The updated kitchen and grand piano that doubles as dining table and food styling station.

Long-time readers may recognize this apartment and family as one of our very first home tours, which you can revisit here! They were our neighbors down the hall for many years and remain our friends. We bonded over raising our kids in tiny apartments and our commitment to city living. And as Melissa once said to me with her chic french accent, “I don’t like many people but I think I like you” (the greatest compliment? And a phrase I have also been known to say to future friends, which shows our similar nature. Not ones for small talk but will get straight to the heart of it). Our kids spent hours running up and down the hallway while we shared many ideas and space-saving hacks over the years. Melissa taught me about the Ikea patio benches and painting them black (post here) and their trapeze/swing inspired our play gym (post here).

Jonny and Melissa have lasted a couple more years than us in their - less-than-600-square-foot-apartment while managing to run their successful artisanal sauce business out of the same apartment and homeschool their budding opera singing daughter. The creativity, tenacity and style of this family never fails to impress me.

Some changes to note since the previous home tour is an updated kitchen, a custom loft bed for Jake and a widened hallway. The DIY curtain-covered wall bed remained, as did the grand piano!

I’ll leave you with Melissa here…

The hallway they made bigger but still managed to fit a small work station.

How have you changed your space as your family has grown?

Mostly subtle adjustments. Having our hallway widened by pushing the wall back a foot seems minor, but that extra foot has helped us keep our sanity as we can now pass each other in the hall rather than bumping into each other. We bought a European all in one washer/dryer and had to be extremely careful with it’s measurements to have it fit in the now smaller utility closet. Using our height has also been key - I have put in shelving all the way to our ceiling in every closet.

How has Jake's Room evolved?

Jake’s room is what has changed the most. It used to be a nursery, but now it’s a real bedroom! We are really lucky to have high ceilings so I was able to take full advantage of that to create her “cloud bed”. Having a loft bed gives her enough space beneath to play and work at her desk. It’s a difficult room to photograph - what you cannot see is the storage on the left side, I used Ikea Sektion without handles to maximize the space as much as possible. Every inch counts!

Do you still use the swing?

It is still an obsession. She loves to listen to music while swinging to the tempo! We also have a trapeze now and some olympic rings to switch it up.

The infamous swing in the living room. Their wall bed is behind the curtain.

How are the closets shared now that Jake’s clothes and shoes are bigger? Did you need to give up your vanity?

We installed some cabinets in her room. They are quite narrow and work perfectly well will kids hangers, but once she outgrows those, we will have to make some adjustments. I also custom made some narrow shelving for behind her door, I made a very narrow set of shelves for her shoes. It’s so narrow that her shoes go on sideways!

Favourite couch over the years? As your neighbour I know it's changed.

This is a really hard one. I don’t know if I have found my favourite yet!! Right now we are using Soderhamn from Ikea because the dimensions are perfect for the space and because I can remove the covers and wash them in the machine. Which I have done many, many times.

I was dreaming of The Cloud from Restoration Hardware, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much. The truth is that we eat on our sofa all the time and life happens! Our cat is pretty good with furniture, but I think I would cry if he sunk his claws into such an expensive piece. I’m open to suggestions if anybody knows of a brand that looks amazing, is machine washable and doesn’t cost more than my mortgage.

Living room with a view to the front door. Bathroom and bedroom down the hallway to the right.

How does working from home work in your small space?

Our place evolves so much throughout the day. Because we also work from home, sometimes you will come over and I’m boxing packages to ship, other time I will be in the middle of a recipe shoot and other times we even turn the space into a studio. Jake has to film a lot of auditions from home and when she does, we bring out the backdrops, lights, tripod, etc

I especially love that you prioritize music in your small space. I think others feel this is something they would need to sacrifice in a small space. How do you do it?

Actually to be honest, I didn’t really have a choice! Jonny has been a singer/songwriter his entire life and now Jake has embraced music even more than we ever anticipated, so it’s just a reality.

The baby grand piano was what made everything work. We use it as our dining table and I recently had the top made in the same material as the kitchen counters. We updated the kitchen a bit last year, new appliances, new sink and new counter tops and at the same time, we had someone scan the shape of the piano top to replicate it exactly, so it’s beautiful, classic yet functional.

We stash musical equipment everywhere! There’s a guitar hanging in Jonny’s closet, a ukulele and a violin in their cases under the sofa and a drum pad hidden under Jake’s desk! If you look carefully music is everywhere and a a jam session can break out fairly quickly.

The ivy has grown so much in the beautiful outdoor space.

Thank you Melissa, Jonny and Jake for generously sharing your beautiful space yet again! I know they are making plans to move to a bit bigger space yet still in the city. Lasting 8 years in a studio apartment as a family of 3 is well beyond expectations and they certainly did it with style.

All photos by the immensely talented Melissa Mercier.

Small Home Tour: Melissa, Jonny and Jake in under 600 square feet, still! An update!