8 Cleverly Designed Homes Under 500 Square Feet
Houses from around the globe show that good things really do come in small packages
The designers of these compact homes made every inch count, finding clever ways to delineate space, conceal beds and even hide a TV inside a coffee table. Take a gander at these eight homes, all under 500 square feet, with big ideas and tonnes of style.
A custom built-in cabinet to the left of the fireplace looks like an elegant piece of furniture, but it conceals a space-saving Murphy bed.
See these guaranteed space-saving solutions
See these guaranteed space-saving solutions
The kitchen contains everything the couple needs, including a dishwasher and a Miele oven with a built-in meat thermometer. Euro-style cabinets, deeper than they appear, provide room to store dishes and glassware for a party of 16.
Find a designer to design your home
Find a designer to design your home
2. Pretty and petite in Paris
Location: The 15th arrondissement of Paris
Size: About 20 square metres (215 square feet)
Interior designer: Margaux Carnevali of Neva Architecture Intérieure
Designer Margaux Carnevali created a studio apartment in Paris that feels like a much larger home, defining the living, dining and sleeping areas not with partitions but with colour. A turquoise feature wall distinguishes the living room from the dining area, while a bolder shade defines the sleeping loft.
Location: The 15th arrondissement of Paris
Size: About 20 square metres (215 square feet)
Interior designer: Margaux Carnevali of Neva Architecture Intérieure
Designer Margaux Carnevali created a studio apartment in Paris that feels like a much larger home, defining the living, dining and sleeping areas not with partitions but with colour. A turquoise feature wall distinguishes the living room from the dining area, while a bolder shade defines the sleeping loft.
The loft houses a double mattress and storage shelves. Before the renovation, the homeowner had to keep her clothes in stacked boxes and on a hanging rail by the entrance. Now she stores them in a custom closet under the loft. The closet’s mirrored doors make the space look bigger.
White walls and tile in the 65-square-foot bathroom makes it look bigger too. The walls and vanity unit are made of gypsum blocks covered in white micro-mosaic tile. A turquoise cement-tile floor adds a note of colour.
See these small bathroom designs
See these small bathroom designs
3. Cute coastal cottage in Maine
Location: Kennebunkport, Maine
Size: Just under 28 square metres (300 square feet); one bedroom, one bathroom
Designer: Tyler Karu
Interior designer Tyler Karu helped to preserve some old Maine style for this newly renovated cottage. Its cupola, window boxes, blue shingles and painted screen door give it a charming coastal look.
Location: Kennebunkport, Maine
Size: Just under 28 square metres (300 square feet); one bedroom, one bathroom
Designer: Tyler Karu
Interior designer Tyler Karu helped to preserve some old Maine style for this newly renovated cottage. Its cupola, window boxes, blue shingles and painted screen door give it a charming coastal look.
Inside, the home features mid-century furnishings and maritime accessories. The entire cottage got new flooring, new tongue-and-groove wall paneling and restored original beadboard ceilings.
Karu used shades of pale greens and yellows to create a subtle coastal cottage look. The round jute rug is reminiscent of the braided rag rugs often found in old New England cottages.
Karu used shades of pale greens and yellows to create a subtle coastal cottage look. The round jute rug is reminiscent of the braided rag rugs often found in old New England cottages.
Karu used quarter-sawn oak tongue-and-groove paneling for the kitchen cabinetry.
Though the homeowners like to go out for dinner, the kitchen still includes a bevy of amenities such as a dishwasher, a two-burner cooktop and a microwave integrated into the lower cabinets.
Though the homeowners like to go out for dinner, the kitchen still includes a bevy of amenities such as a dishwasher, a two-burner cooktop and a microwave integrated into the lower cabinets.
4. Stylish shack in the woods
Location: Thousand Islands area of northern New York
Size: 328 square feet (31 square metres)
Designer: Jonathan Taylor of Taylored Architecture
The exterior of this 328-square-foot home in northern New York provides a good look at the home’s layout: You enter through the kitchen, and from there, you can turn right into the living room or left into the master bedroom. The bathroom is behind the kitchen, and the second floor contains two sleeping lofts.
Location: Thousand Islands area of northern New York
Size: 328 square feet (31 square metres)
Designer: Jonathan Taylor of Taylored Architecture
The exterior of this 328-square-foot home in northern New York provides a good look at the home’s layout: You enter through the kitchen, and from there, you can turn right into the living room or left into the master bedroom. The bathroom is behind the kitchen, and the second floor contains two sleeping lofts.
A small single-wall kitchen includes a two-burner cooktop, an undercounter refrigerator, a stainless steel sink and a maple butcher block countertop. The homeowner found the mosaic cement tile used on the kitchen wall and floor.
The bedroom features a wood accent wall laid in a chevron pattern. Architect Jonathan Taylor designed it so the bed would sit beneath the upward ‘V’ of the chevron. Windows wrap around two sides of the bed, framing lush forest views.
Here’s how to transform your wall into an accent wall
Here’s how to transform your wall into an accent wall
5. A little rock and roll in Arkansas
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Size: 37 square metres (400 square feet)
Designer: Brian Crabb of Viva Collectiv
Homeowner Asha Mevlana is an electric violinist who tours with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra rock band every year. Her busy work schedule caused her to keep all her belongings in storage units in Los Angeles, Boston and New York. “It was all over the place,” she says. “I never felt I had a home.”
After building this tiny house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Mevlana now has a place of her own that reflects her musical personality and provides enough storage for her things, thanks to designer Brian Crabb’s clever use of space.
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Size: 37 square metres (400 square feet)
Designer: Brian Crabb of Viva Collectiv
Homeowner Asha Mevlana is an electric violinist who tours with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra rock band every year. Her busy work schedule caused her to keep all her belongings in storage units in Los Angeles, Boston and New York. “It was all over the place,” she says. “I never felt I had a home.”
After building this tiny house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Mevlana now has a place of her own that reflects her musical personality and provides enough storage for her things, thanks to designer Brian Crabb’s clever use of space.
The living room features a garage-style door with windows that draw in plenty of natural light. The high ceiling and clerestory windows makes the house feel larger than it is.
Mevlana does a lot of video editing at home, so she had Crabb create a custom coffee table out of Abaco tropical hardwood that houses her recording equipment, a TV and a computer monitor.
Take a look at these unique coffee table designs from around the world
Take a look at these unique coffee table designs from around the world
6. Tiny tower in Italy
Location: Maremma Laziale, on the western coast of Italy
Size: 30.1 square metres (324 square feet)
Designers: Riccardo Caracciolo Design & Services
(architecture) and Verdella Caracciolo de Benedictis (interior design)
This small tower is a guesthouse on a lush property that has been handed down from generation to generation in this Roman family since the 15th century. A recent renovation of the tower has made it a popular place for family members to use after trips to the nearby beach.
Location: Maremma Laziale, on the western coast of Italy
Size: 30.1 square metres (324 square feet)
Designers: Riccardo Caracciolo Design & Services
(architecture) and Verdella Caracciolo de Benedictis (interior design)
This small tower is a guesthouse on a lush property that has been handed down from generation to generation in this Roman family since the 15th century. A recent renovation of the tower has made it a popular place for family members to use after trips to the nearby beach.
The tower’s top floor features a living room with green lacquered fir floors. A built-in sofa covered in blue-and-white-striped upholstery makes a lovely spot for an afternoon nap or to watch a movie on the flat-screen TV mounted above the windows.
7. Sublime studio style in San Francisco
Location: Nob Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco
Size: 42 square metres (450 square feet)
First-time homeowner Ryan Lore says when he bought his Nob Hill apartment it had definitely seen better days. “The place was pretty rough when I first got it,” he says. “It hadn’t been touched since 1964, and literally every surface needed to be updated, including removal of the asbestos popcorn ceiling.”
Lore freshened up the open living area with new cork floors, a fresh coat of white paint on the walls and new lighting tucked under a newly built soffit.
Location: Nob Hill neighbourhood of San Francisco
Size: 42 square metres (450 square feet)
First-time homeowner Ryan Lore says when he bought his Nob Hill apartment it had definitely seen better days. “The place was pretty rough when I first got it,” he says. “It hadn’t been touched since 1964, and literally every surface needed to be updated, including removal of the asbestos popcorn ceiling.”
Lore freshened up the open living area with new cork floors, a fresh coat of white paint on the walls and new lighting tucked under a newly built soffit.
The kitchen features new glossy cabinets from Ikea, stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops and a new peninsula that created a convenient work area and eating space.
A new custom Murphy bed hidden in the hallway closet provided a solution to one of Lore’s main concerns. “I didn’t want a bed in the middle of my living room since I entertain quite a bit,” he says.
8. Big style for a mini Moscow apartment
Location: Moscow
Size: 34 square meters (366 square feet)
Designers: Natalia Milovzorowa and Olga Tsarevskaya of Salmon Lair
While light-toned wood is often a popular choice for small spaces, the designers of this Moscow apartment avoided it because the owner doesn’t like it. Nonetheless, the dark flooring fits well with the bright interior and continues in the hallway, bathroom and kitchen to avoid dividing the already small space.
The designers added clever storage solutions to make the most of the 366-square-foot space. A mechanism under the mattress allows the bed to be lifted by pulling on a fabric loop, providing storage space for extra clothing, shoes and even suitcases.
Location: Moscow
Size: 34 square meters (366 square feet)
Designers: Natalia Milovzorowa and Olga Tsarevskaya of Salmon Lair
While light-toned wood is often a popular choice for small spaces, the designers of this Moscow apartment avoided it because the owner doesn’t like it. Nonetheless, the dark flooring fits well with the bright interior and continues in the hallway, bathroom and kitchen to avoid dividing the already small space.
The designers added clever storage solutions to make the most of the 366-square-foot space. A mechanism under the mattress allows the bed to be lifted by pulling on a fabric loop, providing storage space for extra clothing, shoes and even suitcases.
The love seat was the ideal size for the small space, but its colour and texture did not fit the new interior, so the designers reupholstered it in a yellow fabric to match the colour of the enclosed balcony’s walls.
The cute kitchen features painted upper cabinets in soft pink and lower cabinets in a light blue. A small table with three mid-century-inspired chairs and a purple light fixture above complete the scene.
Read more:
5 Small Homes Show Clever Space Planning
Tell us:
Which home do you like best and why? Tell us in the Comments below.
Read more:
5 Small Homes Show Clever Space Planning
Tell us:
Which home do you like best and why? Tell us in the Comments below.
Location: Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Boston
Size: 37 square metres (400 square feet)
Designer: TMS Architects
The designers of this 400-square-foot studio Boston apartment went against the grain when they covered the walls in black wallpaper, but their choice reflects the homeowners’ desire for a maximalist interior full of plush custom furnishings and ornately framed paintings.