In Paris, they set their sights on a 70 sq m flat with a large terrace and a single bedroom, located in the Pereire district, on the chic side of Paris’s 17th arrondissement. They were looking for a professional who could make the most of the space – and add two more bedrooms. Friends pointed them to interior designer Anne Chemineau, who they had found on Houzz.
In Paris, they set their sights on a 70 sq m flat with a large terrace and a single bedroom, located in the Pereire district, on the chic side of Paris’s 17th arrondissement. They were looking for a professional who could make the most of the space – and add two more bedrooms. Friends pointed them to interior designer Anne Chemineau, who they had found on Houzz.
Flat at a Glance
Who lives here? A couple with a young daughter
Location Pereire district in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France
Property A flat on the seventh floor of a 1980s building complex
Size 70 sq m
Project year 2020
Designer Anne Chemineau
Budget €100,000 (around £83,844), including about €25,000 (around £21,000) for bespoke carpentry and about €10,000 (around £8,384) for air conditioning
Photos by Agathe Tissier
Who lives here? A couple with a young daughter
Location Pereire district in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France
Property A flat on the seventh floor of a 1980s building complex
Size 70 sq m
Project year 2020
Designer Anne Chemineau
Budget €100,000 (around £83,844), including about €25,000 (around £21,000) for bespoke carpentry and about €10,000 (around £8,384) for air conditioning
Photos by Agathe Tissier
Before works.
This 1980s flat has some lovely spaces. And, running from the dining room to the bedroom, the L-shaped terrace had great views of the Arc de Triomphe.
The couple, who were planning to have a second child, saw they could move the kitchen into the living/dining room and turn the original kitchen into their daughter’s bedroom, but creating a third bedroom for a future baby was a real challenge. Luckily, Anne quickly came up with a solution.
This 1980s flat has some lovely spaces. And, running from the dining room to the bedroom, the L-shaped terrace had great views of the Arc de Triomphe.
The couple, who were planning to have a second child, saw they could move the kitchen into the living/dining room and turn the original kitchen into their daughter’s bedroom, but creating a third bedroom for a future baby was a real challenge. Luckily, Anne quickly came up with a solution.
After works.
On her first visit, the Anne noticed that the entrance was very wide – 160cm wide with 50cm-deep cupboards – but dark. She realised that making better use of this space would solve all their problems.
The thick wall containing the chimney stack made it impossible to expand the dining room into the current kitchen area. She also gave up on the idea of replacing the living room with the third bedroom, as she wanted to keep the living area’s two beautiful, bright entrances.
So she suggested borrowing space from the hallway for the nursery. The owners also entrusted her with redecorating the flat “by bringing the countryside into the interior”, Anne says.
On her first visit, the Anne noticed that the entrance was very wide – 160cm wide with 50cm-deep cupboards – but dark. She realised that making better use of this space would solve all their problems.
The thick wall containing the chimney stack made it impossible to expand the dining room into the current kitchen area. She also gave up on the idea of replacing the living room with the third bedroom, as she wanted to keep the living area’s two beautiful, bright entrances.
So she suggested borrowing space from the hallway for the nursery. The owners also entrusted her with redecorating the flat “by bringing the countryside into the interior”, Anne says.
Judging by the metal plates bolted to a load-bearing central pillar, the fireplace and the porthole windows in the hallway, the previous owner may have been a fan of Jules Verne’s Nautilus – at least that’s what Anne thought when she saw them.
The owners were tired by living in the city in the middle of a pandemic, and wanted to go green with a “country chic world mixed with a bohemian spirit”, as Anne puts it.
A few of the couple’s own possessions, such as the walnut table and bistro chairs and the large print of the Pompeii fresco depicting Flora with the cornucopia, served as the starting point. The rest of the décor was intended to be clear and bright, punctuated by touches of wood and natural fibres, and enlivened by blossom-like pendant lights.
A few of the couple’s own possessions, such as the walnut table and bistro chairs and the large print of the Pompeii fresco depicting Flora with the cornucopia, served as the starting point. The rest of the décor was intended to be clear and bright, punctuated by touches of wood and natural fibres, and enlivened by blossom-like pendant lights.
The fireplace in the living room was replaced by a more compact version in the corner. This freed up more space for the custom-made unit with open and closed storage, which is broken up by a few fronts with cane inserts. The small sliding doors at the top conceal the split air-conditioning unit, which was installed on the terrace.
Find a local interior designer on Houzz today.
Find a local interior designer on Houzz today.
The double living room had a parquet floor, while the bedroom was carpeted. The couple decided to get rid of these finishes in favour of a wide-plank oak laminate floor for continuity throughout the home. Not only does the new floor look more contemporary, it’s compatible with the new underfloor heating, too.
Anne made the TV area as discreet as possible by moving it off to one side of the living room and selecting Samsung’s The Frame model, which looks like a painting and has an oak-look frame.
The dining room, with the kitchen as its backdrop, is behind a load-bearing column. To minimise the kitchen’s visual impact, its tall storage units have been placed along the wall on the left, while the long unit does not have wall cabinets.
The dining room, with the kitchen as its backdrop, is behind a load-bearing column. To minimise the kitchen’s visual impact, its tall storage units have been placed along the wall on the left, while the long unit does not have wall cabinets.
The floor-to-ceiling units conceal a fridge-freezer, oven, microwave and larder cupboard. The compartment closest to the worktop stores small appliances such as the kettle, coffee-maker, toaster and food processor.
A double-sided island was placed in the centre of the room to separate its two zones. It offers an additional worktop on one side and a banquette seat on the other. It’s an excellent space-saving solution that also hides the kitchen from the living room.
As the family wanted a country feel, the designer proposed an Ikea kitchen with grey-green fronts. The same colour was reproduced for the floor-to-ceiling storage units and the island, which were made to measure out of MDF. The latter was given a geometric touch with battens the joiner placed at regular intervals based on Anne’s drawings. “I wanted something eye-catching going on,” she says.
The play of shapes and patterns continues with a dialogue between strict parallel lines softened by the rounded edges of the sconces, the curved storage unit in the hallway and the gossamer curtains.
The trapezoidal zellige tiles on the splashback contribute to the effect and add a touch of shine to the otherwise matt décor.
The absence of wall cabinets precluded the use of a classic extractor hood, so the designer went for a Bora induction hob with an integrated extractor.
The absence of wall cabinets precluded the use of a classic extractor hood, so the designer went for a Bora induction hob with an integrated extractor.
The nursery, which borrows space from the entrance, is visible from behind the island. The bottom of the partition is a shallow, made-to-measure shoe storage unit. “Its rounded shape is an aesthetic choice, but also makes it easier to walk around it,” Anne says.
This is the original hallway, as seen from the entrance door. The door on the left led to the kitchen, while the door on the right opened into the only bedroom.
The hallway has now been narrowed and the cupboards removed to create the nursery in the centre of the flat. It has no window to the outside, but paradoxically it has the most glazing of any other room, both towards the main bedroom and the hallway. Oak uprights divide the windows into panels. The casements can be opened for ventilation.
Freed of its swinging doors to the living room, the hallway gets light from both the living room and the master bedroom via the nursery, making this space at the heart of the house much less gloomy. Several rattan pendant lights at the entrance add a dreamy feel in the evening.
Freed of its swinging doors to the living room, the hallway gets light from both the living room and the master bedroom via the nursery, making this space at the heart of the house much less gloomy. Several rattan pendant lights at the entrance add a dreamy feel in the evening.
The pattern of the window casings has become one of the leitmotifs of the décor, picked up by the modules of the custom-made wardrobe at the back of the nursery.
There is a sofa-bed in the room at the moment, so it can be used as an extra bedroom before the couple have the baby. It was selected carefully for its 2m width, so it would still be able to unfold in the space – just!
A system of electric blackout blinds was integrated into the dropped ceiling, so the space can be immersed in darkness when necessary. One of the blinds is visible in this photo.
There is a sofa-bed in the room at the moment, so it can be used as an extra bedroom before the couple have the baby. It was selected carefully for its 2m width, so it would still be able to unfold in the space – just!
A system of electric blackout blinds was integrated into the dropped ceiling, so the space can be immersed in darkness when necessary. One of the blinds is visible in this photo.
It has been resized slightly to make space for the nursery, and now features only one entrance, on the hallway and bathroom side.
The owners wanted it to feel like a cosy cocoon, so the design is warm, with touches of soft colour and rounded details that counterbalance the rectilinear glass walls.
The couple had requested plenty of storage space, so two wardrobes were included as discreetly as possible, despite the room’s small size. Thanks to the considerable effort put into integrating them into the room, neither encroaches into the space. To extend the harmonious living room scheme, the custom-made wardrobe at the foot of the bed has pale-coloured cane inserts.
The owners wanted it to feel like a cosy cocoon, so the design is warm, with touches of soft colour and rounded details that counterbalance the rectilinear glass walls.
The couple had requested plenty of storage space, so two wardrobes were included as discreetly as possible, despite the room’s small size. Thanks to the considerable effort put into integrating them into the room, neither encroaches into the space. To extend the harmonious living room scheme, the custom-made wardrobe at the foot of the bed has pale-coloured cane inserts.
The painted arc over the headboard is visible from the nursery.
This colour trick, which is inexpensive but requires perfect technical mastery, brings the warmth of a late-autumn afternoon to the room.
The sienna hue, also seen in the bed linen and linen curtains, creates the simple and natural atmosphere Anne sought. “The couple told me that this headboard, with its two small jute sconces, is their favourite detail in the whole flat,” she says.
Another very successful idea was to make the rather narrow corridor more interesting with a nature-inspired wallpaper. “It was the owner who spotted this print, with its bewitching cherry blossom motif; she submitted it to me at the beginning of the project,” Anne says.
The owners were very involved in the project, which made for a fruitful and constructive exchange throughout.
The owners were very involved in the project, which made for a fruitful and constructive exchange throughout.
As you can see, the wallpaper completely covers the frameless doors of the original kitchen and storage room, now transformed into a laundry room. Never have they been so aptly called ‘invisible doors’.
This photo shows the old-fashioned switches they selected. The round shapes counterbalance the strict lines of the windows.
This photo shows the old-fashioned switches they selected. The round shapes counterbalance the strict lines of the windows.
One of the secret doors leads to the daughter’s bedroom. Its limited size – this is the old kitchen – has been offset by very cute details: the floral wallpaper in toile de Jouy style, the pink linen curtains, the vintage-style wrought-iron bed and the cane inserts in the wardrobe. And with ample storage, it’s the perfect small bedroom.
Anne decided to optimise it rather than changing the layout altogether. The oak vanity unit extends to the bath, and rounded shelves were inserted in the corner. Beige, scale-patterned zellige tiles add a soft touch.
There is even a shower in the corner. The separate toilet room, adjacent to the bathroom, has been treated in the same vein, with scale-patterned zellige tiles, rattan details and built-in storage above the wall-hung toilet.
With its three bedrooms and plenty of storage in just 70 sq m, the flat is a great example of space optimisation. It should reassure many families of the feasibility of turning such small spaces into comfortable homes.
Tell us…
Which elements of this Parisian flat makeover have you been inspired by? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Tell us…
Which elements of this Parisian flat makeover have you been inspired by? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Love this innovative and thoughtful design, absolutely ingenious flashes to inspire me to maximise storage in our forthcoming extension and refurbishment project.
Will be sending to our architects today and builders (once appointed) as the quality of the work is spot on. This will be the reference point for what level of workmanship will be expected, no compromise.
Well done!
An amazing imaginative transformation!
That is super-impressive! Really, really great. So many original ideas and solutions to small-space living. And the owners and designer clearly have great taste - which always helps!