A Family of Four Squeezes into This Tiny 640-Square-Foot East Village Apartment

Couples shacking up in small spaces is nothing new, but this may be the first time we’ve seen more than two folks squeezing into a tiny pad. Featured on Dwell, this family of four in the East Village proves that home is where the heart is—not how big your house is. So how do they manage with a baby and a nine-year-old in just 640 square feet?

Lots of built-in storage and plenty of transforming furniture, or course.

The design of this apartment is the work of Margarita McGrath and Scott Oliver of Noroof Architects. Hired to take on a complete renovation, the architects were careful to make sure all of their design decisions were functional ones that would cater to the family’s needs, even in the face of limited space. But more interestingly, the architects found their greatest inspiration for the design in the one of the children’s love for pirates. The home in many regards is modeled after a ship. “He gave us a brief with very specific design ideas, including where lighting rigs should go,” architect Scott Oliver told Dwell, adding that boats actually provide great solutions for compact living.

Though every space in the home comes in at about a quarter the size of a normal one, just about everything in here does double duty: In the main space, a table folds out from the wall to give way to a dining table/workspace while also revealing a bookcase; in the nine-year-old’s room, one wall hides both a bed and a desk; and all throughout the home you’ll find storage tucked out of sight—there’s even storage hidden beneath the floorboards! The home also boasts plenty of texture with reclaimed pine floors, exposed brick and skylights that soak all of its 640 square feet in natural light.

You can read about the renovation and see even more photos of this tiny treasure at Dwell here. And see additional photos from the architects in our gallery below.

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Top three images courtesy of Dwell