This Toronto apartment stopped me dead in my scroll.

Even without knowing its square footage, the space is an impressive display of design by Stacey Cohen. Knowing that it’s all contained in 550 square feet? That lends an entirely new perspective to the place, and makes Ms. Stacey Cohen into a magician, whose main-stage act is creating the Mary Poppins bag of apartments.

There are so many small space rules that experts love to spout: maximize vertical space and use big art and blah blah blah. But so often the examples given feel a bit sophomoric, or at the very least, temporary.

And then here comes Cohen to school us all; You want to see maximized vertical space? Try these 16-foot built-ins, the upper portions of which can be accessed via rolling ladder. Shallow storage shelves for things like jewelry? Hidden away in a cupboard you’d probably mistake for moulding. IKEA closet? Customized with paint and gorgeous knobs; yes indeed. Pull-out storage underneath the stairs? Absahlutely.

I, for one, am amazed, and offer the hat I’m not wearing to Stacey for achieving the triumph of a small space that’s very, very large in style and sophistication.

Image credits: Valerie Wilcox for Domino Magazine