An old bicycle cellar, a boiler room and a former air-raid shelter - doesn't really sound like potential for an open, loft-like and beautiful living space at all. Philipp nevertheless managed to turn it into a cozy and modern mini-apartment on 35 m² - with an eye for interior design, a knack for design and layout, a lot of craftsmanship and three months of hard work.

Half of his parents' old farmhouse in Mertesdorf near Trier is rented out. So when Philipp starts looking for a new apartment in May 2021, he considers using rooms and substance that are already there. "I think it's always better to design an old house in the inventory. I think it's nice when you preserve the historic, the quality and the value of the old houses is a completely different."

So Philipp starts clearing out the basement, exposing walls, tearing down and installing windows. "I once studied architecture, so I already have a good spatial imagination and a feel for rooms." Philipp taught himself the basics of craftsmanship to the greatest extent possible. Even as a child, he did a lot of crafts with his grandfather. "And so I then actually gradually copied more and more from others so that I could also implement my things." At the moment, Philipp works for a carpenter.

His affinity for his "favorite material" is also visible in his apartment: wall paneling, shelving, kitchen cabinets, his bed, the wooden door and the corner bench he made himself. Partly also from old furniture. Because one theme is particularly important to Philipp in his building project: "That you buy as little new as possible. Use things that are already there, where energy has been put in." And so, in addition to his self-built furniture, there are also numerous old or upcycled furnishings in his apartment: the 150-year-old dining table, for example, or the chairs from his grandma's attic. "I just sanded those down a little bit. And that's also fun for me, building things myself, somehow creating something new out of them and breathing new life into them."

During construction, Philipp also made sure to preserve the old substance and integrate it into his new apartment. His bedroom, for example, still clearly shows its past as an air-raid shelter: a rust-red ceiling made of 4 cm steel and thick walls of exposed concrete. This gives his apartment a special and also modern industrial style: concrete, steel, exposed wiring and pipes, and an exposed brick wall. Philipp has tried to retain as much of this character as possible.

Only the wall behind his Swedish stove and along the sleeping area is covered with rough formwork boards. "This creates a certain warmth and also coziness in what is actually a cold basement room, like a cabin." Philipp is very pleased with the result. "The nice thing is that you can see what you've created. You haven't just kind of shifted numbers from right to left now, but you can really use it all in your practical life."
Philipp worked full time on his remodeling project for three months. He spent ten hours a day on the construction site and shoveled tons of debris out of the basement. In total, he invested around 30,000 euros in his apartment. But he estimates that he saved at least another 20,000 euros through his own efforts.

Nevertheless, in the end, the fun of the project, of the craftsmanship and design, prevailed. So much so that Philipp is now considering going into business for himself with the expansion and design of rooms. New projects are already being planned, and his mini-loft will certainly not be his last renovation project.

A film by Rieke Spang (editor), Frederik Dietz (camera), Paul Heydecke (sound) and Marcella Krings (editing).

00:00 Mini loft in air-raid shelter
02:41 Bedroom
04:04 Kitchen
06:38 Living area
08:06 Dining area
10:09 Bathroom