We turned a tiny Camden flat into a joyful celebration of colour, craft and smart storage, transforming a small footprint into a layered, characterful home that feels like a real event. Every centimetre has been considered: storage is built in wherever possible, circulation is simplified, and bold pattern and colour are used to distract the eye from scale and pull you through the space with a sense of rhythm and delight.

What began as a small consultancy to help a first-time buyer make sense of a modest renovation budget gradually grew into a fuller design collaboration. Rather than pushing for a full bells-and-whistles overhaul from day one, we helped the client understand what was possible, where her money would work hardest and how to phase the transformation in a smart, contained way.

Little Camden is a tiny apartment with a tiny kitchen and an even tinier bathroom, but our ambition was the opposite of "small and sensible." We set out to turn it into a genuine event, a celebration of colour, craft and clever space-planning, while still making it work properly for everyday life. We were lucky to have a client confident enough in her personal style to clash and juxtapose motifs and palettes, so we let our creative juices run riot from the initial mood boards through to a bespoke collection of custom furniture and joinery.

In small homes, every centimetre has to earn its place. We approached the scheme as a sequence of moments: a bold threshold that makes you smile, layered rooms that feel collected and confident, and storage built in wherever possible. The living and dining zone is where we gave the flat its social heart. We opened up the space with a new double-glazed doorway, letting light shine through from the kitchen, and created a bespoke dining banquette and table to establish a corner moment that feels generous even within a modest footprint. The bespoke banquette and custom table were not just decorative moves - they were a strategic space-planning solution, designed to let the room work harder as a place to dine, work, host and store. Statement art and layered colour distract the eye from scale, making the room feel like an experience rather than a box.

We built personality into the interior architecture: with layers of bespoke joinery that give places for books, objects and lighting, alongside closed storage that keeps the room calm. As with our hospitality projects, the bespoke pieces were carefully drawn, detailed and refined to make sure every centimetre worked hard and looked intentional. The striped sofa brings energy, while the claret brush fringe added detailing making it feel tailored, not shouty. Small-space design, but with manners.

The bedroom was treated like a boutique hotel room scaled down to apartment life: a bespoke headboard as the anchor, wardrobes designed to maximise every awkward centimetre and bedside joinery to replace bulky freestanding furniture. We even widened the chimney-breast wall so the super king bed could sit properly within the architecture of the room rather than awkwardly overshooting the alcoves. The palette stays warm and layered, with pattern and texture doing the heavy lifting so the room feels nurturing rather than neutral. Bespoke wardrobes make storage feel like a feature, calm on the exterior with a bold hit of colour inside.

With a kitchen measuring just 2.65m by 2.1m and a bathroom of only 1.5m by 1.95m, every visual and practical decision had to work doubly hard. The kitchen approach was "open where you can, closed where you must." The extractor was clad in antique brass to reflect light and add glamour, and the chequer splashback turns the smallest wall into a moment. In the bathroom, an open-base roll top shower bath lets the floor tiles read all the way to the back wall, elongating the room beautifully. A high-rise cistern WC keeps projection tight, while a towel rail with integrated shelving adds genuinely useful extra space.

Little Camden is proof that small spaces can be some of the most beautiful, because every choice has to work harder. This project is as much about discipline as it is about colour: improved flow, smart storage and bespoke joinery that turns practical necessities into crafted features. It is also a reminder that great design does not always begin with a full renovation package - sometimes it begins with helping a client work out where to start. Here are a few before and afters to show the transformation.

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