Houzz Tour: An Ingenious Entire-Apartment 'Hack' in Greece

Rather than buy a bunch of furniture for their new rented apartment, Panagiotis Chatzitsakyris and Stelina Tsifti built it — every piece. They loved this open and bright third-floor unit in Greece, but the lack of architectural detail was discouraging. As renters they couldn't remodel anything, so they designed their furniture as building components — including an impressive modular living room unit and a four-poster bed that also serves as a closet. Best of all, they can take every piece with them when they move.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Panagiotis Chatzitsakyris and Stelina Tsifti, principals of .27 Architects
Location: Thessaloniki, Greece
Size: 1,100 square feet; two bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms

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Chatzitsakyris and Tsifti designed this modular living room built-in to accommodate their daily needs while allowing the room to feel open. The unit consists of a new "floor" of Iroko engineered wood built 5 inches above the existing marble floor. Dips and rises in the unit allow for different functions — sitting, walking or lying down. Underneath, additional storage holds lighting, speakers, a TV projector and more.


Next to the floor's built-in bookcase, a life-size photo of an exhibit in a New York gallery hangs on the wall. The "bookshelf" embedded in the floor keeps the space free of any vertical storage volumes. Since it sits right under the TV projector wall, it also takes advantage of an underused space: Often the space between the TV and seating is empty, since most furniture pieces would block the view of the TV. The embedded bookshelf uses this space and keeps the view clear.


This dining room is just around the corner from the living room. The couple designed the table and chairs out of the same wood as the living room unit. The dining chairs interlock around the table, forming a single wooden box. They painted the wall graphics themselves — this one incorporates an unsightly radiator into the art.

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The living room built-in is made of 13 separate pieces of furniture (including the raised flooring) that can be disassembled when the couple moves out. Since the 1970s space didn't have any architectural features, Chatzitsakyris and Tsifti used the built-ins, lighting and murals — such as this hand-drawn outline of Brooklyn — to add visual interest.


A projector and cable box pop up from a specialized storage unit in the living room for easy viewing. The low profile allows the couple to sit and comfortably watch the projected TV image from any point in the room.


They wanted extra closets and a four-poster bed, but their bedroom didn't have room for both. So they combined the two functions into a single custom design. The new bed has the cozy feeling of a four-poster and storage space up top, which is accessed via a manual lift.

The lift (similar to this one by Sugatsune) allows the closet rods to swing down with their hanging clothes and push back up into the high closet space without needing a ladder or step stool.


The pair made minimal changes to the kitchen. The backsplash, stove, white cabinets and range hood are original. However, they did add an extra countertop and dining table (both custom made out of oriented strand board) and orange drapes to cover a storage space.


The walls, windows, doors and most of the flooring in the apartment are original — including in this home office. The room's character and function come from these custom portable MDF desks.

Have you hacked your apartment? Tell us how you got the effect of a remodel without one.

More: Find home tours of every style and size

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