Studiomama designed the interior of a studio — a small single-storey home in north London. The space features compact, fitted plywood furniture: a fold-down bed, a table with fold-out seats upholstered in pink cushions.
Studiomama founders Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama bought a former office building the size of a trailer at auction (its total area is just 13 square metres). In doing so, they quietly accepted a challenge: to prove that a tiny space can be genuinely liveable. They drew on principles from the design of small vans and boats to create a scheme that would pack a large amount of furniture and everyday objects into a very small footprint.
The aim of the renovation was to create a flexible living space that feels larger and more capacious than its actual square footage.
Studiomama set out to create the smallest house in London. Built-in plywood furniture was positioned around the inner perimeter of the building, giving the interior a coherent, unified quality. The space is divided into zones serving different functions: a sleeping area, a work area, an armchair for relaxation, a kitchen zone, a bathroom, a storage room and a dining area.
"Everything had to be custom-made, because there is simply no room for bulky furniture in the little house," says Nina Tolstrup. Using a single dominant material has made the space feel unified and serene — the floor, walls and ceiling read as one. The material itself also has a very warm quality, which adds to the sense of homeliness.
According to Jack Mama — one of the project's authors and designers — the design of this house is an answer to the question of what we truly need to live: the bare essentials.
Mirrors positioned on both sides of the apartment — including above the kitchen counter — visually enlarge the space and extend sightlines. One wall features windows looking onto the street, and the dining table with benches is positioned directly beneath one of them.
The pink cushions covering the seats lift up to reveal additional storage beneath. An armchair is recessed into the surface of the opposite wall, and tucked below it — integrated just as seamlessly into the same plane — is a bench or footrest, depending on preference.
Sliding doors painted in pastel shades of yellow, pink and blue — each wardrobe is designed for a specific purpose, to store specific things: books, a sewing machine, wine, games… One of the doors conceals a fold-out table that allows you to work standing up.
The bed, positioned in the narrowest part of the house, folds up when not needed, opening up more space, a bedside table and a pair of bookshelves placed opposite the window.
Many elements of the interior incorporate multiple functions. It is an excellent solution for comfortably inhabiting a tiny space that is now, despite its size, thoroughly liveable.
We have already written about the renovation of an attic in a three-hundred-year-old building — also a Studiomama project.
