telescoping a studio apartment 101

My last apartment was a 1 1/2 (that's a studio, to those not from Montreal) in Square St Louis, a ritzy little corner of the lower Plateau. Yes, I was living right on the edge of a park ringed by beautifully bourgeois old townhouses. Yes, I was paying low rent. No, I did not have more than one sink, or anything in my "kitchen" besides a two-burner electric hotplate and a toaster oven.
Living in a tiny space can be tough, but it also forces you to be neat. Everything in my apartment was inside/over/under one another - and I have a lot of stuff. While I chose to subject myself to studio living, I can only imagine how many people subsist in smaller places than mine in much less affordable cities.
As such, I really dig what Chicago photographer Joseph Desler Costa has done with his wee garret.

The bed is hidden around the corner from the main living area.

The all-white paint job works wonders here - dark paint looks great, but it makes every room feel wayyyy smaller. You know this place must have looked TINY before he got at it with the paint and his clever organisation! This has me jonesing for white floorboards. Time to find myself a permissive landlord.
Check out more photos from Costa's fabulous shoebox on ReadyMade Magazine's site.