Overlooking Wentworth Park with skyline views stretching to Barangaroo, this compact Glebe apartment proves that size doesn’t limit style — vision does.
Some properties ask for grand gestures.
Others — like this petite 39m² apartment on Wentworth Street — demand something even harder: precision, restraint, and absolute styling intelligence.
From the first site visit, our team at Goldpac understood the assignment. Glebe isn’t just a suburb — it’s a personality. It’s heritage warehouses, university energy, boutique cafés on Glebe Point Road, the scent of flat whites drifting across Blackwattle Bay, and the hum of the city just a ten-minute walk away. And this property, sitting high on level six with uninterrupted views of the Sydney CBD, deserved a design language that matched the location: young, confident, iconic, and refreshingly uncluttered.
The challenge?
Thirty-nine square metres total.
One bedroom. One living/dining zone. One balcony.
Zero room for error.
Every item had to work double-time.
THE CHALLENGE: MICRO-SPACE, MACRO-EXPECTATIONS
Before styling, the apartment felt like many older inner-city studios: clean but visually flat, with beige-on-beige walls, basic flooring, and a slightly awkward layout that could easily become cramped or chaotic. The biggest risk was overcrowding. One wrong sofa size, one heavy coffee table, one dark textile — and the whole place would feel “too small”.
And yet… the views.
The moment you stepped inside, the windows framed the skyline like a movie. Trees of Wentworth Park at the base, the skyline rising behind them — Sydney Tower, Darling Harbour, and the dense inner-city architecture all glowing in the afternoon light.
Our mission was clear:
Make the interiors feel as light, open, and modern as the views outside — and style it exactly for the Glebe buyer: design-aware, lifestyle-focused, young-at-heart.
THE VISUAL STRATEGY: GLEBE MINIMAL SOFT MODERN
We developed a soft-modern palette that matched Glebe’s vibe: warm neutrals, matte whites, natural wood tones, and clean, creamy textiles.
Colour Palette
— Light oat and stone-beige on sofas and bedding
— Warm timber to ground the space
— White ceramics and textured frames for contemporary edge
— Soft grey-beige curtains to elongate lines
— A pop of sunflower mustard in cushions — youthful, energetic, but controlled
This mustard accent was crucial. In micro-apartments, colour becomes an emotional signal. Too much = chaos. Too little = boring. Mustard adds personality without visual weight — exactly right for a 39m² home.
KITCHEN AREA — ‘THE MINI HEART OF THE HOME’
The kitchen is small, but surprisingly functional — dishwasher, new washing machine, updated cabinetry. But visually? It risked looking like a laundry corridor.
Our solution:
1. Keep the styling ultra-light.
A single white orchid, mini cake stand, chopping boards, mineral water bottles for lifestyle appeal — nothing heavy, nothing visually noisy.
2. Add life through greenery and florals.
On micro-spaces, foliage softens all the hard surfaces. It makes a small kitchen feel “alive” instead of “tight”.
3. Insert a round marble-effect café table.
Why? Corners add clutter. Circles create flow. Especially in a kitchen-dining combo the size of a postage stamp.
Two bentwood chairs finished the picture — European café energy, airy, perfect for Glebe.
LIVING ROOM — THE HERO MOMENT
Look again at the photos.
The living room is only a few metres across, but it looks spacious. Here’s why.
1. Two-seater sofa + armchair, both in matching cool-beige upholstery.
Not oversized. Not bulky. Slim arms, high legs = more visible floor, more air.
2. Layered mustard cushions + striped accents.
They inject vibrancy and tie the eye upward toward the window — making the room feel taller.
3. Large, soft rug in geometric white.
It zones the room and visually expands it. In small spaces: rugs = magic tricks.
4. Paired coffee tables — low, airy, timber + white.
Rectangular coffee tables would visually “box in” the room. Circular shapes move energy.
5. Curated sideboard with matte ceramics.
Clean, sculptural, intentional. Built like a mood board for the Glebe lifestyle.
6. The olive tree and pleated lamp.
This is where the personality shines.
Soft, organic greenery + the architectural silhouette of the lamp = “designer apartment” vibes without trying too hard.
7. Most important: no clutter.
Every item breathes. Every colour sits quietly. Everything feels calm.
This is styling maturity — knowing what NOT to place.
BEDROOM: ‘SMALL BUT LUXE’
There’s no point sugar-coating it — the bedroom is tight. Many stylists freeze at this point and layer heavy furniture to compensate.
We did the opposite.
1. A queen bed with full plush layering.
Soft sandy-beige quilt, textured throw, four pillows + two euros.
Volume without heaviness.
Luxury without clutter.
2. Pale wood bedside tables with small lamps.
Nothing oversized.
3. Two botanical artworks — clean-line, airy.
4. Curtains that match the wall tone.
They elongate the room instead of cutting it visually.
5. And the masterstroke: the balcony.
We styled it as an extension of the bedroom: two white powder-coated chairs with a striped cushion and a single floral stem.
This tiny gesture transforms the entire feel of the room.
It turns a “small bedroom” into a “bedroom with a private terrace overlooking Wentworth Park”.
In real estate psychology, that’s a value shift of thousands.
THE BALCONY — THE LIFESTYLE CLOSE-UP
The views from this unit are insane.
Full Sydney skyline, greenery, wide sky. It’s the kind of outlook you normally see in $1m+ listings, not $575k.
We styled the balcony minimally so nothing fought with the view:
— Two sculptural chairs
— One small café table
— A single white hydrangea
Just enough to make the buyer imagine their morning coffee, their sunset wine, their Sunday reading nook.
Nothing heavy.
Nothing distracting.
Just lifestyle.
THE RESULT
At inspections, buyers stopped talking mid-sentence when they stepped inside.
The agent told us people whispered things like:
“Wow, this feels so much bigger than I expected.”
“This is exactly the vibe I want.”
“It looks like a little boutique hotel.”
This is the power of thoughtful small-space styling.
You don’t hide the size — you elevate the experience.
And in a place like Glebe, surrounded by light rail access, the future Sydney Fish Market, Blackwattle Bay, and the village energy of Glebe Point Road, the apartment now feels like what it truly is:
A small home with a big-city lifestyle.
“I didn’t expect a 39m² place to feel this luxurious.” – Inspection Buyer
🏙️ 39m² Glebe apartment — tiny footprint, massive impact
🎨 Soft-modern palette: oat tones, mustard accents, clean textures
🌞 Feels airy, bright, and bigger than its floorplan
⚡ A showcase of how micro-spaces can look truly premium
💬 “Exactly the vibe I want.” — Buyer at first inspection