Bonnes idées

Before: The previous kitchen had little relationship to the house’s original character, despite the surrounding rooms retaining their matai floorboards and timber doors.

Graci works from home so she turned a former closet in the living room into an office. “I always get frustrated at how inefficient closets are,” she says, noting how the very top of the space is difficult to access because doors are usually so much lower than the ceilings. Andrew designed and built a custom workstation for her, which takes advantage of the full width and height of the nook and has a surface that can be collapsed into the desk.

Stowing the queen-size Room Makers Murphy bed by SICO frees up access to custom built-in cabinets and pull-down closet rods by Hafele that illuminate when the door is opened.

Consider realistic DIY limitations. If you’ve never delved into plumbing or electrical work before, a major renovation is usually not the right time to get started, as this type of work is best left to professionals. Even something as seemingly simple as demolition work can quickly become more complex if you are replacing plumbing or electrical fixtures.

Graham Hill, a sustainability advocate whose TED talks have delved into the benefits of living small, put his own lessons into practice at his 350-square-foot apartment, which he shares with his partner and two dogs. Quick transitions, like drawing the FilzFelt curtain, convert the living space into a bedroom. The Drop Hat pendants are by Plumen and the convertible sofa is by Resource Furniture.

A curtain slides across for privacy.

When not in use as the headboard, the large redwood slab folds down to become a desk.

Joshua rigged a hanging closet for $45, using a kayak holder and PVC pipe. The system went through a couple of iterations, and there is a "hole graveyard" on the ceiling, he says, along with a stray pulley left over from an earlier version. "I like seeing the progress," says Joshua, who streamlined his wardrobe so it would fit in his new closet.

From the living room wall, a panel folds down to reveal a bookshelf and form a table.

Slim, white, brise soleil-like beams run along the length of the ceiling in the mid-section of the apartment.

The unit can be configured to allow room for meal preparation around a built-in kitchen.

Madrid-based firm PKMN dreamed up this flexible concept for a client with a tiny home north of the city. Made up of three shelving units on track system, the All I Own House can be configured in countless ways, making space for a bedroom, kitchen, sitting area, changing room, and more. Shown here is a horizontal Murphy bed, which makes a great space-saving solution as well as a comfortable sleeping space.

A refrigerator, drawers, and storage space are cleverly tucked into the side of the staircase.

Expanded functionality and adaptability is a key part of the design of the child's bedroom and guestroom.

The bath’s Kohler Purist fixtures and Frederick Weinberg animal figures sit on a Corian countertop

In this tightly spaced apartment in New York, noroof Architects designed a multifunctional piece of furniture for the kid's room. All it takes is a little gentle pressure to lower the desk to the floor, bringing the kid-size mattress into position for bedtime.

All it takes is gentle downward pressure to lower the desk to the floor, bringing the kid-size mattress into position for bedtime.

Having a home office in an apartment of this size might seem impossible, but flexible furniture transforms one room into two.

When it’s time to eat or do homework, the adults lower the tabletop, revealing a dozen book cubbies.