Design Solutions for Strangely Shaped Small Spaces
Small space design can be daunting. Add an oddly shaped layout to the mix and you’ve got yourself a real challenge. That’s okay though because a design challenge is really just an open invitation for a creative solution – and we love creative solutions. Whether dealing with sloped ceilings, irregular corners, or narrow layouts, the right innovative solution can help maximise not only function and space but also style. Here is some inspiration and effective tips for optimising oddly shaped small spaces from the architects and designers in the Never Too Small universe.
For Non-perpendicular Walls and Unsquared Corners
When faced with non-perpendicular walls and unsquared corners, custom furniture can be a game-changer. Cristiana Felgueiras of GET HANDS DIRTY, for example, creatively addressed these challenges in the 31sqm/333sqft rental apartment she shares with her partner in Porto. By designing tailored furniture and cupboards, she turned awkward niches into flush, usable spaces, enhancing storage capabilities and overall appearance. Felgueiras also ingeniously utilised the base of her media console to create a designated “parking lot” for her robot vacuum cleaner, effectively optimising an otherwise unused space. Studiomama took a similar approach with custom furniture in 13m2, a micro apartment named after its whopping 13 square metre, trapezoid-shaped footprint. The duo placed a custom Murphy bed to the narrowest end of the room and made the most of the width by the entry by adding a dining booth with an expandable table.
For Low and Sloped Ceilings
Ceiling height is talked about a lot in interior design – but what about ceiling angle? With an increase in conversions of areas like attics into liveable space comes a demand for solutions for sloped ceilings that can render a portion of the footprint awkward to access (at least from a standing position). Faced with this exact problem in casa flix, a 42sqm/452sqft top-story apartment in Madrid, Gonzalo Pardo and the team at gon architects came up with the clever solution of adding deep cabinets under the lowest corners of the roof. These cabinets not only gave nice definition to the room but also turned a wasted area into significant storage. This unit also makes a good example of how to make the most of low ceilings – sloped or not – by placing furniture that benefits from the cosiness of this dropped height, like a comfy couch or an intimate dining area.
For the Long and Underlit
It is relatively common – especially in cities where buildings are sandwiched up beside one another – to find elongated apartments with only two main sources of natural light at complete opposite ends of the space. This was certainly the case in Mia’s Apartment, a lower-level London unit designed by Studiomama, where designers Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama decided to remove all the interior walls to establish a direct line of sight from one window to the other – making it as open and bright as possible. They added a cleverly placed mirror that reflects light into a darker area, as well as pocket doors with fluted glass windows that maintain privacy while allowing light to flow through. Finally, they followed a golden rule of organising the zones like sleeping or dining based on how much light is typically required for that task.
For the Tall and Narrow
The space may be narrow, but have you tried looking up? In Flagpole, a Tokyo home by Salhaus that is named after its flagpole-like shape, architect Motoki Yasuhara made the most of the space’s vertical height where it lacked horizontally. From the bathroom beneath the stairs and the cubbies in the rises to the tiny loft for reading and meditating in the bedroom, every little nook of the tall and narrow home is put to good use. In the 14 square metre Milan apartment Chambre de Bonne by Giulia Menestrina and Pietro Pusceddu of nonestudio, there is almost nowhere to look but up. These clever architects created a seamless and overlapping geometry of storage drawers, a folding table, and a sleeping nook up top.
For the Small Interior with a Big Balcony
Before deciding that a space is unusable, take a closer look at what’s outside. At El Camarin, a 25sqm/269sqft apartment in central Buenos Aires, a small footprint was given a major expansion with the addition of a unique scalloped balcony screen. The team at iR architecture seamlessly integrated a large curved balcony into the living area, expanding its overall function and footprint. This innovative approach showcases the importance of re-evaluating how every area can contribute to the overall design.
Embrace the Oddity
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the gamut of strange shapes, but the general wisdom remains the same: think about your needs and how you use your space to find a creative solution that will allow you to not just embrace the oddity but make it a comfortable part of your day-to-day life.
