The mission? Furnish an entire small studio. Colin chose to accept and upped the ante: looking to go beyond the essentials to make welcoming and personalised – and to do all of this for under $3,000.
“It’s not about creating a fancy showroom; it’s about creating a home you want to live in for years to come”.
“At the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong – it’s about what makes you happy. If someone comes in and says your home is quirky or tacky, just tell them that this is a home that makes you feel safe and happy, not just an eye candy for others”.
“It’s not about creating a fancy showroom; it’s about creating a home you want to live in for years to come”, said Colin Chee, founder of Never Too Small, when describing his selections for a recent collaboration with Local. The Melbourne-based company, dedicated to re-envisioning what secure rental housing can look like, tasked Colin with a challenge: to furnish one of their rent-it-like-you-own-it units. Naturally, Colin didn’t want to take the easy route. First, he set himself a realistic budget of $3,000 or less. Then, instead of heading to IKEA and buying everything new, he opted instead to go beyond the essentials and create a home that felt personalised and welcoming – somewhere to really live in.
Furnishing a small space can be really tricky to begin with. Not to mention an entire studio with only $3,000. This is in part because most furniture, especially older second hand pieces, isn’t (or weren’t) designed with limited footprints in mind. Still, Colin made the most of his dollar by sourcing an eclectic yet cohesive blend of mostly second-hand pieces that fit his imaginary client: A person living alone with their pet dog, who enjoys having friends over for gatherings, dinners, and movie nights.
The apartment was an open-concept studio without any division between the spaces for sleeping, dining, and relaxation. The goal then became to to create distinct yet harmonious zones within the small space so that a dweller could enjoy the subtle transitions between activities depending on the time of day and need. “A dedicated dining area is a must”, Colin noted. His aim was to achieve all of this using loose furniture not tied to any specific style; the plan was to layer everything together in such a way as to achieve cohesion and cosiness without it feeling too cluttered.
A prime example of this loose furniture layering begins from the moment of entry, where we encounter a vintage mid-century dresser (the most expensive piece he purchased) that serves to not only extend the narrow entrance but to section off the sleeping area as well. It offers storage too, as well as a place to tuck away your shoes. It’s emblematic of Colin’s partiality to furniture that can be reused and repurposed depending on the need: “Like the dog bed architect Desmond Chew [of Three-D Conceptwerke] designed for our Multifunctional Pet Furniture exhibition”, he says, gesturing toward a hollowed wooden cube with a cushion on the interior sitting in a cosy corner, “it can be used as a bedside table and even two stools as well”.
What’s most fascinating is that more than the big pieces that you may be inclined to think truly define a space, it is the way Colin played with accents of colour, texture, lighting, and height that really makes the space feel like a home. Take the painted yellow triangle filling the corner over the bed: Finding the sleeping area to be a little dull and dark, Colin decided to paint the corner in a triangular shape to frame the bed, add warmth and colour, and reflect the light during the day. “This way, when you lie in bed on a Sunday morning to read a book or browse your phone, the yellow colour makes you happier”, he explained. “It may contradict the colour theory that you need dark colours to feel calm for sleep, but you don’t sleep with the lights on”.
Colin also paid close attention to the lighting, freckling the home with lamps to help define zones and create a cosy, intimate atmosphere – especially in the evening or wintertime. He opted for a variety of styles at different heights, from a skinny industrial floor lamp to the ceiling-mounted paper lantern, to add character and help carry the eye around the space. A logic that is applied to the colourful artwork, throw pillows, rugs, and, of course, plants that fill the rest of the home. A large indoor palm behind the sofa, for example, accentuates the height of the nearly 3-metre ceiling. Plus, you can gaze out at the industrial area of Kensington from bed while having a layer of green in front of you.
As Colin puts it, “Making a comfortable small studio apartment is not rocket science. It’s about understanding your lifestyle and what’s important to you”. Creating pocket spaces within a small studio apartment doesn’t have to involve building walls or using dividing screens—clever uses of functional furniture can help you achieve that. He advises people to go with style instead of trends, and that second-hand furniture is really the trick on how to accomplish this without breaking the bank.
“At the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong”, he explains, “it’s about what makes you happy. If someone comes in and says your home is quirky or tacky, just tell them that this is a home that makes you feel safe and happy, not just an eye candy for others”.
Mid century dresser (used): $750
Fold up blue lounge chair (used): $350
Smoke glass nested side table (used): $ 75
Piano stool side table (used): $40
Mid-century coffee table & footrest (used): $100
3 seater sofa (used): $200
White Industrial floor lamp (used): $160
Terracotta 1-metre reading lamp (used): $30
Long wooden bench (used): $50
Metal round stool (used): $40
Terracotta dining chair (used): $15
Rug (new): $350
Dining table (new): $149
Shelving unit behind sofa (new): $120
Bed (used): $60
Mattress (new): $650
Red lamp shade (used): $0.60
Paper lantern (new): $25
Plug-in lamp cables x 2: $40
Curtain & rod system: $350
Total: $3,294 (We went a little over…) The lesson? Take your time to find the right pieces for your budget. If Colin had had more time, he would have definitely sought out a second-hand rug and dining table too!
