I love discovering small spaces, cleverly designed and this small flat (42 m2) is a perfect example of what can be achieved in a small space.

I first read about this flat in 2009 and while I have the memory of a goldfish for most mundane things when it comes to interiors, my brain seems to file things in a funny way and remembers very old stuff.

So when I started working on this new interior design project, somehow I kept thinking about the bathroom fitted by Agathe Perroy in her flat.

When Agathe visited the building for the first time, it was split into two small flats.
One on the ground floor and the other one on the top floor of a small nineteenth-century house in a very bad state but full of charm.

Being an Interior Designer, Agathe worked out how to link these two spaces to create one inviting home.

She first started to knock down a few partition walls and removed the false ceiling to gain more height. Luckily, this unrevealed perfectly preserved oak beams which she kept as a feature.

In the kitchen, Agathe had the work area made to measure from exotic wood — the oven is tucked away on the side and the hot plate is also used as a cutting board.

A butcher’s hook is used to suspend pots while on the wall are two vintage Jieldé lamps.

She then added textures and colours with an African oiled rug on the concrete floor. With the agreement of the owners from the other flat on the ground floor, she took over the communal stairs and integrated them into her new space.

The stairs now provide a visual separation between the bedroom & the open-plan kitchen/living area, Agathe created at the top of the flat. To gain space, Agathe fitted the bath in her bedroom, opposite her bed. On the right-hand-side, between the windows, she used vintage metal racks from a milk company to display her bath and beauty products.

When it came to decorating her home, Agathe sourced a lot of objects from her family’s attics, junk shops, flea markets and even building sites.In her bedroom, the quilts on the bed were found in her grandmother’s house (Anthropologie has some pretty quilts too) and she uses banana cardboard boxes to store items from the previous season. You can find similar cardboards in Bricklane’s food market near Story Deli.

Banana boxes wouldn’t look necessarily great everywhere but because this room is spacious, airy and tidy, it works nicely and add a touch of colour and exoticism to space. John Lewis sells a similar canvas wardrobe.

Overall, a charming, small flat full of delightful details don’t you think?