apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

"We believe that you don't need tons of space to live well: you just need good design."

Very, very true. From what I've seen of McMansion-style houses, they're often not designed very well at all, and the occupants only use a small portion of the home (you can only have one favorite chair, after all).

My biggest pet peeve is cavernous, badly designed kitchens. When you need to take 20 steps to get the veggies from the fridge to the sink, and another 10 to get to the stove, that's just inefficient.

Recently I moved from a 2,000sf house (with 3 roomies) to a 400sf studio by myself. It was a huge adjustment, but I love that I use every nook and cranny of my new place, that it's inexpensive to heat/keep cool, and easy to keep clean. I even have "luxuries" I didn't have in my old place - a designated entryway, lots of bookshelf space, a table for my art projects, and a comfy couch for friends. I never feel stifled or cramped, though I do spend a good amount of time outdoors and in my company's sprawling, airy offices.

All in all, I don't mind living in a shoebox at all :)

My wife and I bought a house three years ago. What was a triplex (2 apts on the 2nd floor) is now a 1200 square foot single unit. We have huge amounts of space for us, even with all the stuff we haul around like packrats.

I have architect friends now designing 8000 to 20 000 sf houses in Conneticut!

Small is beautiful!

I totally agree, we have friends with a massive house and she is always trying to fill up the space - the other day we were over and she was trying to figure out if she should buy another large expensive piece of furniture that they don't really need "just to fill up the space". No joke. I'm always trying to Craigslist stuff because our house is too big and we fill it up, but we don't do it on purpose!

I bought a house built in 1951 that's all of 720sf. The size is perfect for two adults and three dogs. It's cheap to heat and easy to maintain. A lot of people thought I was crazy for buying such a small place, but I love it.

I think its difficult to make use of lots of space. By disposition and finances, the solution I've adopted is sparseness.

In 2006 I lived outside the U.S. including a 4-month stay in a 400 sq-ft studio in Helsinki. While I was away the 1,450 sq-ft loft I'm now living in was being finished. In all honesty, I can easily live with half.

Cheers!

My significant other and I just bought a coop that is 540 sq ft. We are going to what we can to design a LR, BR, Office, Kitchen, Library and an efficient bathroom. People have commented on our little space, but we have decided to have a life that can be invested not investing in "things". We prefer to travel, cultural and social opportunities, but we also want to have a home in which to hide and hibernate.

We derive allot of inspiration from AT and will be posting our finished project to AT.

Maria and Jenny
Minneapolis, MN

Bad design requires about 30% more square footage to perform the same functions as good design, and that's if you're already trying to be compact.

Seriously -- all of our domestic stuff fit in roughly 700 sf both in the SF apartment and in the current apartment (570 sf plus 100 sf of extra storage no more densely packed than a normal room), and I'd call those well-designed (because I find them easy to live in). But in our first apartment in Phoenix, last year, it was a strain to fit the same stuff into 1125 sf plus part of a garage. The problem was the apartment's layout: not enough closet space, and too much wasted air in the center of the great room.

I love the compactness -- it's so much easier to keep tidy. Finding the right place will be a challenge, as quality and largeness tend to get conflated here.

I moved to Germany in 1995. I rented a flat on th third floor of a three flat. My German landlord was aghast that I, a single person, would be living in such a huge space. The place was big enough with three (two very tiny and one largish) bedrooms and one bathroom but it wasn't huge. To my American mind at that point it actually seemed small. Now, a dozen years later, I get it. My daughter and I and our dog (and the fish) live in about 980 square feet and it IS huge. Ah ha.

I am struck by how small many lovely historic houses are. I love early American antique furniture, which seems designed to be adaptable to so many uses: demilune tables, dropleaf tables, tilt-top tables that all can become more compact and/or be moved against a wall when not in use, benches with storage, pegs to hang Shaker chairs on the wall, etc. Some of my favorite homes are one- or two-room cabins that seem to want for nothing in comfort.

I grew up in a 900 sq ft. townhome, and I remember one of my better-off girlfriends being SHOCKED at the fact that a family of four was able to squeeze themselves into such a "small" space. At the time, it hurt my feelings, but now I see the error of her ways. :)

Joy reminds me of what a lot of people have forgotten or never known: 900 sf used to be pretty normal for a middle-class, suburban family of four. The home I grew up in was considered ridiculously huge for a family of three because it had... (gasp!) 1400 sf. That's smaller than the smallest "starter" home in most newer tracts.

Houses then -- anywhere from about 1905, start of the era of "efficiency," into the mid-1970s -- were typically laid out more compactly, though the closet space was usually tiny. You can still find space-wasting monsters from back then, but you didn't have stuff like angled entry halls and other visually impressive space-wasters.

We should do a thread on what we think is involved in "good" home design -- what features really make a home more efficient. I don't know that it's a GREEN topic, but I bet you'd get a list that's quite different from what's commonly built for the masses.

Nobody's mentioned Susan Susanka's "The Not So Big House" series of books. They address this exact topic.
http://www.notsobighouse.com/

"But we can get so much more house if we move out to [satellite suburb]." Gag, and you'll spend half your free time in your car.

My husband and I live in 1200 sq ft with 2 young kids and a large dog... and seem to be surviving just fine! Many people thought we were loopy to buy such a small home, and people often (incorrectly) comment that we will "have" to add on to the house... but it was a very conscious choice on our part to choose a smaller home, for it's simplicity and sanity, and closeness (we always know what the kids are doing!)... plus we loved the character of the property.

People will really be confused when they see us remodel the kitchen and put in only a small under counter fridge!! Just as I couldn't wait to get into a smaller home, I can't wait to say goodbye to our giant fridge! I think you lose some of the joy of innovative design when you have all the space in the world for things... where is the challenge??

I used to dream about a huge country house with bedrooms for all my friends and a great room with a 2-story fireplace.

Now...I want one of those Tumbleweed houses! Compact and designed perfectly for what I need. I see the huge carbon footprint of others and feel like I should do what I can to decrease mine to compensate.

My current apartment is under 400 sq ft and it's just fine. Some days I would love an extra bedroom, but then I realized I will just have to buy stuff to fill it. It makes no sense really.

Whether you live in a McMansion or a cottage, I think you'll find that day-to-day you really only *live* in 250-350 square feet per person. Most people in big houses have rooms they rarely use: formal dining rooms used only for holiday meals, storage rooms, guest rooms, etc. It is all wasted space 9 days out of 10.

You are totally right, MamaChilanga. One of the things I like about our new apartment (we bought it--yay!) is that the kitchen/living/dining space is all one large room downstairs-- we don't have a musty never-used dining room or a tiny eat-in kitchen that nobody ever eats in. The kitchen corner is tucked under the stairs so it feels a little hidden, but it's still connected to the living and dining space. The layout is so condusive to socializing and cooking!

That looks like Tony Sopranos' house.

Vanessa -- I know! I was just going to say, I can't look at that picture without the Sopranos song going through my mind.

Ugh, this is on my mind because I saw parrt of some HGTV show last night and the middle-aged couple (no kids, 3 dogs) was looking at 4000 sf, 5 bed/5 bath houses. Why?

We have a big place: We recently bought a 1220 sf condo in a 1901 building (um, not in NY). We really wanted a second bedroom because we have frequent overnight guests (we're in the middle of I think 5 weeks with guests every weekend), but we never expected to find something this big: I'd have been *thrilled* with 800 or so and everywhere else we looked was about 700-750. We ended up with a real dining room that, unlike the commenters before me, we use every day. We eat dinner in here; we lined the walls with bookshelves and finally have all our beloved books in one place; right now he is studying at the table and I am across from him on my computer. When guests come over we linger over the table for hours. So for us, a dining room works. To make the guest room work for us instead of standing empty 5 days a week, we put the tv in there so it's out of the living room.

As someone else said, it's not your square footage, it's how it's designed. (heh.) I wish I could trade the 150 sf of our apartment that is hallway (there are two halves separated by a loooong hall) for about 10 extra sf in our bedroom, which is so small that adding a headboard would mean the wardrobe doors couldn't open. I grew up in a 1600 sf modern house with two real bedrooms and an office for the four of us. It always seemed plenty big even if we didn't have lots of guest rooms like my friends.

Looks like I'll be in the minority among these posts; however, I cannot believe a modern family of four with seasonal clothes, books, sporting equipment, etc, could ever live in a space smaller than my 1017 sq ft apartment. There is no way more than 2 adults could ever live in this place long term. This place has a one person kitchen, combined living/dining room and a small study/guest bedroom off that. There is a master bedroom, two bathrooms and a total of 5 closets. Maybe 1017 sq ft is the condo developer's exaggeration?

I live alone, and the closets are 80-90% filled. The clothes not used more than a few times per are all discarded. I can accommodate one guest comfortably and two guests uncomfortably. If there were more than two people living here day to day, it would be a total hovel !

Many people on AT are trying to make the best of their small spaces and are convincing themselves to like the ascetic life. In an ideal world, most of us would not prefer to live our whole lives in cramped spaces.

How many well-balanced people with plenty of money confine themselves to one small living space? I think there are few, and those who do are either spending their time working, traveling or staying with friends in other spaces.

When my husband and I purchased a down-town condominium 8 years ago, we really thought we were downsizing- we moved from a 2400 sf contemporary in the suburbs ( with a 5000 bottle wine cellar and 500 sf dining area in the basement!).... to a 1700 sf two bedroom plus office duplex.

In 8 years, we have ditched 2 cars ( we still have one,but almost never drive it) and probably close to 70 % of everything we previously owned... and the space of our place is beginning to embarrass us! As posted by others, we probably routinely live in less than 600 sf of our home ( kitchen, office and bedroom).We do have frequent guests, so the guest room at least gets used... but if we were to do it over- we would find a 1000 sf flat to be more than acceptable.

On the plus side however, we are the only members of our large extended family, that has space large enough to host holiday dinners. In a pinch, I can sit up to 16, or serve up to 26 with buffet- and you would be surprised how often that happens!!

It really is about how the space is used. I'm moving from a 2 (tiny) bedroom apt. of 750 sq.ft to a 1 bedroom about the same size next week. I was in the same boat as Katef - almost 25% of my total sq. footage was a super-long hallway that was only used as a place for my cats to run laps and deposit cat-fur tumbleweeds. The second bedroom was the perfect place collect junk I was to lazy to either throw away or take down to the basement for long-term storage. It's a nice home for a couple, but my life has changed since I moved in, and the space was in all the wrong places for a single person who loves to cook and have friends over for dinner.

The new apartment seems huge in comparison, it has a galley kitchen with a full sized stove & dishwasher instead of the 24" wide NYC models I've had for the last 11 years. I wanted an eat-in kitchen and I actually got an ity-bity dining room - more than I would have dared to expect in my price range. Yet when my mother sees it (though suburbanite eyes) she'll think I paid way too much for a place she'll be too polite to tell me is really small.

just the word "mcmansion" makes me shudder.

We have a 1600sf loft for two adults, one child and a dog. We use every square foot, and there is plenty of storage. We love it and will raise our son here.

It's funny that most locals see it is a large apartment; but to our families (who live in other parts of the country), it's small and cramped. It's actually about the same size as most of the houses I lived in growing up, and I was one of five children! Years ago, I yearned for a big old house, but I have become a fan of small, well-designed spaces.

In the end, it's all about the floor plan!

Hopefully, the fact that some people still believe smaller is better will filter through to furniture companies. It is getting harder and harder to find furniture that will fit through the door of my 1920's home (and nearly impossible to find anything that can go up the stairs!).

For a while I lived in a 300 sq ft apartment overlooking the Hudson River. Most of my stuff was in storage, and everything in the place--from furniture to dishes to books--was something I loved. It would have felt different without the spectacular view, but I had more than enough room. Then I bought an 1840s inn up in Cornwall NY. It had 16 big rooms, and many friends kept studios in it--a cellist, a sculptor, a photographer, and a shaman who had drumming circles in hers. Other friends just rented out apartments for a year or so. Was that wonderful or not?

I could never nail down my own opinion on big vs small living space, any more than I could pick one season and exclude the others. The one thread throughout would be living as Green as possible.

Love Wende's idea of a thread sharing good home design ideas. Wende, I always wonder if you have your own blog.

My husband, two kids, and I live in 1700 square feet. My house is the smallest amongst my friends. I admit that things need to be purged on a regular basis, but that is true with any house, no matter the size. Toys and clothes and everything else that comes with raising two kids can add up. 1700 square feet is not small, but compared to many homes around here, it is. I like my very low mortgage payment and the financial freedom. I like that I'm able to stay home with my children and work part-time for "fun". I also find it a fun challenge to make the most of my space. There was a time in my life where I felt anxious about the status of my neighborhood and size of my home. I now realize that the house does not make the person.

To me, this thread is the essense of Apartment Therapy; I most enjoy reading about some way to engineer more livability into a home, whether that involves buying something OR throwing something out...

Hey Robyn, I live in a small 1920's house, too. Because of our switchback staircase, we had to pay riggers to hoist a couch and a dresser through the second floor window. The bill for that was $400. I do wonder how this house was furnished back in its day.

One of my design books says people "need" about 300 sq feet each. If so, we're perfect at two adults and two kids in 1200.

But the house is poorly designed. There's a hallway--but it really isn't big enough to be an "entryway." Every house in this climate needs a mudroom. We don't have one, needless to say. Curiously, in a residental architecture sourse I once took, the instructor (an architect) mentioned that most of the floor plans for the houses built in our city of six months of slush and snow actually come from California! How stupid is that? (And of course, they're built by "builders and developers"--not architects.)

The kitchen is large--10x10 but it's difficult to sit all four of us every night for dinner. The passage to the dining room is also inconvenient.

Small isn't always better. It's design. (And I LOVE Sarah Susankah.)

Design is everything to living well in the space you have.

My neighbour, though, has the exact same house we do (except she also has a devloped basement)--and she raised four children in it. Most days I find that amazing and hard to fathom.

About a year ago I moved into a 1BR rental (625 SF) with a large outdoor space. Before that I lived in a 2BR/2BA (950 SF) and was in a SFH with 1,450 - SF before that. My current place is designed better than any of my other homes and is *much* more comfortable.

Some adjustments were required. Smaller furniture helps. Possessions must be curated/edited...much of the *junk* that I acquired to fill the larger places no longer fits. Think about purchases much more carefully. Throw-out old clothes and things that aren't being used.

Some people would say that a small home requires sacrifices. I would say that it allows me not to buy as much (and to buy better quality). 625 SF is plenty of room for one or two, as long as neither is a shopaholic.

My boyfriend and I recently moved from a three bedroom plus (tiny) office unit in a double-shotgun two flat that clocked in at about 1300 sq ft. Most of that square footage was poor design and wasted space. The front door spilled right into the kitchen, which was mammoth (18x15) and completely unsuited for an apartment of any size. The closets were huge, with walk-ins in each bedroom, but there was no entry, pantry (so all of our canned and boxed food took up massive cabinet space) or linen closet, which can be quite a problem in 5x8 bathrooms. We loved the high ceilings, but the thick walls (and low archways) blocked a lot of the natural light from room to room, and the layout not only made the place expensive to heat, it kept most of that heat from the back bedroom.

We're now in a two bedroom conversion full of charm and character - sloped ceilings, transom and picture windows, geometric woodwork, floor-to-ceiling columns of recessed glass block. We've lost over 500 sq ft, a second bathroom we barely used, and cavernous closets we'd filled with things we donated or gave away. There's something about downsizing that sparks creativity - our new entry closet holds coats, screens, an oscillating fan, and storage containers full of out-of-season clothes. We've outfitted the closet in the guest bedroom with desk space and office storage, and it's wonderful to be able to close it off at the end of the day. Our new kitchen is streamlined and size-appropriate for the space (9x10) - big enough for the two of us to function and fit dinette space along one wall. And our cabinets are half-empty, thanks to the shallow broom closet we outfitted with shelves.

Sure, it's an adjustment. And yes, some changes are going to have to be made (our deep sofa had to come in through roof access to a window in our bedroom, and our box spring wouldn't make the tricky hallway turns). But we wouldn't go back for anything. We're two people. Even with a substantial menagerie (two small dogs and two cats), we have all the space we need.

I think that these giant houses are just one of the reasons that families aren't as close as they used to be. I know growing up, my dad had a television, my mom had hers and I had mine, all on opposite sides of the house. We didn't eat together and we didn't have to all sit together in front of the television and watch the same show. I think that if we would have lived in a smaller house with only one television, we would have been a lot closer.

What about the difference that outdoor space makes? I live in around 1300-1400 s.f. and it is plenty of space for one person, but I do feel that a little yard and a nice patio would make it perfect - however, that is not really an option on the 8th floor in NYC! I bet that many people who state they live in 1200 or smaller houses are actually benefiting from having a yard for entertaining or throwing the kids outside to play, etc.