00:02I challenge myself to find a purpose for every single square meters of the
00:07apartment and to avoid any waste of space. The apartment is located in
00:14Madonna di Campagna district which is in northwest of Turin. On the street you can
00:20find coffee bars and several Italian delis. The building was built in 1957 and
00:31it has never been renovated since then.
00:42My name is Davide Minervini, I'm an Italian architect from Turin, a city in the
00:49northwest of Italy and I am also the owner of this apartment. The apartment was
00:55in very poor condition, the configuration of the space was not functional at all.
01:01There were also several structural mistakes that I tried to eliminate or
01:07at least hide during the renovation. The room on the right was the bedroom while
01:14the room on the left was the living room with the kitchenette. The first things
01:19I did was to switch the bedroom and the living room around so you are in the
01:24living room when entering the apartment. I demolished the entrance corridor, it was a
01:30terrible waste of space. I then increased the size of the bathroom by extending the
01:36bathroom walls. The old kitchenette was turned into a walk-in closet and the
01:41kitchen was moved to the living area into a custom-made wooden wall which
01:46stretches across the entire room.
01:51There is a small entrance as you enter the apartment. Here you'll find a storage
01:57wall which separates the entrance from the bathroom to create some privacy.
02:03For the living room I wanted to create two different areas despite it being only 18
02:10square meters. A living room on one hand and a kitchen and dining on the other
02:15hand. Along one side of the wall I created a custom floor-to-ceiling integrated storage
02:22unit. For the inside I chose to use MDF with an oak laminate. It contrasts well with the white
02:31and makes the inside feel warmer. The TV is mounted on the wall and it is linked to the storage
02:39unit on
02:39the left. This is where I keep my PS4 and Amazon Alexa. There is a compact gray two-seat sofa
02:47that
02:47makes a natural separation between the living and the kitchen and dining area.
02:53I painted the ceiling black to enhance the white of the walls even further. The floor
03:00in the entire apartment is a light natural wood. On the other side of the living room
03:06is the kitchen. It sits by the balcony so it receives a lot of natural light. The
03:13kitchen appliances are cleverly hidden away behind some folding doors when not in use.
03:19This way the room can be transformed from time to time according to its use. There is a sink,
03:27an induction hob, an oven and a dishwasher. One of the drawers is oak just for a bit of fun.
03:35I choose to have the splash back finished in a bright blue which really pops against the white of the
03:42kitchen. The dining table is from a local furniture shop. The table can be extended when I have guests
03:49over. Last Christmas I had 14 friends over for dinner in this room. Above the living area there is a
04:00ceiling
04:00lamp that lights up the sofa and the ottoman. In the dining area there is a custom triangular light
04:06that points to the dinner table. It is made from wood and polycarbonate. I designed it just for this space.
04:17Along one wall of the living and dining area I installed four IKEA pegboards in a row. It is
04:25really handy to be able to hang items or store them in small containers. Plus it's really cheap.
04:34The hallway divides the living room and the bedroom. It is deliberately as small as possible. It houses my
04:42washing machine. The bedroom is a 15 square meters room. This room used to have a kitchenette which I
04:52turned into a walk-in closet. It is quite a luxury for a small apartment. Beside it is
05:01another custom storage unit and a large mirror. The walls in the bedroom are painted in the same
05:08bright blue as the kitchen's flashback. It creates a visual link between the rooms and especially when
05:14the doors to the living room and the bedroom are open. By the window there is a large wooden desk
05:21for
05:21when I work from home. There is a niche by the desk with shelves. I added a translucent door to
05:28keep my
05:28personal belongings. It also functions as a light. To make it easier to access the bay window when it
05:38needs a clean I designed the top of the desk to open up like a bar counter. The original bathroom
05:47had a
05:48strange corner by the window. It was not functional at all so I made a translucent partition made from wood
05:55and
05:55polycarbonate. It became the place I used to hide the boiler without losing the natural light from
06:02the window. For the finish I chose to use a black floor resin with black elegant wall tiles and black
06:10paint for the rest of the wall. The ceiling and shower walls are white which gives it a three dimensionality
06:18to this small room. Small spaces can be as elegant fun and comfortable as bigger apartments. Tiny living spaces
06:28must find their quality and distinctive features to be attractive and comfortable for the majority of
06:37the people who live in cities like Turin or even bigger.
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