Imagine you’re hosting a birthday party and you need to choose a cake to buy. The first option is one of those huge, dried-out, grocery-store-bought-cakes with icing made of HFCS and partially hydrogenated palm oil. The second option is a small, moist cake from the bakery down the street, made fresh with real eggs and butter-cream frosting. The first cake will provide partygoers two humongous slices, neither of which will be enjoyed nor finished. The second cake will provide everyone one thin sliver that they will savor and talk about; every last bit will be enjoyed and consumed.
When presented this way, the option seems clear: buy the little one, right? But we don’t always buy the little cake do we? We become more concerned about running out of cake than we are having the cake we’ll eat and enjoy, albeit in smaller amounts. Such was the choice one Londoner had to make when looking for a new flat: she could afford size or quality, but not both. Fortunately for us, she chose the latter.
Jennifer Beningfield of Openstudio Architects took the high-ceilinged, 290 sq ft studio and created an elegant, cohesive space. She used quality materials and furniture–an expense that’s easier to cover when you have so little area to work with. A sleeping loft took the bed out of the main space and effectively added an additional 80 square feet. The most interesting features are the kitchen and home office, both of which tuck away when not in use–useful in a small space where most everything is visible from every vantage point.
We think small spaces like these are a great demonstration of the less, but better way of life, ever reminding us that sometimes the smallest morsel can provide as much or more nourishment than the biggest bite (or something like that).
Via Remodelista
All photos by Richard Bryant