Name: Chris Nguyen
Location: Houston, Texas
Size: 500 square feet
Years lived in: 2 months
There's big and then there's Houston BIG. In a city known for embodying the idea of gigantic Texan proportions, Chris Nguyen's extremely modest sized 500 square foot apartment is an anomaly. It also happens to capture exactly everything we hope to showcase here on Unplggd: a small space with an excellent eye for incorporating technology with carefully considered style, all with homegrown solutions. The space may be limited in space, but it's rich with inspiring ideas for home theater, wireless audio, and creating a flexible living space which suits a self-described "technologically inclined and obsessed individual" needs...
AT Survey:
My/Our style: Clean lined and right angled with an occasional affair with the round. I like to lean towards mid-century modern, but I am drawn to anything well-designed, new or old.
Inspiration: The opposite of everything in Texas. Things really are bigger here, but I'm not sure why. Upgrade, expand, repeat is the typical living pattern regardless of practicality. I once, on a whim, toured a 283 sq. ft. high-rise pied-à-terre in downtown Houston with a 20 ft unobstructed up-close panoramic view of the skyline. I scoffed at the idea until I started thinking about what I could do with a space that size. While the rest looked for more square feet, I started to look for less. The thought of a smartly designed small home with just what you need really grew on me, and I've been obsessed ever since.
Favorite Element: The large windows on both sides of the space.
Biggest Challenge: The first was playing furniture Tetris with to-scale furniture shapes for two weeks prior to moving in to fit real-sized furniture in a small space. The second, I am a technologically inclined and obsessed individual, but simplifying required me to put away the vintage electronics collection, find an alternative for a giant flat-panel, and realizing I didn't need the 8 Macs I had at one point.
What Friends Say: I would move in, but you have no room.
Biggest Embarrassment: The bathroom. Oh my, the bathroom.
Proudest DIY: Figuring out that a sheer panel can be used as a two-sided projector screen
Biggest Indulgence: Actually, I am waiting to cash in my big indulgence on a large-scale piece of art. I haven't found it yet.
Best advice: Just because the space is small doesn't mean the furniture has to be too.
Dream source: Craigslist NY.
Resources:
Hardware:
Shops:
Tips and tricks:
Sheer Panel: The most notable element in the space is the sheer panel room separator that doubles as a two-sided projector. I just unfurled an Tupplur roller blind from Ikea and strung it up with a steel wire hanging system, and in my opinion makes the space. It can be viewed from the sitting area or from the bed on the other side. Not bad for $50 worth of materials and about an hour of time.
Wireless Audio: I have two main media sources, my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, and neither is really ever in a fixed position. I use a HWS-BTA2W bluetooth receiver to stream audio from both devices and can be nearly anywhere in the apartment (it is just one big room after all). This works especially well for the projector setup as the video source usually needs to be across the room next to the projector itself. When all is done, there's not a wire in sight. The quality of the audio is more than adequate especially in relation to convenience and aesthetics. If I really want high fidelity, I can connect directly.
Network Box: The network connection for the apartment is in the kitchen high on a wall next to the counter — what a terrible place for it to be. As a solution, I bought a wooden CD/DVD storage box with a flip-down door from Ikea and assembled it without the backside. Inside sits the modem, Apple Airport Extreme, and a networked media drive. The box is high enough to cover the connections and there is a space to allow heat to vent.
Charging Drawer: In a small space, in particular one that is just one big room, there aren't a lot of places to cleanly set up a charging station for all ones wireless accessories. As a solution, I cut a hole and fed an extension cord through a drawer in the kitchen sideboard. Easy access and well hidden.
(Thanks, Chris!)
Photos by Chris Nguyen
We've had amazing response to our Apartment Therapy House Tour Submission Form and also invite readers to submit their best tech spaces, including bedrooms, kitchens, home offices...anywhere you've combined home technology with a sharp eye for design. While we will work with homeowners of our favorite homes to feature full tours, we will also share the best as Close Ups — short, quick tours of readers' homes highlighting smaller and/or specific spaces in the home. Submit your home here.
I'm guessing it's the combination of the design, space & photography, but I am in love with this space. This post actually makes me want to look for a studio.
Chris can you please come out to San Francisco and help design my place? I don't even like modern styles all that much. Well I rephrase that I like it when it's done right, like in this case. But there's something about how this was done-like everything had a purpose.
My favorite trick was definitely the sheer panel. Not only does it separate the room amazingly well, but it looks amazing and the doubles as a two sided projector! Ingenious, I might end up trying this out as I also have a projector but have just been shooting it on the wall.
Anyways, well done! It's not everyday that you can squeeze 30 photos out of 500 square feet, and not feel like it is getting repetitive or cluttered from all the stuff.
view Benji's profile
Hey - does anyone know where those headphones came from? They look great...hopefully they sound great, too. :)
I could use a pair of headphones for concentrating at work. Using my iPhone headphones for double-duty isn't cutting it.
Jonathan
view iman139's profile
Benji - Thanks for the complients, better yet, I'll trade you places so I can live in San Francisco.
Jonathan - They're Panasonic RP-HTX7-G1 monitor headphones. They're decent for $60, but they're no Grado's.
view creativeintheory's profile
An absolutely brilliant small-space solution. I love the bed scrim (though I would probably opt for a flat screen-on-wheels for my entertainment needs) and the dining area pendant is wonderful (I'm a sucker for bare-filament).
But it all comes together so well that's a frivolous task to pick out each great detail (I'll try though: Eames chairs, sofa fabric, kitchen tech hide-away, vintage Kenwood, conversational living room and of course, the desk/media cabinet)
view e.scott's profile
ps. What's sitting next to the Kenwood amplifier? Matching radio?
view e.scott's profile
e.scott - It's a Kenwood KT-5500 radio tuner. I listen to the news everyday with it and will lament the day when analog radio signals go away making these things pretty paperweights.
view creativeintheory's profile
Chris, you've shown more style and smarts in 500 sq. ft. than some people have in 5,000 sq. ft.
Great spacial solutions and an equally great eye for picking key pieces!
I hope this is entered in next year's small space competition!
view modtramp's profile
very cool, compact space
view Tangerine's profile
this place is an inspiration. My hubby and I are downsizing in November and I really appreciate your thoughts on having just what you need in your home and not over-doing it.
view puttinbuttin's profile
Chris
Love your space. I live in Houston in the Museum district. What part of town are you? I also love, love the Guild Shop. 75-80 % of the furnishings and art in my apt. come from the Guild. Great job
view hippyvieja's profile
This is absolutely amazing!
view ekoshyun's profile
Where are the yellow espresso mugs from?
view stilnyckyj's profile
Awesome setup and beautifully done!
It's great to see such a great tour from Houston. I live just south of Rice University
P.S. I love the Guild too!
view JaneLane's profile
Very well done, your place is apsolutely beautifull.
view kocka's profile
very well-executed space, chris.
i have the same kenwood tuner, and wonder why few manufacturers have even come close to making their stuff look as good these days.
view santamonica's profile
Very nice.
The way you use Grundtal shelves in the kitchen is brilliant!
view yul's profile
Thanks for the comments!
hippyvieja - I'm in the Montrose area. The Guild is great, but they're getting known and therefore pricier unfortunately.
stilnyckyj - The stacking mugs are vintage Massimo Vignelli for Heller.
santamonica - There's definitely something about turning knobs and jumping needles that clicky buttons and glowing LCDs can't replicate.
view creativeintheory's profile
I hardly ever comment on AT, but your amazing apartment prompted me to say great job. I really cannot say enough.
view miggy stardust's profile
I am so impressed. You have a true gift.
view lauragravesbrown's profile
wonderful AND clever! I just got here from the AT link. I especially love the angled steel kitchen shelf turned pot
rack!
view mihaela's profile
Now that I'm done licking the screen, I have to say this is a remarkable and beautiful space. I can't get enough of looking at it.
It's a pleasure to hear from Houston. I've been living here a year, and I find it's underrated. I hesitate to say that. If The Guild had stayed underrated, I'd be able to afford more stuff there.
view carlitadee's profile
As a fellow electronics fanatic living in a tiny apartment, I salute you. The sheer projector screen was a stroke of genius and everything else is well-chosen and arranged.
Excellent work, sir. Excellent.
view Jordan Jennings's profile
Holy crap.
This is just amazing.
...wow.
view atfan123's profile
hey, you've done an outstanding job. your places really looks comfortable and stylish and i LOVE the way you've addressed the technological needs. if i were to move in, i might want some more color, but hey, that is such a minor quibble...when can i move in?
view davidsl's profile
davidsl - move in any time, I'll make up the guest room for you, that is to say, the sofa.
view creativeintheory's profile
That receiver is gorgeous. I have something similar in my living room and it is probably my most prized piece of tech.
view Oneisco's profile
I love your pad! Nothing else on apartment therapy compares to the simplicity and functionality of this space. Anyone know where I can find a similar sofa?
view Kid Coleco's profile
would you mind telling me where you got your media console?
view william's profile
Kid Coleco - Thanks for the comment. I've been looking for a lead on the manufacturer since I brought it home from Craigslist. The closest thing I've seen is the Bel Aire sofa from a custom furniture maker in LA called Futurama Furniture. Mine has two large slat legs and they use peg legs.
William - The media console is a vintage office credenza that I also got off of Craigslist, unfortunately there is no label on it. You might try Herman Miller or HON, but if you look on CL, they seem to appear often enough.
view creativeintheory's profile
Chris - Thanks for the response! I will definitely check out the sofa from Futurama. One another thing, getting rid of macs is hard to do. I currently have an iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro. I will probably get rid of the Mini and keep the other two. Nice work!
view Kid Coleco's profile
I use a Tupplur blind as well and indeed it works out just great. Just one question, how did you mount your projector to the ceiling and took care of the wires ?
view Fairy's profile
Fairy - It's actually not mounted. I have a perfect place for it on the kitchen counter directly across from the screen. When it's not in use, I put it away completely. I thought about mounting it and running white painted wires along the exposed ceiling joists, but it in the end, I just didn't want to have the projector always visible.
view creativeintheory's profile
Chris, you have a fantastic apartment. I absolutely love it. Such a wonderful blend of design and tech. I'm practically swooning here. One question though, where did you get your bag (the black one with the stripe) I've seen them before but never looked close enough for a brand. Seriously though, great job!
view girlonthem00n's profile
girlonthem00n - Thanks for the comment! It's the Fred Perry Flight bag. I bought them from Urban Outfitters for $29, but I don't see it on their site anymore. It's also available here for a bit more: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7505529/c/3.html
view creativeintheory's profile
Awesome appartment, so much style and athmosphere in such a small place - Great Job!
I fell in love with the table in front of the sofa, where do you bought that ? Is the manufacturer known?
Thank you very much!
view sunbreeze's profile
sunbreeze - Thanks for the comment! No, unfortunately I haven't been successful in finding out the manufacturer. The sofa is vintage, but in an above post I mentioned that a furniture maker in LA called Futurama Furniture makes something somewhat similar.
view creativeintheory's profile
This is such a stunning apartment to me because it embodies all the things that I love - it:
-has modern decor with clean lines - especially right angles (my favorite!)
-has color and cute/cool accessories
-is extremely organized
-is super hi-tech
These are the things I strive for and this house tour is truly an inspiration - thank you Chris Nguyen - you ROCK!
view wipstar7's profile
I really like this house a lot. Liked the retro phone on the table. The projector over framed map. Lots of details.
view rdekko's profile