This fantasy can’t be mine alone.  I know exactly where it started – I owe it all to Eloise.  A storybook, written in the ’50’s by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight, followed the life of 6 year old Eloise, her pet dog Weenie, and her Turtle, Skipper Dee – all in residence at the Plaza Hotel in NYC.  Nanny was her mostly companion, as her mother jet-setted around the globe.  Eloise had it pretty great.

My next unfulfilled wish came when I was in residence at Boston University – West Campus, Rich Hall, Room 1313.  I don’t know how much unluckier you can get.  I longed to live at Myles Standish – an old hotel, said to have housed Babe Ruth back in the day, then and now, serving as dormitories.  Only the very luckiest freshman were allowed to live their, and as I previously stated – I was not.  No single bed and private toilet for me, I lived with three other girls and shared a gang bath.  The glamour of it all it -UNDERwhelming.

Eloise by Kay Thompson – Illustrated by Hilary Knight

Over the years I have lived in many small places, and thought to myself, if only this were a hotel, it wouldn’t be so bad.  For one, you can have room service, and second, the maid cleans your space, and third, you can send out your laundry.  I could live with a mini-fridge, and a perfectly designed room and bath.  I don’t even mind the bed being the showcase of the room, which is one of the things I like about a beautifully designed hotel room – they tend to cleverly encase the bed in a closet surround.  Cozy, functional, sixties, elegant.  Think single career gal, working in NYC, making it on her own.

Koncept’s use of graphic patterns, symmetrical and asymmetrical views through the screening, and pink and green preppy happiness make this space a win.

So it was a bit serendipitous that a place came on the market in the South End that is just 273 SF.  That’s right, it’s SUPER small, and they want an outrageous amount of money for it – shocker.  It got me thinking nonetheless, about the possibilities for a space like that.  It’s too small for most people.  They simply wouldn’t do it.  Even those that are only sleeping there during the week might balk at its tininess, and opt for a hotel room instead.  Me, I see it as a challenge.

A room at Haymarket Hotel. Clean, simple, pink, and graphic black.

The second thing that happened that made this tiny thimble of a place seem attractive was a hotel I came across.  Designed by Swedish Firm, Koncept – Haymarket Hotel was once a department store in Stockholm.  Today, a 405 room hotel and restaurant aptly named Greta – after Greta Garbo who worked in the hat department.  Let me just say this by way of explanation – It is beyond.  I will be going there, and I do want to design that tiny bit of an abode as an ode to it.

In a country where half the year the sun shines all the time and the other half, barely at all, the use of light colors can help brighten the mood.

The graphic art deco details, the luscious pinks, greens and blues, the paneling, the lighting the tile, the screen and be screened sections within the spaces – diamonds and squares, scales and fans, gold and luminous wonderfulness.  There I went thinking….if only I could have all that, I’d live in 273 SF, a space so small the flash from the camera would have to remain just outside the door.  Still – what a score it would be.

Art Deco accents are an ode to an earlier time when the building was PUB Department Store.