9 Small-Space Solutions From Ingenious Tiny Parisian Pads

Like New York City, where teeny-tiny apartments are all too common, Paris is also filled with small residences waiting to be transformed into livable homes. In these half-a-dozen recently completed micro Parisian dwellings, ranging from 86 to 377 square feet, designers employed all kinds of small-space solutions, leaving no corner unused. We won't be so bold as to say these abodes will appeal to everyone, but they sure all have space-saving ideas for tiny-apartment dwellers to muse over.

Below, six smart micro Parisian pads, in descending order of square footage, presented together with the designer responsible for the scheme.

377 sq.ft.—Éléonore Bridge
1. Add color to a "calm base": If you want to avoid defaulting to an all-white palette, add bright decor and storage on top of a "calm base" where everything is on the same plane (i.e. keep all the shelves the same depth and height.)
2. Storage as decor: Express yourself with colorful storage boxes or inventive ways of shelving things (for example, the bathroom in this apartment features mini open cabinets mounted on the wall, putting intricately packaged beauty products on full display.)

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320 sq.ft.—Richard Guillbauilt
3. Knock it down: Sometimes, there's no way way around it. This once dark and poorly organized pad benefited from having some walls knocked down and evolving into one bright, resourceful space.
4. Pets don't have to suffer: Small space design can mean carving out more room for your pets. Here, the mildly raised sleeping quarters hides a crawlspace-like feline kingdom, accessible via a small hole on the steps.

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300 sq.ft.—Aurélien Lespinas
5. Use walls efficiently: They can hold a lot. This trapezoidal apartment includes one entire wall of built-in shelving, plus another wall containing an oak kitchenette with matching shelving above, creating an orderly, streamlined look.

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270 sq.ft.—Marianne Evennou
6. Leave no corner unused, really: That itsy bitsy vacancy under an angled roof? Loft bed. The cavity under the staircase? Small appliance-friendly kitchen counters.

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121 sq.ft.—Marianne Evennou
7. There's always room for style: This pad is tastefully matchy-matchy, with a pink/light blue/slate color scheme that's incorporated in the daybed, wallpaper, kitchen cabinets, lighting fixtures, and more.
8. Play up illusions: The vertical stripes on the kitchen wall make the space feel extra high.

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86 sq.ft.—Kitoko Studio
9. Cabinets can hold more than you think: Bed, bookshelf, dining table, wardrobe, AC—there are no limits...theoretically.

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· To Hell With Marie Kondo: 22 Solutions for Small-Space Living With All Your Beloved Stuff [Curbed]
· 21 Wondrous New Designers and Their Space-Saving Concoctions [Curbed]
· Space-Saving Storage System Hangs All Your Junk in Mid-Air [Curbed]
· Brilliant Tiny Apartment in Madrid Demands a Ton of Climbing [Curbed]