- 11 minutes ago
- #smallapartment
- #architecture
- #interiordesign
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Architect, artist and collector Daniel Dorall has transformed his 50sqm/538sqft Melbourne apartment into a meticulously organised space that feels open despite his extensive collection of art and books. Over a decade of living in his home, Dorall has perfected a series of ingenious space-saving hacks including a simple IKEA hook used three different ways, a hidden pull-out dish rack drawer, magnetic spice holders, and even a hidden home studio complete with a workbench and storage drawers in the extra 2.5m ceiling height he discovered above the bathroom!
Watch the original apartment tour here ✨ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDQsJDS2P9w
00:00-00:47 Introduction
00:47-01:28 Subscribe To Our New Magazine
01:28-02:22 Location
02:22-04:03 Entrance
04:03-07:30 Kitchen
07:30-07:53 Indoor Plants
07:53-09:03 Large Window
09:03- 09:49 Item Composition
09:49-10:35 Coffee Table
10:35-11:13 Bookshelf and Artwork
11:13-12:00 Balcony
12:00-14:30 Bedroom
14:30-16:30 Bathroom
16:30-18:57 Studio
18:57-19:37 Conclusion
Artworks mentioned in episode:
Large Painting In the Entrance - Paul Luckman - Scouting for Boys, 2010, oil and acrylic on canvas, 210 x 180 cm by Steve Cox
https://moragalleries.com.au/represented.html
https://www.instagram.com/stevecoxstudio/
Large Black Painting in Living Room: Royal Enclosure - Painting For A Republic, 2004, velvet, synthetic polymer paint, enamel and plastic on linen, diptych, 200 x 200cm by Janenne Eaton
https://www.janenneeaton.com.au/
Drawing on door:
The Fall of Icarus, 2019, Pen, 235 x 84 cm by Steve Cox
https://moragalleries.com.au/represented.html
#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign
How we live small Ep. 2
Owner: Architect & artist Daniel Dorall
https://www.instagram.com/danieldorall.architect/
Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator & Director: Colin Chee
Cinematographer & Director: Nam Tran
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Editor: Jessica Ruasol
Promo Motion graphic designed by: https://varrgo.com/
Music: Saturday Special - Instrumental by Skipp Whitman
Drunken Love by Orian Rose
Rainbow City by Aves
Hymn of the Bed by Flint
First Day of Fall by Aves
Head Rot by When Mountains Move
TV Dinner by Just For Kicks
Sunny Stroll by Nomad Producer
Coffee Shop by Yestalgia
Coyote Super Genius by Snack Villain
Starburst by Orian Rose
Reflection by Phury
Hot Chocolate by Aves
Promo: Drum Circle by Sage Oursler and Keep Coming Back To The Start (Instrumental Version) by Duplex Heart from Epidemic Sound
Share you 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
Architect, artist and collector Daniel Dorall has transformed his 50sqm/538sqft Melbourne apartment into a meticulously organised space that feels open despite his extensive collection of art and books. Over a decade of living in his home, Dorall has perfected a series of ingenious space-saving hacks including a simple IKEA hook used three different ways, a hidden pull-out dish rack drawer, magnetic spice holders, and even a hidden home studio complete with a workbench and storage drawers in the extra 2.5m ceiling height he discovered above the bathroom!
Watch the original apartment tour here ✨ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDQsJDS2P9w
00:00-00:47 Introduction
00:47-01:28 Subscribe To Our New Magazine
01:28-02:22 Location
02:22-04:03 Entrance
04:03-07:30 Kitchen
07:30-07:53 Indoor Plants
07:53-09:03 Large Window
09:03- 09:49 Item Composition
09:49-10:35 Coffee Table
10:35-11:13 Bookshelf and Artwork
11:13-12:00 Balcony
12:00-14:30 Bedroom
14:30-16:30 Bathroom
16:30-18:57 Studio
18:57-19:37 Conclusion
Artworks mentioned in episode:
Large Painting In the Entrance - Paul Luckman - Scouting for Boys, 2010, oil and acrylic on canvas, 210 x 180 cm by Steve Cox
https://moragalleries.com.au/represented.html
https://www.instagram.com/stevecoxstudio/
Large Black Painting in Living Room: Royal Enclosure - Painting For A Republic, 2004, velvet, synthetic polymer paint, enamel and plastic on linen, diptych, 200 x 200cm by Janenne Eaton
https://www.janenneeaton.com.au/
Drawing on door:
The Fall of Icarus, 2019, Pen, 235 x 84 cm by Steve Cox
https://moragalleries.com.au/represented.html
#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign
How we live small Ep. 2
Owner: Architect & artist Daniel Dorall
https://www.instagram.com/danieldorall.architect/
Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator & Director: Colin Chee
Cinematographer & Director: Nam Tran
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Editor: Jessica Ruasol
Promo Motion graphic designed by: https://varrgo.com/
Music: Saturday Special - Instrumental by Skipp Whitman
Drunken Love by Orian Rose
Rainbow City by Aves
Hymn of the Bed by Flint
First Day of Fall by Aves
Head Rot by When Mountains Move
TV Dinner by Just For Kicks
Sunny Stroll by Nomad Producer
Coffee Shop by Yestalgia
Coyote Super Genius by Snack Villain
Starburst by Orian Rose
Reflection by Phury
Hot Chocolate by Aves
Promo: Drum Circle by Sage Oursler and Keep Coming Back To The Start (Instrumental Version) by Duplex Heart from Epidemic Sound
Share you 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
Category
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LifestyleTranscript
00:03My name is Daniel Doral and I'm an architect, artist and collector and this is my home.
00:14I am not a maximalist.
00:18You're actually quite a maximalist, right?
00:20You feel so?
00:22I feel that some people are interested in experiences.
00:27But for me, I'm a collector.
00:30I'm interested in objects.
00:34I have this idea of a place for everything and everything in its place.
00:40If everything is in its space and in harmony and in composition,
00:44that's when it really becomes a home for me.
00:48It's just me and my collection living here right now.
00:52A single person living in a space, you really don't need more than 40 square meters.
00:59You know, 50 square meters is great.
01:01Anything more than that is, you know, very, very great.
01:06One of the great things about this apartment as well is even though it's not huge,
01:10it really has the volume and volume just gives it things a different dimension.
01:16You know, it just sort of feels that you're walking into something which is not claustrophobic.
01:22I'm very much a city person.
01:24I don't have a car.
01:26It's about convenience for me and it's about location.
01:30And it's also about, you know, outlooks and views and what I can have in my space to make me
01:37feel comfortable in the space.
01:41I'm really interested in spaces which has a bit of a grand reveal,
01:45which is why I really like this entrance corridor.
01:48It's a bit of a salon hang of various different paintings, drawings and prints.
01:54I really wanted a door stopper, I guess.
01:57And I really didn't like door stoppers, which came from the ground.
02:01So what I have here is one of these hooks from Ikea, which I've sort of inverted in another way.
02:07And it works really well to just sort of hold the door like that.
02:13Because he has a door closer, I actually use the same hook that I've got up here as well.
02:19It swings this way, down.
02:21You can have that amount of gap.
02:23Or you can have it up like that.
02:25So you can have a little bit more ventilation and have the door slightly ajar.
02:30A very large picture here, which is hiding a few different electrical things.
02:36I've got another sort of hidden spot here, which I have more switches.
02:42The trick is that you need to find a frame which has a cavity towards the behind.
02:48Sometimes I like to expose the hinges.
02:51So in this case, I got gold hinges.
02:53So I wanted to expose them.
02:55I collect three different things.
02:57I collect art.
02:58Modern, contemporary, Australian art, mostly.
03:03I collect objects.
03:06And I collect books.
03:10I think the idea is to actually have like a bit of a blank canvas.
03:15So, you know, white walls, very clean surfaces to display my collection.
03:21The kitchen is a bit of an open plan kitchen.
03:25So we've got a carpentry here, which, you know, has quite a bit of space, but I've really utilized it
03:31by having more sort of narrow, low shelves where you can stack more plates, etc.
03:38Sometimes, you know, you might have jars, but you don't actually necessarily need to stand them up all the time.
03:44I did buy this metal plate.
03:46I think I got a custom cut for me in this size, and I've just sort of screwed it in.
03:51And it's all magnetic.
03:53You can see there's a bit of a gap here.
03:55Otherwise, your herbs are going to hit right into the cabinetry.
04:00All the cabinetry up here, everything's sort of hanging.
04:04I try to hang things as much as possible.
04:07My mum said, if you have lots of Tupperware or storage food, you really need to arrange it because otherwise
04:15it'll be a messy cupboard, which I think a lot of houses have.
04:19But I try to keep it as neat as possible.
04:21Storage tips in my kitchen, try to keep things off the bench top.
04:26So I have a dishwasher and not everything goes in a dishwasher.
04:29Sometimes you need to hand wash.
04:31I actually have Mark Newsome drying rack in here.
04:36And that just sort of like nicely closes like that.
04:39So this used to be just a bit of a mess.
04:41But I very recently got all this IKEA white plastic to store all the various different bits and bots and
04:51cleaning supplies.
04:53I live here by myself.
04:54I don't really feel the need to label anything.
04:57But yeah, sometimes I do forget.
04:58And so I'm going looking around to see what's in there.
05:03So I used to have a lot more display objects on this counter, but I minimalized it into things which
05:10I do use on a daily basis.
05:12So I use this trivet from Norman Copenhagen.
05:14And this is my squeezer.
05:16I've got MSG in there.
05:19That's my Alessi orange peeler.
05:21This is called an oil pipe by Aldo Baker.
05:25Some people have like a whole knife block.
05:28I sort of thought, alright, I'm going to give all of that away.
05:30I'm just going to have three knives.
05:32So that's a bread knife, chef's knife, and just a little paring knife.
05:36And I think that's all we need really.
05:38Going back to that hook that I really love, what I've done here is create a bit of a wine
05:45rack.
05:47In here is my sort of utilities area.
05:51So, you know, a couple of IKEA hacks as well.
05:54That's actually for picture frames.
05:57Just to put it in there because I need to put my Dyson.
06:02My Bissell vacuum cleaner, it actually goes behind the microwave.
06:07There's a whole cutout at the back.
06:09This is my Brutalist poured concrete bench.
06:15This is the area which I use the most.
06:17So it's actually a lot darker from all the oils.
06:20And you see, I didn't actually get a designer to do it for me.
06:23And I didn't get like specialist people to make it for me.
06:26I got a concreter.
06:29People tend to think when they think about the fact that I've got concrete floors and lots of concrete.
06:35They think that the space is cold.
06:37But when they will come and visit it because of how it's laid out and the various different interesting things
06:44in the space.
06:45Their perception actually changes that it's a lot warmer.
06:48One of the things that makes this space a bit of a home is that I try to collect plants
06:55that my mum used to have.
06:57And I remember her having this asparagus fern.
07:00And I've hacked quite a few of the LAC series IKEA tables.
07:05So those are the table legs were just sort of cut down.
07:07Assembled them as plins.
07:11One of the things I really love about this apartment is this great big window.
07:15So it's roughly about five metres wide across five panels.
07:21And it goes up by about two and a half metres.
07:25You have an exclusive view to two of the Corinthian columns.
07:29Which you can't actually see from the bottom of the apartment.
07:33So they open just sort of halfway like that.
07:37If they open all the way then you know a small child might fall out.
07:40Or an animal.
07:41Or a human.
07:43These were the original door handles from my kitchen.
07:47I basically just use them for when I need to open the window.
07:51And I just need to wedge it.
07:54So I don't have curtains.
07:57But I do have blinds.
08:00The controller is here behind this box.
08:03And it used to be manual blinds.
08:05And they were pretty old.
08:06One year they sort of broke.
08:08And I remember climbing up to the top three and a half metres.
08:12Thinking if I fall that will be the end of me.
08:14So I got some elastic blinds put in.
08:17And they were the best investment ever.
08:22And not all the pots need to be on the base level.
08:25Sometimes they can be a little bit higher.
08:29So that's a small pot stacked on a big pot.
08:32So they sort of blue tack together.
08:35Everything needs to go with the thing which is next to it.
08:39In composition.
08:42I think that comes from my architectural training.
08:44You know all the sort of classical notions of like hierarchy.
08:47And symmetry and perspective.
08:50It's quite important when you have lots of things.
08:53But you don't want to make it look cluttered.
08:55I still love art.
08:56And I still collect a lot of art.
08:58Even though I don't work in art world anymore.
09:01So they are sort of influences how I think.
09:08This coffee table.
09:10I searched for a very long time.
09:13So for three or four years.
09:15I didn't actually have a coffee table.
09:16I didn't want to buy something.
09:18Which I just spent you know a few hundred dollars on.
09:21Just to have something there.
09:23It's more of a platform really for displaying stuff.
09:27It's by Aflac.
09:29I think it's Italian as well.
09:30And it's called a nap coffee table.
09:33And I try to have at least half of it free space.
09:37For if I need to you know put a glass on.
09:39Or something like that.
09:40I'm not completely convinced of how this is set up currently.
09:44I used to have it just perfect.
09:46But then I sort of bought and sold different things.
09:49So it might change over the next few years.
09:51Or the next day.
09:52Yeah.
09:54This is my main picture wall.
09:57I guess.
09:59On the left hand side here.
10:01I've got my self-made bookshelf.
10:04Which I've had for the last 10 years.
10:06This is my new sort of hang.
10:08It's probably coming to about 18 months now.
10:12I've had this hang.
10:13This sort of diptych is by Janine Eaton.
10:16Who is a Melbourne artist.
10:19I do get some morning sun.
10:21But I don't really get that much sun otherwise.
10:25So it's always a few degrees colder in here.
10:27Which is good for artworks and objects.
10:29Not so great for plants.
10:32But I do have a balcony garden.
10:33Which is looking very lush today.
10:36I have been working on this space.
10:39For the last 8 years as well.
10:41And I think I got it sort of down pat.
10:44I always wanted a bit of a garden wall over here.
10:48So I've used those planter boxes.
10:51Which are actually IKEA bathroom shelving.
10:54And they're steel and sort of white.
10:57So I thought it would go really well.
10:59So that is actually two IKEA tables.
11:01Which I've put on.
11:03And these grates here.
11:04There's a steel maker.
11:07Are based in North Melbourne.
11:08I got them to make that.
11:09And I've just got screws here.
11:11And screws there.
11:12So this actually just comes off.
11:14When I need to access it for anything.
11:22The bedroom itself is not massive.
11:26It's roughly about 3.9 meters.
11:30By about 3.5 meters.
11:33The unit originally came with a much smaller wardrobe.
11:37So it actually ended here.
11:39I got that removed.
11:40I actually installed the pack system from IKEA.
11:43By myself.
11:45I'll just give you a quick look inside.
11:48But not that long.
11:49Anyway.
11:50Lots of drawers for you know t-shirts and stuff.
11:53And scarves etc.
11:55So this is where I put my shoes.
11:57So I just sort of carry it in.
11:59After I've taken it off at the doorway.
12:02And on the other side here.
12:04Just sort of shirts and jackets.
12:06Got a huge jacket collection.
12:08Took me a while to figure out what I was going to do up there.
12:10But I just really wanted it to be more storage.
12:13So that's just sort of large storage.
12:16I've got lots of boxes in there.
12:18Luggage for example.
12:20Christmas decorations etc.
12:22This is where I store one of my ladders.
12:25So this is a four step ladder by Lucano.
12:29It's probably one of the highest step ladders you can get.
12:31It's very very useful.
12:33I probably use it like every other day.
12:35I've got more seating for you know the balcony or whenever I have visitors.
12:40And that's just a chair from Alessi.
12:44This little platform here used to be just plaster on the top.
12:49And I got another furniture maker to cut this piece of plywood.
12:53Just to bring it all together.
12:56And it also goes in line with this other piece of plywood which is on this windowsill here.
13:03This study was designed by myself and built by Melbourne company Light Butter.
13:11I do have stuff up there but it's for very very long term storage because it's very difficult to get
13:16all the way up there.
13:18Especially putting a ladder in this small gap over here.
13:22That's another IKEA hack.
13:24I was looking for a rail which I could use.
13:28The maximum amount of depth.
13:30But it does work very well as occasional hanging for laundry or if I need to dry anything.
13:37I've got another piece of artwork here.
13:41Hand drawn on the wall by Steve Cox who's a Melbourne artist.
13:48The bathroom I renovated probably about 18 months ago.
13:52Maybe about 2 years ago.
13:54This is the original concrete that was found in the building.
13:58This is 100 year old concrete.
14:01This is a design of mine as well.
14:04It's all made in Korean.
14:08I added that sort of ledge there.
14:11Not too many bottles everywhere.
14:13This is really literally all I have.
14:15This here I designed as well as a laundry bin.
14:20I thought oh you know I'm going to get the cabinet maker to do cabinetry in the space.
14:24And I need a piano hinge all the way here.
14:27And I sort of said I'll get it in like this sort of chrome finish.
14:31So yeah I think it works really well.
14:34I've put the washing machine which is a washer dryer in this space underneath the vanity.
14:44I've got additional shelving in there just for you know all my toiletries and my perfume collection.
14:51To actually keep them in place I've added like little nails which I've sort of painted white so they don't
14:58fall over.
15:02This originally was a normal door but when I renovated this bathroom I wanted it to have two entrances.
15:11So an entrance from the bedroom and an entrance from the living area as well for guests.
15:15If it wasn't bifold it would cross with the other opening over here.
15:22But since it is bifold it sort of just tucks nicely.
15:28And this is not obstructed.
15:33This is another sort of gallery corridor that was created when I created this separate entrance into the bathroom.
15:42But in here is more storage.
15:47It also allowed me to create a new entrance into the new studio space which I excavated above the bathroom.
15:56I call it an excavation because when there was a leak from a neighbour's pipe upstairs.
16:03A plumber had to come in to cut a manhole above the bathroom.
16:07And when he looked up inside there was another two and a half metres up there.
16:11So there was a total of five metres ceiling height for this whole apartment.
16:15When I first opened up the space it really didn't look like this at all.
16:20It had no floor.
16:23It had pipes running all over the place.
16:27So all of that had to be moved aside.
16:31In this cupboard here we've got my broom.
16:36That's where the exhaust fan for the bathroom actually goes.
16:40And in here is the water heater unit which was moved from downstairs.
16:47As you can see it's quite a tight fit.
16:51On the back there it's actually a polished piece of stainless steel.
16:56At the top here it's LED panels which gives the illusion of being a skylight.
17:04There's a cutout here.
17:05It serves as to bring in light from the bedroom.
17:08And it also allows ventilation to the space.
17:13Plus the other thing was that it allows me, if I need to sit down, put my legs in here.
17:20So you're nice and comfortable.
17:24I've been using this space to continuously make my work, do a bit of reading.
17:31One of the things in the space is this trap door which I designed and got the builder to build.
17:39And I sort of painted it myself.
17:41But it does allow me to stand in this space and fully utilise the cabinetry that I have here.
17:48I've got this long cabinet here for boxes.
17:51Any framed works that I might want to have.
17:56Cupboards here.
17:57There's a corner cupboard which is quite big and deep.
18:01And additional drawers with some more of my work.
18:09I think you can continuously improve in how you can live in a home.
18:17Because you know, people change, people grow.
18:20And you might want different things.
18:23But it's all about tweaking and tinkering around the edges.
18:27And just sort of polishing things up and evolving the home as you sort of grow.
18:33What makes it a home for me is that I'm surrounded by my collection of beautiful things.
18:40And that just makes me happy to be in a space.
18:53To be continued toַ
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