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Space is at a premium in New York City, but creative thinking can help maximize it. Case in point: Eric Schneider, owner of the "Unfolding Apartment," who turned his Upper West Side studio into a sort of four room apartment with the help of a massive cabinet.

"I have this apartment that is essentially this rectangle of space, but because of this cabinet here, it opens and forms so many different rooms within this room," says Schneider.

Schneider has never had to worry about feeling like the walls were closing in on him in his 400-foot studio. His friend and architect Michael Chen of Normal Projects created a unit with a moveable wall that allows him to use his space more efficiently.

"We think of it as bigger than furniture but smaller than architecture. Basically, it's a single cabinet that houses all the functional requirements of an apartment. So it has a bedroom, a library, a home office, a desk, storage for the kitchen, a bar and a closet," says Chen.

This custom cabinet allows the room to have four different layouts. He can keep it closed and open the bar for entertaining. If he opens the door, the room is a bedroom complete with a built-in nightstand. The custom cabinet also has a desk that folds down to convert the space into a home office. There's even a pull-out wall that divides the room in order to give guests in the living area privacy.

Aside from the various layouts, the cabinet also has a lot of storage. It has shelving on both sides and a double-sided custom closet with additional storage underneath.

Schneider says this allows him to truly enjoy every inch of his space.

"It's so functional. This is the amount of space in New York City that I could afford when I was looking to buy a place and we’ve found a way to make it feel so much bigger than it is," says Schneider.