00:03My inspiration came from several trips I made on the road with the van. With van life there
00:10is no wasted space. Cabinets are custom-made to enjoy every free inch. You only go to bed
00:18to sleep and you're traveling most of the day. I wanted this place to be a permanent road trip
00:27and to be a livable piece of furniture where everything would have its place so
00:34my goal was to anticipate as much as possible how I will live in here. My name
00:40is Adrian. I'm an interior designer based in Paris and the owner of this apartment.
00:47I'm also the founder of Plateau, an office furniture company for startups.
00:59The apartment is located in Belleville in Paris. Belleville is known for being diverse.
01:08It's a vibrant neighborhood with lots of good food and wine bars, especially for Asian cuisine.
01:18There is also the Parc de Belleville nearby which might have the best view over the city.
01:27The building was built at the end of the 19th century and used to be a department store.
01:32It was refurbished in the late 70s and each old shop became a tiny loft.
01:37I believe my particular apartment used to be a fabric store.
01:42I used to rent a similar apartment in the building,
01:45so I knew when this one went on the market before it went on the market.
01:51When I bought the place it had been used by a student. It had been renovated a few decades ago
01:58with poorly made materials and a low budget.
02:03I didn't want to waste any square inch of free space. I wanted a nice kitchen and a shelf for
02:09my
02:09motorcycle helmet and just a few pieces of furniture so it's easy to clean.
02:16There was a small hallway with access to a bathroom and living room. The kitchen was in
02:20the corner of the apartment, the entrance was below the stairs. Up on the mezzanine,
02:25there was a built-in closet and a space for bed. The first thing I did was to remove everything
02:31from
02:32the floor to the ceiling. I decided to create a 100% plywood box that includes the kitchen and the
02:38bathroom below and the mezzanine bed on top of it. The stairs were chained from the left to the right
02:43side of the apartment and shortened a bit to have more space around it. The living room was intentionally
02:49kept simple to leave space for my personally picked pieces of furniture. I work daily with plywood so I
02:56know how to manufacture it. A lot of elements were CNC machined at the factory and then assembled here
03:02with almost no adjustments. It was a good way to have a dust free construction site.
03:13You enter the apartment through a little corridor between the kitchen and bathroom.
03:18I store my keys in a dedicated niche at the end of the kitchen.
03:24Above the front door I have a wooden plaque that my girlfriend made for me in tribute to the
03:29Dakar motorcycle race. There is a tall storage closet for the vacuum and tools to be hidden away.
03:40The entrance, kitchen and bathroom all share the same terrazzo floor.
03:47The living room has a 320 cm ceiling height. It's the place where I spent most of my time.
03:56The floor in the living room is light gray epoxy on top of the original cement.
04:05During the day it's full of light due to the large windows.
04:09I wanted Californian blinds for privacy when I need it and also for its 70s motel vibe.
04:18I've always wanted a polystyrene design on chair. So after the renovation I thought it was the right
04:23time to buy it. It feels like having a hammock in the place.
04:30I refurbished the coffee table and added a yellow glass on top.
04:33It's the same glass as the shower. This is where I eat, work and chill.
04:42Above there is a projector that projects on the facing wall for movie nights.
04:47I made it with leftover wood pieces as I wanted a shelf for both projector and a soundbar.
04:57I didn't want a ceiling light in the middle of the room. Instead I wanted a ceiling fan for hot
05:03summer nights. It's by the Belgian brand Woo Woo Woo. In the corner there is a parenthesis lamp that
05:12enlightens the entire room. The Monstera plant was rescued in the street without any leaves left.
05:19It seems that she likes living here.
05:24I really love my lamp from Santa Cole, a Spanish design brain I worked for a long time ago.
05:28It's a great piece of wood craftsmanship that creates a soft light at night.
05:36There is a hidden cabinet for my jackets, coats, shoes and more helmets of course.
05:46I custom designed the shelves. They're assembled without screws with CNC machine details.
05:52The high shelves above the kitchen and bathroom double as the guard rail of the mezzanine.
05:58I use these shelves to display my books, objects I care about like my motorcycle helmets.
06:07The kitchen countertop features a sink, induction hubs and still has counter space for cooking and slicing veggies.
06:17There is a narrow dishwasher and plenty of storage in the drawer.
06:22On the other side are open shelves with dishes.
06:29The side of the kitchen also have a washing machine.
06:34Above the fridge there is a little oven which I use quite a lot to roast veggies,
06:38baked clafoutis or grilled endive jambon which you should try if you haven't already.
06:44Not a lot of people like it but I'm really fan of it.
06:49The main lighting for the kitchen and the bathroom come from sconces on both walls.
06:54All the sconces of the apartment are the same model with the different sizes depending on where
06:58they are located. I didn't want them to stand out but just be functional and simple.
07:03There are also spotlights on the kitchen ceiling to enlighten both countertops.
07:11The bathroom sliding door is hidden in the wall and features a large mirror on the other side.
07:18The bathroom is entirely made out of plywood so I was worried about the humidity.
07:23I had to cover the ceiling with tiles to protect the plywood from moisture.
07:27After two years living here the humidity hasn't been a problem.
07:31This is due to the water resistant coating of the plywood I selected.
07:37There is a circular wash basin with custom-made drawers based on Muji boxes.
07:43The toilet is located in the area below the stairs in order to maximize space.
07:52For the shower screen I decided to use a yellow tinted glass just so I can look tan all year
07:57round.
07:58The bottom is a large shower base and the wall and ceiling are zilish tiles from Morocco.
08:08The sleeping zone can be reached using the custom-made stairs.
08:13It has a height of 120 centimeters.
08:16You can't really stand up but it's enough to move around comfortably.
08:21The queen size bed was custom-made.
08:24The space underneath the bed was used to route electrical cables from the kitchen and bathroom.
08:29The wall behind the bed acts as one large bed head made from brush plywood.
08:37On the other side of the bed there are five wardrobes for clothes, shirts and homeware.
08:42To break up all the natural colored plywood I painted the doors in a dark green.
08:51Paris has a lot to offer with many opportunities to go out, experience new places and see friends.
08:58In the future I might want to live closer to nature.
09:02But I'm already happy to know I'll always have this place to enjoy the city I love,
09:06enjoy every inch of my little cabin.
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