Never Too Small

Formerly a hotel built in the early 1900, this Upper West Side studio has been completely transformed into a bright and stylish contemporary home full of space-saving design tricks where a couple can comfortably cook and entertain.

With a breathtaking view of the Aegean Sea, Asprolithos Villa was designed to reflect the simplicity and aesthetic of traditional Greek design.

This episode was filmed on February 12th 2022, 12 days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We have been asked by the designer of this apartment, Olga Bondar, and our NTS team in Kyiv to share the beauty of Ukrainian design in hope that it will bring further attention and support for the people of Ukraine and the inhumanity of their situation caused by an unprovoked war of agression.

This 42sqm heritage-listed property is located near Camden Square, a conservation area close to Londons Regent’s canal and Camden Market. The area is famous for its bars, music culture, and entertainment, a vibrant suburb loved by Londoners.

In the oldest neighborhood in Athens, Plaka, just minutes away from the Acropolis, Elena Zabeli and Katerina Chryssanthopoulou from Architectural firm MoY Studio have created a splendid 50sqm home with two bedrooms, a living room, a dining space, a kitchen and a comfortable bathroom.

One of 6 small houses located inside a 19th Century villa in a peaceful neighborhood of Barcelona

Looking for a new home for them and their baby, architects Ophélie and Edouard, found Crussol apartment; a 54sqm mid-century home in the center of Paris, surrounded by shops, restaurants and historic buildings.

Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama, of Studiomama, discovered this unique 13sqm space as a part of a series of projects exploring the potential for small footprint living.

Once narrow and dark, this 1930’s workers’ cottage was reimagined by Dean Williams of Architect George, maintaining its heritage charm and expanding the home from a tiny 30sqm to 60sqm with the addition of a second story.

Taking inspiration from the 18th Century Shaker movement’s belief in maintaining tidiness in their spaces, Raimana Jones of Atelier Jones Design created the aptly named Tidy Space using intuitive, meticulously crafted built-in furniture.

In Ilioupoli, a quiet, residential district south of Athens in Greece, Point Supreme Architects were tasked with converting a cold basement storage space into a functional studio apartment.

It was love at first sight for Stewart Smith of Smith Architects when he saw this late 1800s workers’ cottage in Black Heath, in the Blue Mountains of NSW.

Located near Paris’ Porte D’Ivry, Architect Olivier Menard of Archibien wanted additional space for his growing family without needing to relocate.

Set inside a 1978 high-rise Housing Development Board building in Singapore, this once dark and segmented Waterloo Street apartment has been transformed by a multi-disciplinary design studio three-d conceptwerke into a bright, comfortable, and flexible space where the owners can live, work and play.

Unchanged since it was first built in the ’70s, Aiginitou Street apartment, located in the popular east Athens suburb of Ilisia, was completely remodeled by Do Designers into a practical, inviting, and contemporary home, with lots of storage space, custom-built furniture, and a cozy Scandinavian feel.

The Ryokan is located in the heart of Manly, right in front of the famous Manly Beach, an iconic Australian beach frequented by tourists, surfers, and volleyballers.

Located inside a former public housing block in the quiet but central neighborhood of Spaarndammer in Amsterdam, Tiny Loft is home to owner/architects Peter Canisius and Eline Degenaar of Studio Canisius Degenaar.

Set on the top floor of a 34-year-old low-rise Singaporean public housing block, Project #13 by STUDIO WILLS + Architects is a creative reinterpretation of an original shophouse, splitting the unit down the middle instead of keeping the office at street level and the home above.

Located on the second floor of a 14th-century historic mansion, first converted into apartments in 1722, the 50sqm Apartment ‘Haut Marais’ is home to architect Thomas Fournier of Concina architecture et intérieurs who completely redesigned the apartment, restoring it to its former heritage glory.

Set inside a 1970’s building and untouched for 50 years, Nicholas Gurney and his clients wanted to create something open, light and airy whilst retaining the 1960’s and early 1970’s retro sensibility.

Spending a considerable amount on an apartment in Singapore’s highly competitive property market and handing over complete control to an architect to interpret your vision into a home you’re prepared to live in for the foreseeable future takes a lot of trust.

Located in the small coastal village of Walkerville, 2.5hours south east of Melbourne, architect Imogen Puller has designed a simple 30sqm beach shack with adaptable spaces, multifunctional furniture, and ample storage.

Nothing was removed by the design team in the creation of this apartment in Bukit Panjang, Singapore. Instead, Architect Woon Chung Yen from METRE Architects opted to add several custom elements. The most prominent new piece being a single sloped gradient containing a bed, a sofa, a working/ dining table. The space and function of the gradient adapt as one moves up or down the slope.

This home is in the trendy Berlin neighborhood of Friedrichshain. Designed by Architect Paola Bagna, the client had a clear idea of how he wanted to use the apartment, and his passion for cooking, art, and music needed to be catered for in a design that, despite the size limitations, allowed for him to pursue these.

With a population of 14 million people, space in Tokyo is limited and Architects are well versed in devising simple, minimal ways of living comfortably with less.

Flat Eleven was originally part of a larger home belonging to the parents of owner/architect Claudio Pierattelli, in a historic building opposite the famous Palazzo Pitti in central Florence. Creating a truly separate home, he added an independent entrance, and a kitchen, and opened up the space to allow rooms to flow from one into another.

This 15th-century building is located in the city center of the historical city of Mantua, a Unesco Patrimonial Site in the Northern Italian region of Lombardy. The apartment is just 36sqm.

Set on a 31sqm plot of land in the central Bunkyo district of Tokyo, the uniquely shaped Love2 House belongs to Architect Takeshi Hosaka and his wife.

Located on the outskirts of Paris, this 50sqm apartment is home to a family of five. Once a run-down one-bedroom apartment comprised of multiple mono spaces including a separate kitchen, L’atelier – Nomadic Architecture Studio reworked the floor plan to create an elegant mix of open living and private areas.

Industrial and interior designer Nicholas Gurney approached this 27m2 studio apartment with one goal in mind, to conceal all of its functional requirements, sleeping, cooking, working and storage into a single joinery unit along the external wall.

Untouched since its construction in the 1950s, Luini, a once poorly organised small apartment located in central Turin in Northern Italy has been redesigned from the ground up by architect and owner Davide Minervini turning it into a colourful and practical home 39sqm.

Located in the bustling Seo-cho district of Seoul, the aptly named Seoul Seocho Studio was meticulously transformed by designer Pil Jung from Korean architectural firm Mies & Louis.

Inspired by her love of books and her time in Japan, architect and engineer Marlice Alfera from studio Maaxi redesigned her 19th-century 25-square-metre apartment to facilitate her need for more living space and a dedicated place to work.

Set in one of the oldest urban areas of Taipei city and inspired its traditional colours, the team at Republic Design have created a warm and elegant space using tones of earthy reds, grays, and light oak wood.

Designed around a 60 year old Pepper Tree, The aptly named Pepper Tree Passive House was designed and built to International Passive House standards by architect Alexander Symes and owner builder Adam Souter and makes use of salvaged and waste materials throughout.

Set in a quiet neighbourhood in Osaka, the newly built three-storey F-House is a compact, timber home for a family of four

Nestled tightly between a number of larger blocks in inner city Buenos Aires and measuring exactly 7m x 7m x 7m, the aptly named Casa Cubo (cube house) is home to owner/architects Matias Michatek and Torunn Vaksvik Skarstad of Arqs.

Set in a post war apartment block on one of the oldest streets of Warsaw, the bright and cozy Studio H was originally only one small open room and bathroom, with no real space for a kitchen.

Inspired by his love of mid-century design, architect and furniture dealer Jacobo Valentí of Casavells estudio completely transformed this 34sqm attic apartment using a combination of original mid-century furniture he had been collecting for years and cleverly adapted Ikea pieces.

Located in the center of Antwerp, Studio 98 is home to interior architect Carolien Potter who did most of the renovation work herself.

The brilliant Sola House, which is situated in the bustling neighbourhood of Sol in the heart of Madrid, was influenced by the vivid hues and glitzy design of the works of renowned Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.

“When we were looking for this apartment, we had just returned from living in London. All the properties we were looking at felt small and cramped compared to what we were used to, especially in terms of ceiling height. So we really wanted something that felt open and spacious, even if it was small”.

This bright plant-filled loft situated directly on the waterfront in the Eastern Harbour District of Amsterdam is home to Koen Fraijaman, his girlfriend Fadime and their cat Sok.

Meguro Ward, Tokyo is home to a unique and compact residence designed by architect Motoki Yasuhara.

Gonzalo Pardo and the team at gon architects were tasked with redesigning a small one bedroom apartment in one of the busiest squares in Madrid. The apartment, which was originally built in 1910 and renovated in 2003, was in need of an update to make it more suitable for a young Italian woman and her partner. The team was inspired by the vibrant colors and geometric lines of Italian homes in the 1960s, and set out to create a space that was both functional and stylish.