This Tiny London Apartment Packs 4 Levels Into Just 45sqm/484sqft

Never Too Small

Issue 9 of our magazine has landed! Get your copy now https://nts-link.co/sp4jiy   In a Victorian mansion block in West London, content creator and director Rosie Dart has turned her 45sqm/484sqft split-level apartment into a colourful, character-filled home inspired by mid-century design and her love of vintage antiques. Drawing on her background in film and television, Rosie has carefully curated every corner, combining playful interiors with practical storage solutions. A custom floor-to-ceiling plywood bookcase with a sliding ladder provides generous storage and display space, while a 1950s diner-inspired kitchen makes clever use of every available nook. Upstairs, a mezzanine incorporates a pull-out desk, a raised bed with concealed storage and a compact wardrobe. From the cocooning green bedroom to the butter-yellow bathroom, the apartment brings together vintage finds, bold colour and thoughtful design, creating a distinctly personal home without compromising on function.  00:00-01:12 Introduction  01:12-01:42 Location  01:42-02:33 Entrance  02:33-08:27 Living Area 08:27-11:23 Kitchen  11:23-12:11 Dining Area  12:11-13:56 Bedroom 13:56-15:51 Bathroom  15:51-17:32 Mezzanine  17:31-18:31 Conclusion  To see more inside read the full article https://www.nevertoosmall.com/post/inside-rosie-darts-london-home-full-of-clever-storage-and-vintage-character  #smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign   How I Live Small Ep. 22 Owner: Rosie Dart @heyrosiedart  https://www.instagram.com/heyrosiedart   Produced by New Mac Video Agency Creator: Colin Chee Producer: Lindsay Barnard Director: Nam Tran & Sebby T Cinematographer & Editor: Sebby T Music: Artlist.io 7th Heaven by Larry and the Lamplighters Make It Right - Instrumental version by Aves Coconut Fantasies by Isaac DaBom David and I - Instrumental version by Giants and Pilgrims Feathers by Loves High Blues in the Pocket by Yonatan Riklis Snowflakes by Aves, Naples by LOLEK Crest & Daffodils by Loves High Hung Up by Ran Raiten Blush by ARose   Share your projects with us- https://www.nevertoosmall.com/submissions Subscribe to our newsletter- https://www.nevertoosmall.com/subscribe  Check out our store- https://www.nts-store.com Website- https://www.nevertoosmall.com Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/nvtsmall Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/nvtsmall

Transcript

00:02For me I'd way rather have a space with interest and character than lots of space so I love the

00:10fact that this apartment has different levels and a mezzanine and height. I'm Rosie and this

00:18is my apartment in West London which I've renovated from a pretty empty box kind of

00:24blank canvas to a space that feels really cinematic and full of all of my favourite

00:30pieces of design and vintage antiques. So previously I worked in the world of film and

00:36TV casting and recently I shifted my focus to more of a portfolio career

00:41encompassing content creation, directing, writing and design. So a primary influence for me is Wes

00:50Anderson and his cinematic language. I absolutely love the way that he curates

00:55objects and just creates a sense of whimsy and world-building. And of course

01:01vintage eras of design like mid-century advertisements. All of this colour and

01:06eclecticism just keeps me feeling really creatively fuelled and inspired.

01:15The apartment building is located in West London in a classic Victorian mansion block. And what I love

01:23about West London is its greenery. There are loads of fantastic parks nearby that are just a short walk

01:28away so I love going there to kind of wind down after work. And the apartment building itself has a

01:36small shared garden which is really nice for lunch and dinners outside in the summer.

01:42I added a lot of woodwork and storage to the space because there was no inbuilt storage here when I

01:48moved in and that just really helps keep the space super organised. I really wanted to create more of an

01:54entryway as previously you just kind of walked in into the open space. I have this unit here on the

02:01left

02:02which is movable. A little handy crate for things like sunglasses. I also have this cute little

02:09handmade ceramic bowl for things like keys.

02:12Why do you have so many keys?

02:14I have so many keys. They're like some of like my sister's keys, my girlfriend's keys. Never have enough keys.

02:24This unit has some storage here for shoes and my Wi-Fi box which is currently plugged in and that

02:30all keeps it.

02:31really neat and tidy. This is my living area and there was really nothing here beforehand. The wall was

02:39completely empty. I really wanted to make the most of the vertical space that I've got here and I also

02:47wanted to make it a very practical way to use the space as well. So introducing lots of hidden storage

02:53storage and then of course lots of space for all of my decorative pieces. And I started out by designing

03:01the unit myself and just playing around with different formats, different ways I could use the space.

03:06And I found this amazing plywood studio called House of Losey who do just beautiful plywood work

03:13and I thought that would be a really nice material for the unit to just bring more levity and brightness

03:20into the living area.

03:23And the studio also helped me refine my design. So thinking about, you know, putting notches in the corners

03:29of all the shelves so that wires can feed up and down, which is just super helpful and allows me

03:36to have loads of

03:37lamps and atmospheric lighting.

03:39All the shelves are also movable. It can be really versatile, which I also love.

03:45A really important part of the design of the unit was the hidden storage underneath. And the tall cupboard

03:52here was really important to me to have a space to store my jackets, coats, have a place for my

03:59hoover to

03:59charge. There's a little rail in there. There's plug access. And this was really the only space that we could

04:06have the taller cupboard as the wall is actually slightly deeper on this side. So it made the most

04:11sense for this storage space to be here. The bookshelf is filled with loads of different items from plants

04:20to books to vintage items. And a few of my favourite pieces include my dad's travel guides from the 80s.

04:30And then I also have this BBC on air light. And I just think it's super cool to now have

04:36it as a lamp

04:37sitting on the bookshelf. And then this TV is a 70s sort of space agey feel Japanese TV, which I

04:47found

04:47at an antique market. And it basically has this static that plays and I actually really enjoy using this as

04:55a lamp. At night, I find the white noise really calming. And just I think it gives a real fun

05:03vibe.

05:05You don't need more space, you need to make your space work harder. When good design is never too

05:10small, the ideas are actually endless. How about maxing out on IKEA IVAR shelves in place of expensive

05:16custom joinery? Even the coolest designers are doing it. They're also reimagining small apartments with

05:22colour and the space expanding magic of a gloss painted ceiling. Adding built in sofas that are

05:27more than a little bit extra. And turning dead space into beautiful hard working curved cabinetry.

05:36They design lighting that doubles as sculpture or can hang out with you wherever you are. Dream up

05:41coffee tables that can become side tables and book storage with just a simple shift in perspective.

05:48And furniture and decor that reimagine what you can do with an old timber pallet,

05:52timber offcuts or even the contents of your recycling bin. Our curation of the world's most

05:58exciting small footprint homes, small space tailored design and fun time city living. It's all here,

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06:11I thought that a ladder would just be so cool and such a dream kind of harking back to like

06:17the

06:17bookshelf from Beauty and the Beast where she's swinging along and just having that sense of height.

06:24So we thought a lot about how the ladder could come to life. We landed actually on a design where

06:30I could

06:34pull it out with these handles here and then it can just like slide along like so.

06:43When I was thinking about the top of the unit, I didn't want it to feel too bulky or kind

06:48of looming.

06:49So settled on this sort of tiered effect just to have a shallower section at the top there.

06:54And it meant that I had this sort of strip of wall where the white was and I just wanted

07:01to cover

07:01it up with something a bit more interesting and organic. So created this kind of jungle garden

07:08up there, which gives it a sort of mid-century, almost Frank Lloyd Wright feel with mixing the indoor

07:15and the outdoor.

07:19I went for a kind of warm and cool balancing act here. So I've got the warmth of the bookshelf,

07:26my togo sofa, and then the cool of the rug as well. So I wanted to really play with colour

07:32in that way.

07:33I really wanted a togo sofa for this space, firstly because of its mid-century energy, but also because

07:39the width is actually really contained. So it fits perfectly in this super snug kind of area just

07:45below the window here and feeds into that low, flexible aesthetic that I was after.

07:53And then in the centre of the living area, I have my glass coffee table, which I made out of

07:59glass

07:59bricks. And I really love glass bricks. I love the mid-century energy that they have,

08:04and also the fact that they diffuse the light really beautifully.

08:11And then in order to diffuse my TV, I decided to create a gallery wall combining loads of eclectic

08:17pieces, carnival signage, an old French newsagent sign, and just lots of different pieces to really

08:24make the wall sing. This is my kitchen, and beforehand it was quite an inefficient dated space.

08:33Pretty much a blank canvas, but a lot of the storage was not utilised super efficiently.

08:38So I went for this Americana kind of 50s diner inspired look, and I opted for a birch plywood

08:47finish to match the rest of the woodwork in the apartment, bring more brightness into the corner,

08:53and just make it feel a bit more kind of clean and modern.

08:59So there were a few bits that I swapped out here to make the space a bit more efficient in

09:03terms of storage. The first was a previous wine storage rack. I swapped it out for this kind of

09:09mini larder, and made sure that it was curved just to soften the edge as you walk down to the

09:16bedroom here.

09:18Then I've also got a half size dishwasher, which is so helpful. I think it really helps with a small

09:25kitchen to be able to have that option. So it keeps it kind of clutter free and really clean.

09:30I replaced the upper closed cabinetry with an open shelving unit, not have it too bulky up there, and it

09:40gives me a chance to display some really nice pieces.

09:42And then another little clever component to the upper shelving are these wine glass slits.

09:51So it just means that I can double up the space for the glasses, and then also have a little

09:57platform

09:58for kind of drinking cups up here as well.

10:02The backsplash was a bit of a labour of love. I actually spray painted half of the tiles this light

10:10blue colour. And these were leftover tiles from the bathroom, and I really didn't want to waste them.

10:14I wanted to kind of reuse them in this space, but still wanted this checkered effect. So spray painting

10:20was a great solution to that. I also added this strip light under the open shelving just to give,

10:28again, a really kind of contemporary clean finish, but also evoke some atmosphere in the evening when I'm

10:34cooking. This area of the kitchen was previously half the size. So I actually decided to build up this

10:42part of the unit into kind of like a fridge freezer microwave tower with lots of handy nooks for storing

10:50trays and chopping boards, medicine, that kind of thing. And this functions really well because it also

10:56acts as a divide for the entryway as well and zone off the living area and the kitchen.

11:05I really wanted to use every possible area for storage. So even this sliver under the oven

11:12managed to have a drawer here for things like foil and greaseproof paper, baking trays,

11:19and that all just fits snugly underneath.

11:26My dining area is kind of in the middle of the apartment because I wanted space for more storage

11:31and a kind of sideboard over by the wall. I think it works perfectly and allows the table to be

11:37kind of

11:38in the middle of the kitchen and the living area, which just works really nicely for hosting.

11:44It's a custom-made table from a woodworker that I just found on Etsy because I needed a really specific

11:51size. So this one is 70 centimetres and I think it fits perfectly in the space.

11:57And I have these cantilever, kind of Bauhaus inspired, really comfy chairs with this lovely

12:05kind of dark piping, which just gives another little like pop of blue over here.

12:13So this is the bedroom. And beforehand it was quite a white, dull, grey carpeted, boxy space,

12:21just like zero personality. So I really wanted to bring an aesthetic and kind of pop of colour

12:27into the space whilst keeping it feeling quite relaxed. So I started off by colour drenching

12:33the whole room just to really make it feel very cocooning and cosy. I was convinced there would be

12:38some authentic Victorian floorboards under the carpet, so we ripped those up and luckily we found some.

12:46I found these really cool hanger rails from a studio called Yetch and they're super creative

12:52because essentially you can put your clothes on there and they just fold in half. So the hanger sits

12:58at half the length of a normal hanger. And what it means is that everything can just sit really snugly

13:04and neatly in this space. Another cool cushion is this one, which is the length of the headboard

13:12and you can take it on and off. So it's really nice if you want something comfortable to sit up

13:17and read against. The bedside table is actually just from Ikea. I've also got lots of boxes under my bed

13:26to keep just the bulkier items like jumpers and jackets and that kind of thing. And that just helps me

13:34really maximise all the space that I've got in the room for extra storage.

13:40This antique chair, which was in the room for extraterrestrial chair, I believe,

13:44in kind of brighter green than the wall. And I just think it's quite fun kind of playing with that

13:49monochromatic vibe with colour to have like layers of different shades of the same green. It's kind of fun.

13:58So previously the stairs were carpeted and there were kind of quite dated balustrates all the way up.

14:05So painted them white, took up the carpet and replaced the old balustrates with these kind of raw,

14:13unvarnished birch dowels.

14:17So this is my bathroom. Previously, it was a pretty dated, badly finished space. There were a lot of

14:25cracks in the tiles. A lot of the ceiling was kind of peeling off. I just wanted to give it

14:31quite a spa-like,

14:32calming but characterful feel. So Wes Anderson's work was one of my biggest points of inspiration.

14:39So I swapped out the sink for this beautiful concrete sink. I really wanted something quite

14:45striking in the space.

14:49This windowsill here is super helpful. I also painted it in this butter yellow to mirror the

14:54ceiling that I've got and just adds a really nice contrast to the white.

14:59I've got this nice glass partition which leads us into the shower area and I was really focused on

15:07keeping a bath in this space because I think sometimes with small bathrooms there's a tendency

15:11to want to rip out the bath and just have a large shower but I just love a bath.

15:15So what's really helpful is this alcove of storage space because the bathroom is so small

15:22it makes a really nice area for kind of extra bathroom items that I might need.

15:27I wanted to paint the alcove in the same butter yellow just to make it a bit of a statement.

15:33So this is the sort of utility area of the bathroom. I've got my washing and drying machine here,

15:39boiler, all my cleaning supplies. My plan is to actually put a mirrored sliding door here to cover

15:46this area and to also introduce a mirror into the space as well.

15:52So this is my mezzanine and beforehand this space was a carpeted quite dull blank open level.

16:02This is a pull out desk and it just

16:07slides out like so and it's super helpful because when I'm working I can just pull the desk out,

16:14grab a seat and sit down and I have a beautiful view of the bookcase. It's a super atmospheric

16:20lovely place to work and then when I'm finished I can just tuck it away.

16:29I thought that a pegboard would be a really nice way to enhance the cosy kind of cocooning feel of

16:36the bed area and I can just use these pegs to essentially hook on small little items.

16:43So we actually lofted the bed a little bit to leave room for loads more storage underneath and just use

16:49these really simple sliding wooden doors to keep everything feeling super clean.

16:55This is the storage area of the mezzanine so I wanted to soften the edge of this wardrobe with

17:02a nice rounded shelving corner and then inside this mini wardrobe is my drying rack, my luggage,

17:11my washing and just kind of miscellaneous other bits and pieces.

17:16I have this slightly awkward corner of the mezzanine. I can just take this little lid away

17:24and then I have my printer, paper and just various supplies for printing and making art which is super helpful.

17:34Living in a small space really makes you think about your possessions. I love collecting objects and antiques

17:40but because I have a finite amount of room it really helps me curate and ensure that every piece feels

17:48intentional and has a home. The structure and vertical layout of the apartment is really unique

17:55and fantastic because it automatically zones out the space so you really do feel like you have

18:00different rooms for different functions and these stairs make it feel like a tiny house so it just

18:06gives it that illusion of space. For more small home inspiration check out our magazine now available

18:16in digital and print visit nevertosmall.com magazine

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