Monthly Mood Board: Studio Living

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'Studio Living' monthly mood board

Property prices in the UK, especially in London and the South, are absolutely bonkers. If they want to own their own home, many buyers may not be able to afford much more than a small flat or bedsit. Studio living is many people’s reality.

If a home is compact & bijou – there’s a lot that can be done to maximise a living space. Items such as room dividers and rugs help to zone & delineate the different living and working areas.

Use space-saving and metamorphic furniture & fittings. Compact, folding, collapsible, stacking versions of usually bulky items such as chairs, tables and beds can free up a lot of space when not in use.

Multipurpose items of furniture prove useful additions to studio living. Daybeds, sofa beds and shelving units that double up as room dividers cut down on the number of necessary furnishings and stop a space feeling over-crowded or cluttered.

Unfortunately, smaller doesn’t necessarily mean cheaper – mini versions of fixtures and appliances aren’t always less expensive than their full-size versions.

  1. Compact leak proof pre-assembled shower cubicle: £756, BathShack
  2. Bathroom vanity combination unit: £374.95, eBay
  3. Alessi Piana folding chair: £134, Amazon
  4. Roll top slipper bath: £299.99, Drench
  5. Caboto room divider: £70.90, Wayfair
  6. IKEA PS 2014 bureau, orange, birch veneer: £145
  7. Eyeline Platinum mini kitchen with hobs: from £2,010.00 (ex. VAT), Tiny Kitchens
  8. IKEA PS 2012 day-bed: £450
  9. Spacedust bright rug: from £34, Carousell
  10. Leon Pfeifer for John Lewis Croyde 6 seater drop leaf folding dining table: £299

Pick of the Pads: Beetham Tower

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Elle Decoration Magazine cover: September 2013

Welcome to our new blog series entitled ‘Pick of the Pads‘ where we’ll feature homes that attract us, captivate us, bewitch us… sweep us off our feet!

page showing view from Manchester's Beetham Tower in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

This apartment in Manchester’s Beetham Tower does all of that in spades!

page showing living room and kitchen in Ian Sipmson's apartment in Manchester's Beetham Tower featured in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

It’s a huge space, the penthouse duplex, taking up the whole of the 47th & 48th floors of the building. It’s the home of Ian Simpson, Beetham Tower’s architect.

page showing view across Manchester from the Beetham Tower featured in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

As you’d expect from one of this country’s best architects, the apartment is absolutely stunning. There are scores of floor to ceiling windows allowing sunlight to stream through into double height rooms. And being so high up the views stretch right across to the Pennines!

page showing indoor olive grove in Manchester's Beetham Tower in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

It even boasts an indoor swimming pool, terrace and olive grove – the trees had to be installed before the roof went on!

page showing living room area in Ian Sipmson's apartment in Manchester's Beetham Tower featured in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

And of course it’s furnished with beautiful mid century modern furniture, artworks and decorative objects.

page showing the master bedroom in Ian Sipmson's apartment in Manchester's Beetham Tower featured in the Elle Decoration September 2013 magazine

For the full tour and more photos check out the September issue of Elle Decoration.

Update (3 April 2016): Here’s a new interview with the architect, Ian Simpson, in his penthouse apartment.

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