little wonder

Small spaces needn't be devoid of character, style or atmosphere, as one Berlin-based artist, who is handy with a paint brush, shows

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Just how do you introduce personality and joy into a small, rented apartment without it feeling crowded? There may be a lot going on in these pictures – surprising shapes, strong colours, plenty of quirky objets - but there's also a sense of order and calm. The secret to this, explains artist and interior designer Mike Klar, is about designing each room as if it's a 'large painting'.

Mike's starting point is always atmosphere: “How do you want to feel in each room? Dramatic? Calm? Cosy? Then I think about what ingredients I need to create that mood.” The living room, for example, ‘is a room we use in the evening with friends, so it could be louder or more crowded because it's an entertaining space’. Here he leant into dark colours, inspired by how theatres and museums ‘display things with colour and contrast’, settling on aubergine. The study, meanwhile, needed to be as calm as possible, so there are just three colours – blush, yellow and green.