Sound familiar? You come home after a day of work, look for a place to put your bag, and along the way get stuck on a toy box, a laundry tray, or an overflowing drawer that refuses to close. Life in a small apartment isn’t always easy, but it’s also not a matter of fate.
In recent years in Israel, small apartments have become the standard. Those buying a new apartment often get significantly smaller spaces than were common in the past. A living area of 80–90 m² for a family of four is no longer considered unusual. This means every inch in the home is valuable and must be used optimally.
“People today understand that every inch is worth money,” interior designer Paz Chasdai describes the trend. “In small apartments, we can’t afford to waste space on walls that don’t really contribute. A carpentry element can be the solution—it divides the space, provides storage, and adds design value. It’s a way to think differently about home planning.”
This is where custom carpentry comes into play. It’s not just another cabinet or table—it’s careful planning of spaces, maximizing areas, and turning furniture into multifunctional pieces: Tall cabinets with hidden doors for a small pantry, entryway cabinets that provide convenient storage with an elegant, welcoming look, carpentry walls designed to conceal air conditioning, infrastructure, storage, and act as partitions between rooms, and more.
Itzik Vachnish, owner of Vachnish – Boutique Carpentry, emphasizes: “Today, because apartments are smaller, we need to find creative solutions. My role is to work with designers and clients to understand what they really need and translate it into woodwork. Sometimes a problem that arises during the process actually creates an opportunity—a new solution, an original element that hadn’t been considered before. My advantage is being flexible, thinking outside the box, and building a solution that perfectly fits the space and the family living in it.”
Tips to Make Life Easier at Home
Media cabinet that gathers everything – video, sound systems, books, games, and even cables and documents. Instead of scattering all equipment around the living room, everything fits in one cabinet, giving a clean and organized look.
Entryway cabinet – no more scattered shoes and coats. The entryway cabinet has become one of the most important pieces in any apartment: It’s both a design element that welcomes you and a practical solution that hides everything you don’t want to see.
Wall cabinets that blend with the space – a smooth front in the color of the walls or a wood finish allows the cabinet to “disappear” into the room. This way, you get huge storage without making the apartment feel cramped.
Double-sided cabinet instead of a wall – a solution gaining popularity, especially in new projects: Instead of building a partition wall, a cabinet serves two spaces simultaneously—on one side serving a passage area and on the other a bedroom. This provides storage, partitioning, and an elegant look.
The design and architecture world has also recognized the potential. In various projects across the country, entire walls have been replaced with glass cabinets, MDF partitions have become both decorative walls and workrooms, and even air conditioning systems have been hidden within carpentry cabinets. The result: Apartments where the division between spaces is more flexible, and every piece of furniture has a dual purpose.
In the End – It’s Also About Feeling
Itzik Vachnish explains that carpentry has changed its status: “Carpentry used to be seen as something supplementary. Today, it’s an integral part of planning. When I enter a new apartment, I think with the designers about how to turn it into a space suited to the residents—not just how to build a cabinet or table. In the end, it’s the difference between a generic space and a home that’s comfortable to live in for years.”
Paz Chasdai summarizes: “The beauty of carpentry is that it doesn’t just solve storage problems—it also creates an identity for the apartment. When incorporated at the planning stage, it maximizes the property’s potential, and the residents get a home that fits them exactly—even if the space is relatively small. Ultimately, proper carpentry is what turns a small apartment into a large home—not in meters, but in feeling and quality of life.”
