An oasis of calm for hundreds of guests in the heart of Nea Smyrni district.
Before · 2020After · 2021
Drag the divider — or use ← → keys
The brief
From distressed property to premium Airbnb studio.
The small flat was out of use for more than 30 years. The brief was simple: to bring the property to modern living standards, increase the asset's value, and deliver a studio that is stylish, cosy, and fully equipped for short- and mid-term stays.
3floors
96 m²total area
10 000books to house
1932year built
Gallery · 04 rooms
One main space, reimagined.
Kitchen
Open plan, ground floor
Bedroom
First floor, north side
Bathroom
First floor, courtyard
Study
Top floor, under the skylight
The process
Six months. Four chapters.
A renovation, told slowly. Each phase held its own rhythm — and its own small dramas.
01
Discovery.
property goals & audit · concept · layout
We began not with drawings but with the family's library. Each room had a stack — paperbacks, journals, a Turkish encyclopedia from 1974 — and we measured them, photographed them, and asked which ones they would lend and which they would keep. By week three, the brief had written itself.
Week one — the first circulation sketch.
Video · 02:15Week 2 · measuring the library
The room we met on day one.
02
Transformation.
Demolition · specifications · construction
Two interior walls came down. A dropped ceiling. The painted-over skylight reopened for the first time in twenty-eight years — the room went suddenly bright and we all stood quiet for a moment. Then the dust settled and we carried on.
Day nine — the kitchen wall comes down.
Video · 01:08Day 9 · the wall comes down
The bathroom we found under the bathroom.
03
Finishing.
Furniture · Fixtures · Equipment
An oak floor in long planks. A continuous lime-plaster wall from the front door to the skylight. Custom millwork for the books. The infrastructure hides; the materials speak. We filmed week fourteen — the moment the floor met the wall for the first time.
The long wall, week ten.
Video · 01:42Week 14 · floor meets wall
The first room to be dressed.
04
Promotion.
Styling · Photography
Styling came after the family moved back in. A kilim from the grandmother's house. A lamp found on Lysikratous. A reading chair that took eleven weeks to arrive — and was worth every one of them.
The library, two weeks after move-in.
Video · 01:33Week 24 · the kilim arrives
The study, finally at rest.
A small discovery
Under two layers of plywood, the original 1932 hand-troweled plaster. We kept it. The whole house learned from it.
"We had ten thousand books and a three-storey house with one small window. Eleni found a place for every book — and somehow we still have a kitchen."
— neil P., guest · nea smyrni, Athens
26
m² floor area
50
guests
50
5-star reviews
1100 EUR
avg. gross income/ month
Eleni TzinakouInterior designer · Athens
A house of your own?
Let's find what your space already wants to be.
If you're sitting with a renovation, a re-plan, or a single room that won't settle — I'd love to hear about it. The first conversation is free, unhurried, and without commitment.
Replies usually within 48 hours · Athens & the islands · by appointment
Video · 02:15 Week 2 · measuring the library 
Video · 01:08 Day 9 · the wall comes down 
Video · 01:42 Week 14 · floor meets wall 
Video · 01:33 Week 24 · the kilim arrives 
