Penthouse Renovation in Tel Aviv: The M Apartment Case Study
Updated: 4 days ago
The M apartment is a two-level penthouse in Tel Aviv that I renovated for a woman in her 30s and her young daughter. It has 143 sqm of built space over two floors and a roof terrace of about 100 sqm. A black-and-white palette with splashes of bright color and a blue staircase turned a dated home into a timeless, lively one, and the project won an Archilovers Best Project award in 2018.
By Maya Sheinberger | 20.08.25
The client had been a close friend of mine for 20 years when she found the apartment. I came with her to see the apartment before she bought it, and I immediately saw there was a lot to work with. She didn't need to explain or show me what she loves. At the first planning meeting, I brought layout options and a very clear concept: black and white with touches of color, the most important of them the blue stairs.
Key takeaways
Black tall cabinets against white walls create depth and make the space feel bigger.
One bold element, here a blue staircase, is enough to give a home its character.
A multi-purpose cabinet can replace a hallway wall and hide the home's systems.
Design extra rooms so they can change later, from a playroom to a bedroom.
The penthouse at a glance
Location | Tel Aviv, top floor of a building from the early 2000s |
Clients | A woman in her 30s and her daughter |
Built area | 120 sqm on the entrance level and 23 sqm on the roof level |
Roof terrace | About 100 sqm |
Rooms | 5 |
Planning | 5 months |
Renovation | 4 months |
Award | Archilovers Best Project 2018 |
The M apartment is one of the projects I look at in what makes an award-winning apartment.
What changed in the M penthouse?
Almost no structural changes were made. All the systems were replaced, including the electricity, plumbing and air conditioning. The old staircase was demolished in favor of a light, new one. The hallway wall came down, and the guest toilet was enlarged. The bedrooms and bathrooms stayed where they were, but all their finishes were replaced. Because the planning and the supplier orders were all closed in advance, we could start the work as soon as the client got the keys.
The whole home has herringbone oak parquet, which brings a lot of warmth and character and creates unity between the two floors. The tall pieces (the TV cabinet, the tall kitchen cabinet and the library) are mostly black, which keeps them uniform. The contrast between the black masses and the white walls adds depth. You can read more about this kind of cabinet in my posts on TV wall design ideas and floor-to-ceiling built-in joinery.
Why a blue staircase?
The stairs to the roof level are, in my opinion, the highlight of the apartment. They are light, different and bring a lot of color and character into the space. I brought the client a visualization with blue stairs, and she loved the idea immediately.
Instead of suspending the stairs, we decided to rest them on supporting beams underneath. In the end, that solution added to the design and also gave a clean way to connect the glass railing.
How was the kitchen planned around the staircase?
The kitchen sits between the living room and the staircase. A tall black cabinet wall holds an integrated fridge, an oven, a microwave and storage. The sink worktop is under the window, and in the middle of the space, parallel to the stairs, an island has a long cooktop and three seats.
The dining table has a yellow frame and black chairs. Behind it, a custom MDF Italia library echoes the colors of the space, against a wall of white-painted bricks. In the living room, the sofa and armchair came from the client's previous home and were reupholstered, an approach I explain in my guide to mixing vintage and heirloom furniture into a modern home. A lithograph by Dan Reisinger hangs on the column between the two windows.
The bedrooms and bathrooms
For the main bedroom, I chose a blue wallpaper with a rich texture behind an upholstered gray bed. The apartment's mamad, the reinforced safe room built into Israeli apartments, serves as the walk-in closet. The main shower room and the children's bathroom share a black-and-white mosaic-look floor, white brick tiles and black faucets. Only the sink cabinet changes: charcoal in the main shower room and blue, like the stairs, in the children's bathroom.
The guest toilet was once too small to close the door from inside. I enlarged it at the expense of the entrance and added a surprise: brick-look porcelain walls, white shelves with artificial plants and a faucet with a red handle.
How do you design a room that can change later?
The daughter's room has white furniture with stone-colored touches and a stone-colored bunny wallpaper. The playroom has joinery for toys and a warm gray wallpaper with gold confetti, and it was planned so it can become another child's bedroom in the future. On the roof level, the workspace has a desk by Israeli designer Alon Dodo and another wall cabinet, and it too can become a bedroom later.
A roof terrace that feels like a garden
The large roof is used for entertaining. It has several seating areas, an outdoor kitchen and a play corner. The floor combines concrete-look porcelain tiles, synthetic grass and an ipe deck, and the combination gives the feeling of a real garden on the roof. The existing pergola was renewed and painted white.
What I learned from designing for a close friend
It was my first home for such a close friend, so we agreed on set working hours in which we were client and designer, and it kept the project running smoothly. Her trust is why it's one of the projects I'm proudest of. See more on the M apartment project page.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the M penthouse?
It has 143 sqm of built space, 120 sqm on the entrance level and 23 sqm on the roof level, plus a roof terrace of about 100 sqm.
How long did the penthouse renovation take?
Five months of planning and four months of renovation. All the planning and supplier orders were closed before the work began.
What award did the M apartment win?
The M apartment won an Archilovers Best Project award in 2018.
Were there structural changes in the M penthouse?
Almost none. All the systems were replaced, the staircase was rebuilt, the hallway wall was replaced by a multi-purpose cabinet, and the guest toilet was enlarged.
How is the blue staircase supported?
Instead of suspending it, we rested it on supporting beams underneath, which also gave a clean way to connect the glass railing.
Planning a penthouse or apartment renovation in Tel Aviv? I'd love to hear about your project.
Maya Sheinberger is an interior designer with more than 17 years of experience. After five years at a leading architecture firm, she founded her independent studio in 2012. She holds a B.Des with honors from the College of Management. Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications in Israel and abroad, including eight Archilovers Best Project awards, and one of her apartments features in the book The New Minimalist Style.
Photography @itaybenitphotographer · Styling @maya_livnat_harush
