Tara Rodriguez Besosa and Serban Ionescu, two recent graduates from Pratt’s architecture program, work at Manhattan design firms by day. At night, back in their 450-square-foot one-bedroom Red Hook home, they work on their own projects, many of which are displayed at their nearby gallery space, Gestarc, which they started with three classmates.

“We had our own studios at school,” Rodriguez Besosa explains, “And when we moved in, a place to work was our first priority.” The pair adapted the bedroom and installed two flea-market-bought desks and all their design accoutrements.

In a genius move, they circumvented a rule prohibiting them from installing any walls by building a freestanding structure (seven feet tall by six feet wide) out of Homasote (a wallboard made of recycled paper) and two-by-fours (the cheapest building materials they could find). It’s painted a vivid kelly green, and carves a sleeping area out of the living room. “It hinges back and forth, so when we’re sleeping, we’re separated from the living area,” Rodriguez Besosa says. “And when we have big parties, we swing it open to conceal the kitchen and open up the room.”

1. The sleeping area contains only essentials: a futon, a small alarm clock and a plant.

2. A huge Ikea cube displays the couple’s design books, along with collections of antique cameras and typewriters.

3. “Serban finds all sorts of cool things out on the street—mannequins, old silverware and the like—which he uses in his art,” Rodriguez Besosa says.