studio rental

Briefing

We rent a 36 mq apartment in Paris and we would like to make it more confortable for two people. As we are renting, we cannot make major structural changes but we hope to make the best out of what we have and still have the comfort of a bigger home. We can fix stuff to the walls and we can install temporary separation walls.

The studio apartment is in a tall gray building from the 70s. Not very pretty building but it has a lot of natural light. The room has a semi-wall in the middle, two large windows/doors and a wall heater. The room is completed by a balcony a small entrance, a full closet and a bathroom.

The apartment is supposed to be lived by two people, therefore we would like a double bed, either 140 or 160 cm large.

We would like to keep the access to the balcony from both windows. If that’s hard we could renounce to the access to one window/door.

One of us works from home so a comfortable desk (45cm leght) would be great. The desk should fit a laptop, a keyboard and, at least, one book open. A foldable desk would also be ok. It is important to have a separate desk from the dining table. We have thought about the option could be moving fourniture (like a desk with wheels) or a foldable table in front of one of the two windows?

We would like a convertible sofa that would allow to sleep two guests. As we often have people visiting, we’d like a prenant or temporary form of separation from our bed during night time.

We enjoy watching tv and would like a bigger tv (not too big, of course, considering the distance from the couch) but we don’t know where to put in an aesthetic way.

The project doesn’t need to include a wardrobe because we have used the small room (pendrie, in the project) as a space for our clothes.

Since it’s a space we rent, the washing machine and the dishwasher can only be put close to the sink. If there are ideas that would help reduce the noise of the washing machine that would be great. We were thinking about a big “wardrobe” integrated in the kitchen that would make the washing machine sound proof and would also help us hang wet clothes, so that we don’t have to let them dry in the entrance. Another option is putting the washing machine under the sink of the bathroom to gain space but we haven’t found a solution.

Ideally, we would like the kitchen to be IKEA. We have already a few cabinets from it (METHOD blocks). We could change the doors if there Is a better aesthetic. Keeping them would help us reduce the overall costs as we would just have to buy just what’s missing. We really need help in deciding the Kitchen, there is so much to think about and with the limited space we have we cannot make mistakes.The problem with keeping the actual furniture is that we can’t find a solution for the washing machine : it is a few centimetres deeper than all the other appliances so we do not know how to hide it and make it part of the kitchen.

We like to cook so we hope to have space for some kitchen appliances but also want to hide them since it’s a one bedroom. We also like eating next to the window as we can see the view.

We want to keep the tall antique console that you see in the pictures as well as washing machine, dishwasher, fridge (maybe we could hide it somewhere?) and all the others kitchen appliances. The rest can all be changed. here their dimensions:
- Secretary desk: H 145 cm x L97.5 cm x W 43 cm
- Moroccan table (keep if possible): Diameter 58 cm x H 59 cm
- Fridge (keep if possible): H 145 cm x L 55 cm x W 55 cm
- Washing machine: H 85.5 cm x L 60 cm x W 61 cm
- Chest of drawers (keep if possible): H 82 cm x L 81 cm x W 46 cm

We would like to maximise our storage space and, at the same time, hope that the space won’t feel smaller. We also understand that the space is small and that we can’t have it all… our main hope is that the apartment will be equipped even if it’s small.

We like mixing styles, both classic and modern. Also neoclassical/McGee, modern/Parisian and Japandi style but, to be honest, we just want something warm, welcoming and practical that blends together. We like neutral tones, wood tones, blue, green, beige.

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