- 7 weeks ago
- #smallapartment
- #architecture
- #interiordesign
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Swedish Designer Gustaf Westman's micro apartment is both his home and a showcase for his playful, humor-infused furniture and objects. Known for his chunky mirrors, curvy joinery, and bold use of colour, Westman approaches design with an accessible, lighthearted spirit—mixing high-concept ideas with everyday functionality. Throughout the apartment, his prototypes and collaborations—ranging from flat-pack furniture and sculptural shelving to whimsical IKEA objects—double as daily essentials and experiments in form. Around the home, a mix of personal objects, friends’ artworks, and creative collaborations adds a sense of warmth and lived-in creativity.
00:00-02:19 Introduction
02:19-03:17 Location
03:17-07:28 Kitchen
07:28-12:08 Dining Area
12:08-14:12 Living Area
14:12-16:09 Bedroom
16:09-17:01 Entrance
17:01-17:51 Bathroom
17:51-18:59 Conclusion
#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign
How I Live Small Ep.9
Owner: Gustaf Westman
https://www.gustafwestman.com/
https://www.instagram.com/gustafwestman
Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator: Colin Chee
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Director & Cinematographer: Colin Chee
Cinematographer: Sebastian Hilgetag
Editor: Sebastian Tibbs
Music: Artlist.io
Kisses and Heartbeats - Alternative version by Anthony Lazaro
City Nights - No Backing Vocals by RA
Beautiful Dream - Instrumental version by Steven Beddall
Coconut Fantasies by Isaac DaBom
Dressy Stuff by Elifas Sonaru
Rio I Miss You by Marcelo Nami
String Quintet in E major Op 11 No 5 - Creative Cut - Dreamy by Carmel Quartet
The Nutcracker Medley by Jonathan Hadas
Face Card Never Decline - No Backing Vocals by ZISO
The Wildcardz by Red Light
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Subscribe to our newsletter- https://www.nevertoosmall.com/subscribe
Check out our store- https://www.nts-store.com
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Swedish Designer Gustaf Westman's micro apartment is both his home and a showcase for his playful, humor-infused furniture and objects. Known for his chunky mirrors, curvy joinery, and bold use of colour, Westman approaches design with an accessible, lighthearted spirit—mixing high-concept ideas with everyday functionality. Throughout the apartment, his prototypes and collaborations—ranging from flat-pack furniture and sculptural shelving to whimsical IKEA objects—double as daily essentials and experiments in form. Around the home, a mix of personal objects, friends’ artworks, and creative collaborations adds a sense of warmth and lived-in creativity.
00:00-02:19 Introduction
02:19-03:17 Location
03:17-07:28 Kitchen
07:28-12:08 Dining Area
12:08-14:12 Living Area
14:12-16:09 Bedroom
16:09-17:01 Entrance
17:01-17:51 Bathroom
17:51-18:59 Conclusion
#smallapartment #architecture #interiordesign
How I Live Small Ep.9
Owner: Gustaf Westman
https://www.gustafwestman.com/
https://www.instagram.com/gustafwestman
Produced by New Mac Video Agency
Creator: Colin Chee
Producer: Lindsay Barnard
Director & Cinematographer: Colin Chee
Cinematographer: Sebastian Hilgetag
Editor: Sebastian Tibbs
Music: Artlist.io
Kisses and Heartbeats - Alternative version by Anthony Lazaro
City Nights - No Backing Vocals by RA
Beautiful Dream - Instrumental version by Steven Beddall
Coconut Fantasies by Isaac DaBom
Dressy Stuff by Elifas Sonaru
Rio I Miss You by Marcelo Nami
String Quintet in E major Op 11 No 5 - Creative Cut - Dreamy by Carmel Quartet
The Nutcracker Medley by Jonathan Hadas
Face Card Never Decline - No Backing Vocals by ZISO
The Wildcardz by Red Light
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
Category
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LifestyleTranscript
00:07I'm Gustav Westman, I'm a Swedish furniture designer.
00:11Yeah, I live here in Stockholm, based here in Stockholm, my studio is here.
00:15I like Darth Vader, he's kind of cool, yeah. He has a very nice aesthetic.
00:19I don't style, I just put stuff here.
00:21Sometimes I try to make it nice with some flowers because you were coming here.
00:25I love sunflowers.
00:26I grew up in Dahlsjöfors, outside Borås.
00:30Swedish people would know, it's very small.
00:33This is supposed to be like me, but I don't think it looks like me.
00:38It looks like a f***ing 80 year old guy.
00:42I always love the design, like all types of creativity.
00:46How long have you been a designer?
00:48I think it's seven or eight years I graduated architecture school.
00:51I just felt like I was too lazy to be an architect.
00:53It's so intense and you need to know so much.
00:57Yeah, I designed this.
00:58I designed this.
00:58I designed this.
00:59I designed this.
01:00This.
01:00I designed this.
01:01After architecture studies, I started to do some smaller interior projects.
01:05In these projects, I always made sure to make a few special design objects.
01:13It started out with a mirror and then I kind of like after that I did like smaller stuff like
01:18cups and plates and people like that too.
01:21And then like the cups and plates obviously made it more accessible for people.
01:25So then we could go out and do like pop ups and meet people.
01:30I think the design world have a very big lack of humor.
01:34And I think it's fun to also be a bit annoying with your humor and that people get upset.
01:39It's like kind of fun.
01:42Reading comments on my baguette holder post is like, it's the most fun thing I know.
01:49It was never my intention to have like a design studio.
01:52It was very organic.
01:57A lot of the people that work with me is like my friends and we hang out here and it's
02:02kind of just that kind of vibe.
02:06I've been like doing more collaborations the latest years and I did like a big exhibition together with Mercedes.
02:11I'm also doing this IKEA collaboration.
02:14It's very affordable and accessible for people and that's going to be very fun.
02:22I moved to Stockholm like eight years ago.
02:24It's a very versatile city.
02:26It's a lot of things happening here.
02:30The nature is really nice.
02:32I run a lot so I like run by the water.
02:35It's like an island so you can run around the island.
02:37It's really nice and you can go swim here.
02:44Exactly where I live it's like super quiet so I really like exactly where my apartment is.
02:49It's like super calm.
02:51I wanted to buy an apartment and what I did love about this apartment is that it's very light.
02:57It's very unusual to have this small apartment in Stockholm and you have windows all around.
03:02I like that it's one box and that it's like that's what it is.
03:05You know, it's very simple.
03:07I think it's a minimalistic way of thinking in some way that it's like a white box where you can
03:12like put stuff everywhere.
03:17So when I first moved in here, there was like a small kitchen.
03:21I wanted to keep it but it was so bad condition.
03:25So we took that away and then I obviously built my own kitchen.
03:29It's actually an IKEA kitchen under and then I made my own doors.
03:34The same guy who made my first object, he made the kitchen for me.
03:38This curved line is just very nice and it's very convenient to work around.
03:41You could just like shove it over.
03:43It's kind of nice to clean.
03:45I really like this Swedish pine wood and that it's stained so you kind of see the wood in between.
03:51It's something that I like worked a lot with these colors and I only have pink and blue.
03:57So I have a blue kitchen at my office.
04:01It's a very active kitchen.
04:02Like I move out this stuff if I want to use it.
04:04This was supposed to be pink.
04:07I sent the wrong color code so it came red and I thought it looked dope and yeah so I
04:12kept it red.
04:14I have a dishwasher here.
04:17This is both an oven and a microwave but I unfortunately haven't learned how to use it yet after three
04:24years.
04:26That's where I have my disc stuff that I cook with.
04:32Here is my cutlery.
04:35I love this.
04:37It's so fun.
04:38They have like their little own hanger thing.
04:41It's kind of fun.
04:44Yeah.
04:45So I have like a bowl where I throw up like these stuff that was down here.
04:51Here's like a sleeping mask thing that you can have for sleeping.
05:00Here's my fridge.
05:01I have this thing that I really like.
05:04It's like a rolling thing.
05:06It's very nice.
05:07I use it in the morning.
05:09This kind of fridge solution creates like a small boundary towards the other part.
05:14So it's like it makes it feels like a little bit like a kitchen but I still like want to
05:18have it open.
05:18And this white box is pretty nice because you can put stuff here and I can also like work here
05:23and sketch if I want to stand up and work.
05:26The shelf is a string hylla.
05:29Very classic Swedish design.
05:32This piercing cup made for the Berlin exhibition.
05:37It's not very good to drink from because it has holes in it.
05:41So it doesn't it doesn't keep the liquid very well.
05:44Unfortunately.
05:45So it's more of an art piece I would say.
05:49This is also fun that I have this.
05:50I've never seen a Star Wars movie or never seen a whole Star Wars movie.
05:54I think they're so boring.
05:55But this is kind of cool.
05:58This is what I call the spiral stand.
06:00It's like a book holder.
06:01It's my design.
06:04It also holds vinyl.
06:06It's really good.
06:07I sometimes use it as a drying rack.
06:11This is a recent object.
06:13It's a tumbler.
06:15I have it on my desk when I work and drink water.
06:18Because it contains a lot of water and it's like very steady.
06:22And so it doesn't fall.
06:25This gives the Christmas vibe that I want.
06:33Here's a fun storage.
06:35It's like a...
06:36It looks like a suitcase.
06:39But it's a storage solution.
06:41So you can have stuff in there.
06:43And then you can also move around light.
06:45Which is nice.
06:47Do you know what the brand is?
06:49What?
06:50Rimowa.
06:51It's the bag.
06:52The people who make the bags.
06:56My plan for this mirror was to like...
06:58The design from the start was that it's supposed to be like a box.
07:01It's with a different type of frames.
07:03And I was like supposed to do one that was like...
07:07More like zigzag or like...
07:11More boxy style.
07:12But yeah.
07:13I got like tired of it.
07:15Because I did it so much.
07:16So yeah.
07:17It stayed like this.
07:18I usually just put my shoes up here.
07:22Yeah.
07:22I usually do that.
07:23I just pile stuff everywhere.
07:25This is a prototype for a new chair.
07:28It's like fabric.
07:30So I made this.
07:31Yeah.
07:32See if it works.
07:33And it's like...
07:35It's not so comfy honestly.
07:38But yeah.
07:39Otherwise...
07:39I think it should look nice.
07:40So maybe soon.
07:41Hahaha.
07:42It's very nice to be independent.
07:44Because you don't really like...
07:45I don't have any deadlines for my own stuff.
07:48So I kind of gonna...
07:49I'm gonna work on this until it's done.
07:51And when it's done I can release it the day after.
07:53You know.
07:53So...
07:54This is my design too.
07:56It's like flat pack.
07:59And...
08:00Very easily...
08:03Built together.
08:08Tada!
08:12This year I'm also doing this IKEA collaboration.
08:15I have a few stuff in here.
08:17The collaboration is actually part of the Christmas collection that they're releasing.
08:24I think this is the most Christmasy thing that I've made for a game.
08:27It kind of looks like this typical Christmas candlelight that you have.
08:31So it's like a simple construction simple idea.
08:34But I made it into a lamp.
08:35I think it's kind of nice.
08:38Yeah.
08:38So this is my IKEA PS shelf.
08:41That I got from Marketplace.
08:44Same thing here.
08:45I just like to pile random things in it.
08:48Here's an old iPad that I'm...
08:51Don't remember the password to.
08:53This is my IKEA plate.
08:55I'm actually the first one in the world to own this.
08:57I try to make things for the table or for the place around the table that you can use anywhere
09:05around the year for a holiday or celebration.
09:08Like that kind of special plate that you only bring out when it's a special occasion or you have like
09:15special guests or something.
09:16That kind of puts the extra touch to a shelf or a table.
09:20This is also a candle holder for tea light candle.
09:23And if you have one of these more it can become like a mosaic almost thing on the table.
09:30So I think that's kind of cool.
09:32Like you can put them together like this and it kind of creates this nice little pattern together.
09:40I think that's kind of fun.
09:41This is an IKEA candle holder.
09:47So the story behind this.
09:50My grandma when I grew up on Christmas she always made a lot of like cookies.
09:56Let's see how many we can fit.
10:00One.
10:01Two.
10:05Tada!
10:06There's never too much cookies for one person.
10:08And then you can have your coffee in here.
10:12So this is like a tribute to your grandma?
10:14Yeah.
10:14Through IKEA?
10:15Yeah.
10:17So cute.
10:20Wanna try?
10:25The hot dog plate is in ceramics.
10:27Yeah, I don't have a small one here.
10:28Yeah.
10:29But yeah, it's in ceramics.
10:32This is also one of my first objects that I made.
10:35The shanky table.
10:37It's built up on very simple principles.
10:41And I have a round table here because it's like the most size efficient table I would say.
10:47And like to have friends over.
10:48And I mean it's not a big table.
10:50You can fit a lot of people around here.
10:52Like eight or something like that if they squeeze.
10:56This chair I designed for wine bar project in Stockholm.
11:00So this is an outdoor or indoor chair.
11:02Made in metal.
11:04Made in Sweden.
11:06I installed this.
11:07Yeah.
11:08I'm really pleased with this.
11:09It's kind of nice.
11:11It's like nice to have my stuff in here.
11:14There's a lot of random objects here.
11:16I like to have my bags and stuff in the shelf and mix them with my own objects.
11:21How long have you been living here?
11:23Three years.
11:24Three years.
11:25Yeah.
11:25And three years finally there's one shelf going up.
11:27Yeah.
11:28Yeah.
11:29I don't like to take decisions.
11:31Yeah.
11:32I don't like...
11:33Yeah.
11:34It's a big decision.
11:35Here's a PlayStation that I used one time.
11:39I think it looks cool.
11:40The yellow mini version, it fits really good in the shelf.
11:45So this is a big version of my super normal juice squeezer.
11:51Here we have a smaller one.
11:53Nothing weird about this.
11:56I only see the people using this as a normal juice squeezer.
12:01Honestly, I can't think of anything else.
12:06This is also from the collection with Home in Heaven.
12:09So they did their interpretation of like my stuff.
12:14It's like so fun to do like collaboration with IKEA that is like big and then you also can do
12:18smaller stuff with your friends.
12:19So to have that kind of like range or like, yeah, it's very fun and it's very different.
12:27This is made by a friend.
12:30And if there's a fire here, I would probably take that one right now.
12:34It's the most unique piece.
12:36This is a beer glass.
12:40And this is a wine glass.
12:42People always ask, can you also turn it around and use that's margarita glass?
12:47The overall most fun part of like doing this is like to see how the, how people use my objects
12:52and like put them in so many different environments and so many different styles.
12:56But yeah, then if they do use the wine glass on the wrong, on the wrong way, I get really
13:02pissed.
13:03And I'm like, I'm not going to stop you, but it's like wrong.
13:08So yeah.
13:12This is also an IKEA thing.
13:13So it's a glass thing here, but it's a very small vase.
13:19And to use it, you need this big kind of unnecessary holder.
13:25And it's like, I don't know.
13:27I just think that's kind of fun.
13:29Here is the meatball plate and you can fit nine IKEA meatballs exactly in here.
13:37And it's like to honor the meatball on the Swedish Christmas table.
13:42So yeah, I think that's kind of fun that they let me do that.
13:47Yeah, this one, it's like a lantern and you can walk around like this and, and put light on stuff.
13:57You can also have it laying down like this.
14:02Here's a prototype of a candle holder that I haven't made.
14:07Here's a flower pot that I have made.
14:10That's also something that is fun to kind of work with one shape and then you can do a lot
14:15of different stuff with it.
14:17I don't feel like I spend a lot of money in here. No.
14:19Mostly I have my own furniture in here.
14:23It's just nice to have a place for my own stuff.
14:27The togo sofa, my mom always said that it's hers, but I think it's mine.
14:32We fight about this.
14:34It's not an IKEA bed, unfortunately.
14:37It's very old. I think it's from the 80s.
14:41I don't know what's in here.
14:45Yeah, like you see.
14:48I don't have a lot of clothing here.
14:50Like this thing, it says keep trädgården, which is keep the, it's a club here that the city want to
15:01close.
15:02But we want to keep it because it's fun.
15:07These are boxes with like my hats and, and yeah, basically hats.
15:14I always have storage in like, like suitcases and it's also nice if I need to travel first.
15:20I like to kind of see everything and like stack it like this, like all my shoes.
15:24I'm like scared of opening it.
15:27Yeah, I'm obsessed with this cold sign thing.
15:32They're supposed to like make you not cold.
15:36I take, yeah, I take it too much.
15:37I think it says like two spray a day, but I'm like going around like this.
15:42I'm wearing my indoor shoes, but I usually don't have shoes inside, but it's like, it's like makes me look
15:48a little bit taller.
15:49So that's why.
15:52It's nice to have a rug here because it's like always bad weather in Sweden.
15:56So you need it.
16:01Welcome to my bathroom.
16:04Yeah.
16:04It's very small.
16:05My bathroom.
16:06The bathroom was blue, but when I want to redo it, I did like, I wanted to keep it super
16:11simple.
16:13I kept the cracked paint in the roof.
16:16That's kind of nice.
16:18Yeah. The trolley is like just, it could be Ikea and I have a sketchbook here if I come up
16:25with an idea when I'm on the toilet.
16:26When I shower the, the trolley is out in the, in the hallway.
16:31This is my mirror.
16:33It's a, it's a mini, mini version of the big chunky mirror I have.
16:39Yeah. And it's a sample.
16:40We want it. I wanted to sell it first, but it's like, I don't really like it.
16:45So yeah, I only have it here.
16:53Inspiration for me is such a hard question because I'm like, I feel like I just sketch.
16:57Maybe I get like, I get inspiration from everywhere.
17:00Uh, but for me, it's probably more about like stuff I need to do.
17:04Like I need to hang out with my friends.
17:07I need to run.
17:09I do that every day.
17:12I feel like that's more my thing, you know, that I need to like stay creative and like travel or.
17:18For me, it's more like some days I just wake up and I feel like creative and I can like
17:22sit.
17:23And then I'm like, I have to cancel all my plans.
17:26Cause that's, then I know that I'm like, I'm going to come up with so many good ideas this day.
17:29And then maybe, maybe next time it happened, it's like in a half year.
17:33I don't know.
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