Studiomama's beautiful beach chalet

You may have seen my post last week about a stunning warehouse conversion that made very clever use of the available space, giving it nooks where there had been none and suspending rooms from ceilings... 

Well the designer behind it, Studiomama, aka Nina Tolstrup, also created this beautifully reconfigured beach hut that I fell for several years ago after seeing it in some book or a magazine. I'd remembered the what the place looked like, but as I couldn't remember where I'd seen it, was unable to find out who was behind it. Until last week... when, I was very happy to rediscover it through the warehouse story.

Isn't it lovely? I like how it is so tiny, but has been designed so as to feel spacious and multifunctional: the kitchen isn't cramped, and the two beds upstairs – both doubles – have lots of light from that beautiful long window, which creates a frame for the green view outside. The use of the blond wood and reflective kitchen units also really open it up by bouncing light around; and there is plenty thanks to the ceiling light windows.

For the same reasons as the warehouse refit, I find it mesmerising: although I don't live in a minimal space like this (and am probably incapable of doing so) I have created some comparable nooks that make me very happy.

Here is a glimpse of my bedroom; this room was a very narrow single room – quite useless even as a spare room, as you could barely fit a single bed in it. So together with the ingenious builder, Andrea, who constructed it, and my friend Camilla who thought of the idea in the first place, I ended up with this compact mezzanine, which has made this room into a double by extending out of the room into the equally high-ceilinged landing beyond the door. (And if the ceiling hadn't suffered a rather nasty roof leak, the effects of which – big brown patches on the paint – weren't still visible, I'd show you some more snaps. The leak is now fixed, so when I've repainted, I shall.)

And this is the desk area I had built under the stairs.

I also got a bit obsessed with putting interior windows into various walls. Here is one in the hall. All influenced subliminally, perhaps, by the clever beach hut. You can see the full slide show of beach chalet images on the Studiomama website.

Beach chalet images: Nina Tolstrup