Huge Multi-Functional Living Potential In A Tiny 420-sq-ft Apartment – Exclusive Interview

If you’ve ever looked around your home and wished for more space, you’re certainly not alone. It’s easy to want more space to store more of life’s stuff. But what’s not easy is to take a tiny apartment space (let’s say, oh, 420 square feet) and design it to provide highly functional living in that very little space (comparable to an 1,100 square foot home).

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

That’s two Romanian architecture students named Catalin Sandu and Adrian Iancu did in this Life Edited apartment in Soho, and it is an architectural and home design marvel! Let’s take a brief tour of this amazing space, shall we?

The primary space is a living room (but not just a living room, as we’ll soon see). It’s designed to comfortably and stylishly accommodate a large group of people.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

But, wait, what if everyone in that large group of people wants to stay for dinner? No problem. A fold-out table (called a Goliath table) is seamlessly stored near the kitchen counter.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Remove the table from its storage spot, and pull it out. Set the table, and viola!

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Dinner for 10 is served. Bon appétit.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

The main room also features a space-saving standing desk in the “home office” corner. The desk is built in to the wall so as not to protrude into the room itself, thereby taking up valuable floor space that would then lose much of its multifunctional capacity.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

The tiny apartment has no space for a separate bedroom, but it has an amazing design to overcome the challenge. A murphy-style pull-out bed, complete with a weighted shelf that swivels down so you don’t have to undecorated every night and redecorate every morning. Genius!

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Furthermore, a moveable wall partition slides out to create not just one, but two sleeping spaces! Fold-out stacked beds (bunk-bed style) are available in a guest bedroom, with a finishing touch of privacy curtains.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Another brilliant architectural aspect of the sliding wall partition is that it provides adjustability for the distance from the wall sofa to the TV. The television screen pulls down from the ceiling, of course. We’d expect nothing less with this stylishly multifunctional design.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Speakers are housed in the ceiling and completely plastered over to make them invisible. “Entertainment center” contents and other A/V equipment are hidden and housed in the contemporary cupboards behind the sofa.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

A look at the kitchen and bath reveal nothing short of brilliant usage of space. In the kitchen, for example, induction burners housed in a drawer replace the traditional stovetop, and drawers also hold a combination microwave/convection oven, a fridge, and a freezer. It’s practically an invisible kitchen because all the materials, surfaces, and lines used in the design are clean and contemporary. This provides a backdrop of architectural simplicity that makes the entire space, though quite small, feel open, airy, and even spacious.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

The toilet is contained in a separate enclosed space with an acoustic sliding door for sound and privacy. A separate seat in this room makes the space ideal for privacy when making phone calls as well.

Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage
Life Edited Apartment NYC bike storage

Of course, just because you might live in a small apartment doesn’t mean you’re destined to stay within those four walls! What’s important is that you have the tools to fit equipment for your regular, active lifestyle into your space. Which is something the Life Edited Apartment does with amazing precision, including a bike and oversized water toys, with its wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling storage.

NEXT — INTERVIEW WITH THE DESIGNERS BEHIND LIFE EDITED APARTMENT