Tight Space, Abundant Ideas
(Originally written by Becca Milfeld. Appeared in the Express on January 27th, 2012)
In the middle of his 400-square-foot studio, in a small space carved out between a bookshelf, sundry chairs and a bed, Jeff Watkinson, who is 6 feet 1 inch tall, balances on a 2 1/2-foot imitation surfboard with a roller underneath it, lurching back and forth across the floor.
“This is a very strong workout; it just mimics surfing,” he says.
His objective is not so much to demonstrate his athleticism as it is his knack for saving space via multifunctional furniture. Having moved into his Kalorama studio 18 months ago, the 32-year-old who works in investment sales has employed a number of tricks to create room for activities like exercise. He stores his clothes in his TV console, he converted his bookshelf into a bar, and he has a gateleg table that, unfolded, seats seven or eight.
Watkinson’s apartment represents one of the most fundamental ideas in small-space living: multifunctional decor. Considering the minimal square footage of a studio, furnishing one requires an inordinate amount of thought.
“Rarely would we design a studio where a piece of furniture only serves one function,” says Jason Claire, the co-owner of furniture and design store Vastu (1829 14th St. NW; 202-234-8344), which has been fashioning Washington interiors, teensy and grand, for almost a decade.
We were in the Express!
The Vastu team was represented in Friday’s Washington Post Express when staff member, Janelle Tracy, was featured in an article about painted furniture. You may recognize the chair from one of our weekly Design Direction posts!
You can check out the full story, ’Domestic Brights’, online here.
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