Design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy.

Design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy.

Tiny Ukrainian Apartment Does Heavy Lifting

This 200 sq ft apartment from Ukrainian architects 1 Studio does a nice job of using its small cube-like interior space. The interior design contains a living room, a very small kitchen area and bathroom. 1 Studio exploited the space’s 16 foot high ceilings, making what is effectively a second floor above the living area. The second floor is accessed by a small staggered staircase which houses storage. According to Design Taxi, the space was designed for a powerlifter and as such, there is even a small workout area.

With exposed L-brackets holding up simple wood shelves, I appreciate that the apartment seems to use fairly inexpensive materials. There also appears to be a fair amount of storage considering how small the apartment is. But by far my favorite feature is the washing machine/vanity. Typically, small apartments cannot accommodate washing machines, which, to this author’s mind, is a big sacrifice. Personally, if given the choice between a washing machine and a normal vanity filling the volume under my bathroom sink, I’d pick the washing machine any day (I might box the machine off though to make it a little sleeker). 

The only possible demerit of the apartment is the fact that it’s a rendering, as confirmed by Dimitri over at 1 Studio.

1studio

Given that the design is a rendering, I was curious to know if the dishwasher sink was a real thing, and he assured me it is. Even though the space hasn’t been built, it’s still a smart design filled with clever ideas. And as as Lloyd Alter wrote over at Treehugger, “Is it real or is it rendering? Who cares, it’s gorgeous.”