Maximizing Interior Space

[Anchor Lead]

One of the keys to home décor is to maximize the use of limited space as much as possible. In one interesting solution, one couple has removed all of the dividing walls in their apartment, turning it into a single room studio. Let's take a look at the transformation.

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Upon entering the house, an open kitchen comes into view and the living room is right next to it with no partition. In the living room, a huge cupboard stands instead of a TV set. The living room was extended to include the balcony, bringing the beautiful scenes outside the windows into the house. The overall atmosphere is warm and lovely. Turn around and you find the exposed bed room facing the living room. The couple decided to remove all of the dividing walls around the house.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-wook(Husband) : "I used to lived in this house with my parents when I was young. After I got married, my wife and I moved in here. So I renovated it in a way to make it look wider."

It's an old apartment in an outdated layout with dividing walls. So the living room looked much smaller than it actually was. The incorporation of the balcony makes the living room look much larger. A large bed is found on the opposite side of the living room. This is the bed room.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-wook(Husband) : "There was a wall dividing the main bed room and another room. But it was removed."

Walls made the house look smaller. So all of the walls around the house were torn down, except load-bearing walls, which were covered up with red bricks to make them look like pillars. The ceiling was raised, since a low ceiling made the space look narrow. In order to make the house look as wide and open as possible, the ceiling was raised by 20 centimeters with the piping system left exposed. Another space was created as a result of combining the bed room and the living room. It is a home theater. The couple installed a huge movie screen in the living room to enjoy films at home.

[Soundbite] Oh Ji-ye(Wife) : "My husband likes watching movies, performances and concerts a lot. So we installed a screen to save the time needed for going to theaters and to enjoy movies comfortably at home."

The bathroom is right next to the bed room. Despite its small size, the bathroom is equipped even with a corner bathtub to maximize practicality. Space efficiency was boosted with a washstand installed outside the bathroom.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-wook(Husband) : "We usually have a bath three or four times a week. A washstand was installed outside the bathroom to enable the other person to wash hands or brush teeth easily while the bathroom is occupied."

Last, let's move onto the kitchen. Space efficiency was maximized with an island-type dining table arranged diagonally. In order to make the space wider, the height of the upper kitchen cabinets was halved as well. The extended balcony is a space for home appliances.

[Soundbite] Lee Jae-wook(Husband) : "With the removal of the balcony, we had no room to install a washing machine a clothes dryer together. So we installed a rack here and stacked them up, using the limited space to the fullest."

An old apartment has been transformed into a space with lots of character. With walls removed, the house has an even more stylish and chic atmosphere.