00:04We wanted to create a home for ourselves that could be adapted to fit different living situations.
00:13Throughout my design education I got some workshop experience working with different
00:18tools and materials and therefore we wanted to try to build all of the furniture ourselves
00:27on site mainly using a plunge saw, a drill and a sander. Since the apartment houses all of our
00:37favorite things it is a somewhat eclectic combination of styles and periods. We wanted
00:44each zone and room to have its own mood. My name is Elias Oldebak and I'm a designer. And my
00:53name
00:54is Anna Grøgård and I'm a historian. Together we own and have been living in
00:58this apartment for the past one and a half years.
01:12The apartment is located in the city center of Oslo right next to the
01:16the botanical garden.
01:20The neighborhood is a quiet residential area with a range of local cafes and bars but it's
01:27still close to the busy shopping streets of the inner city.
01:34The apartment is 60 square meters and located on the first floor of the building.
01:43When we first bought the apartment it looked quite different. The rooms were painted in dark colors
01:48and several square meters were taken up by poorly designed solutions.
01:54The apartment consisted of a bathroom, a small hallway, two bedrooms and a combined kitchen and living area.
02:01We kept the floor plan but we removed all of the existing interior and designed and built new
02:07elements and modules to make better use of the space. We transformed the main bedroom into an
02:13office and reading space and built a bookshelf with integrated storage, a smaller closet and a
02:19corner desk. We built a main work desk along the wall.
02:28When you enter the apartment you are in a small hallway that takes you through to the main living area.
02:34We built a wardrobe unit in pine plywood to add warmth and organic feel to the space.
02:42The wardrobe closet has two racks, one for shorter jackets and one for longer coats.
02:48The closet door also features a full-size mirror.
02:52We also made a small bench that acts as both a storage unit and a place to sit down while
02:59taking off your
03:00shoes. The original brick wall is exposed in the hallway. We wanted to tie this area together with
03:07the brick and the pine so we used a leveling compound to smooth out the surface and painted it in
03:14a warm
03:14light green color. The floor is easy to clean and waterproof against muddy boots in the winter time.
03:24From the entrance area you walk into the open kitchen and living room. Here we kept the original
03:31floors and restored them. The kitchen consists of two main elements, a vertical wooden cabinet section
03:38and a horizontal metal cooking area. The wooden cabinet houses our fridge and freezer
03:45and provides storage. We have a cooktop with integrated ventilation which means that we could free up some
03:53space above the cooking area. We also have a full-size oven and a thin dishwasher. The inner structure
04:05is from IKEA but the kitchen cabinet doors are aluminum on the outside and pine on the inside.
04:12The kitchen countertop is stainless steel and Elias's dad bent the steel to create the edge.
04:22Since we chose a cooktop with integrated ventilation, we were able to make an open shelf
04:28that runs all the way along the kitchen bench top. Above the kitchen bench top we have two dimmable wall
04:39lamps. They're a bit weird and it looks as if they're coming out of the wall but we like them.
04:46The dining table is made of pine plywood which is the same as the cabinets and rests on some old
04:53IKEA
04:54trestles. Above the table there is a suspended lamp which can be adjusted in height. The dining table acts
05:02as a transitional element between the kitchen workspace and the more relaxed bench area on the other side of
05:08the room. The chairs are a mix of danish and german designs. Some of them are replicas but we won't
05:16tell
05:16you which ones. At the end of the living area we built a 4.5 meter long bench with integrated
05:26storage
05:26that acts as a sofa but can also work as two guest beds. We chose a standard single mattress size
05:34for the
05:34bench cushions so that they would be easy to replace in the future. I made the bench seat covers using
05:42red
05:43wool on one side and light grey furniture canvas on the other. We turn them around when we want to
05:50change the mood of the room. It features a small integrated bookshelf in the front and a storage room
05:59accessible through the table top. There are lamps on both ends of the bench making the corners more
06:07reading friendly. The wall panel in the living area is original from the 1890s.
06:17When the temperatures creep down below zero we like to sit by the wood stove in the evenings
06:22and it keeps the whole apartment nice and warm. From the living room you access the office and reading
06:33space through a generous sliding door with a small cut out peephole. This room was designed so that we
06:41can convert it into a sleeping room in the future. We built a bookshelf along the entrance door wall in
06:48this
06:48room and painted the backdrop in bright yellow. This gives the room a warm hue and reflects the light
06:54coming from the window. There are four storage compartments in the lower part of the bookshelf
07:00and in the corner of the room we built additional shelving with a small desk and a slim closet.
07:06The small corner desk is not a place where you spend hours working but it's a place for small tasks
07:11scribbling down something or making phone calls.
07:16The desk runs along the window wall so both of us can work from home at the same time.
07:22There is a glass bird feeder on the window so you can have some birds to accompany you when you're
07:28working at the desk. The sleeping room is through another old squeaky door in the hallway. We wanted this
07:40room to feel as serene and cocoon like as possible. The closet area can be closed off with a set
07:51of
07:51off-white linen curtains. We chose curtains instead of wooden doors to make the room softer and to allow
07:59light to flow through the apartment. The shelving system is IKEA and we built a simple pulley system
08:07for hanging shirts and blouses. The closet often stores a drying rack and our laundry basket. Here
08:15we have a washing machine and most of our clothes. We bought a Monet poster in Paris and it hangs
08:24along
08:24the bedroom wall opposite the bed where it acts as a sort of imaginary window.
08:33The bathroom was compact and narrow but in good condition so we kept it mostly like it was.
08:39What we did do was to move the washing machine since there was a water outlet in the bedroom.
08:46The old washing machine was in the shower area which was awkward and took up a lot of space.
08:51But after we moved the washing machine the shower is large and spacious.
08:59Small spaces often need to be multifunctional but at the same time the idea of multifunctionality
09:05can make spaces feel overly pragmatic and optimized. We tried to balance multifunctionalism with comfort
09:12and a sense of identity for the different elements in the space.
09:16This apartment used to be two units each probably housing four to five people at the most and it is
09:24worth remembering that what we might consider a small space today would be spacious for the people
09:29who lived here 150 years ago.
09:33Most people who live in inner city areas have to live in small spaces not by choice but by necessity.
09:40In our increasingly consumption oriented society replacing individual ownership with
09:45alternative models for sharing. For instance in our backyard we have a common barbecue area and a bike
09:51fixing spot enables people to live small while still having access to all the things they need.
Comments