Sounds like a new TLC reality television show...

This apartment is huge! Ok, maybe not for six people... but still, the square footage is impressive. I love the triple bunk bed. I wonder if they have one or two bathrooms, a crucial factor.

wow, Im a little anxious for when then they're all past the age of 13 and start really growing. I am however impressed by the lack of clutter and childhood items.

With all due respect...Although I understand the challenges faced by downsizing from a massive 5,000sq feet...I don't think 1,200 sq feet is THAT small--even for a family of six. But maybe my perception is skewed because growing up, my family of six spent about 5 years in an 800 square foot apartment . And I have friends with similar family sizes that did quite well in under 1,000 sq feet too...

still, it's a beautiful space you have there --you've done a great job with it :)

yeah this seems like a really nice apartment, hardly a trailer!

i agree! tlc should totally do a show about families in NYC who live in crazy small spaces. this is nuts! those poor boys have to share 1 room and the girl gets a room of her own?! lucky her!

"I hope, among the essentials for which the place has room, are condoms."

Patrick - I just sprayed hot tea all over my keyboard...

I can't imagine living in any space with 5 other people ever again, let alone in 1200 sq. ft. There's no personal space to breathe, be alone, focus on something without distraction, or have a hobby like sewing or shipbuilding.

abc123... With all due respect...while I understand you are judging based on the choices of your parents I would prefer that you do it based on your own personal choices. Is 1,200 sq feet for 6 more spacious than your present situation? They are living with significantly less sq feet per person than I am (200 v 400) and I applaud them for doing it so well. Especially after downsizing from a much larger space, it looks as if they did a wonderful job of letting go. It would be easy to hold on to things and try to squeeze them in.

Americans make such a big deal about quantity of living space -- this is probably more room than 95% of the human race gets to enjoy!

I grew up one of seven children in small ranch house -- probably not much more than 1200 sq ft -- we did just fine. And besides, you have all of NY at your feet instead of a little patch of lawn -- get out and enjoy it!

(And, to P(too) -- clearly there was no room for condoms in our house!)

I suggest they get a copy of the book Material World to put things in perspective. This is luxury living compared to the majority of the world.

MBS, I already said above that they've done a great job with he space and that I understand downsizing from 5,000sqft is a challenge. My childhood home-situation was eerily similar to theirs- I'm the only girl with three brothers--they shared a room and I had my own. Only difference was that my brothers were all teenagers and we had 400sq ft less than this family.

I only have one child now, but if I had four children I would NEVER want to live in 800 sq ft ...still, personally, 1200 wouldn't seem that bad to me (again, maybe this is because I've lived with less space). The living room above looks pretty spacious. I agree with what kimg924 said though about not having space for hobbies etc...

I also commend the couple for being able to edit down their belongings...but I still stand by my opinion. Feel free to disagree if you'd like --that's fine :)

I love that they turned the dining room in the girl's bedroom.

I also love that they didn't immediately go out to the burbs because one day all those kids would be teenagers. I kept thinking I wanted to buy a large house with room for our teenagers to hang out. My husband then reminded me that our daughter won't be a teenager for 11 more years and that her brother and sister do not exist yet. There was no need to buy more than we needed in the next 5 years.

Enjoy city living!

Must go with leadingedge here. partly because it is a brilliant book and partly because it is an appropriate reality check for all post-burb people in the US (among other places). Cleaning out the suburbs serves many purposes. More to do in cities... more served in less space... transport costs (fuel and total drain) less per person... the list is endless.

The space is not all that small (even for 6) in Manhattan, but still well planned and glad to see you and your family are ahead of the curve on this. Well done ;)

matt manfredini - If you click to her blog you'll find the children's ages are 17, 14, 10, and 6. So I think they're doing just fine!

I have my own NYC "trailer" story. A few years back I was watching a news piece about post-Katrina trailers and their problems, and the piece of information they kept repeating to highlight how horrible they were is that they were only 10-feet wide. (I'm not trying to say those living conditions weren't horrible, but this was the end-all, be-all case in point. The horror: only 10-feet wide!) Well, I got out my measuring tape and our Upper West Side bedroom was only 10-feet wide, and the rest of the apartment was only 8-feet wide and came in at a grand total of 450 sq ft - including the closets. Did I mention I happily lived there for a decade, and my husband was there for 5 additional years before I moved in?

PS for the couple of this story - some NYC parents in this situation give the master bedroom over to the kids, just because it is a more practical use of space.

home body, thats a great idea-- giving the master bedroom to the kids sharing a room

Agreed. Why not let the 3 kids have the master bedroom.

"Americans make such a big deal about quantity of living space"

Indeed - and more often than not, that "living space" is more or less a warehouse for the junk that they tote home from the local big-box stores...
...if you really looked at the space that's used on a daily basis, you'd see that many families actually live in less than 1/2 the space of their homes.

I think this is pretty cool and applaud their efforts. Instead of focusing on their lifestyle choice (because honestly, not really my place), I will give them thumbs up for some smart design choices. Like the dining room chairs-clear acrylic was an excellent choice and the storage island in the kitchen. Normally they don't look this good. But the stacks of white dishes looks great.

Thanks for all the comments here. It's been fun reading them. We love being in the city and right now are happy we gave up suburbia for it.

By the way, our master bedroom is the same size as our boys room.
And we have 2 bathrooms. We're a little crazy to cram all 6 of us into the space but not crazy enough to only have one bathroom:-)

I think it's great that the kid clutter is down. Must mean they limit their possessions, which is a good lesson to teach children. What I would like to see, though, is a color other than beige in that living room. Beige carpet AND beige couch! Yikes! Paired with white walls the place becomes quite lifeless. Maybe the kids could teach the parents a lesson here.

These kids will most likely be better adjusted and more well rounded then kids living in the big McMansion in the burbs each having their own "space" filled with Big Box store toys and crap and unsupervised. One does not need a lot of room for sleeping, eating and reading. There are many families that live in apartments like this in Manhattan.

The apartment is lovely and I am impressed there is not a lot of stuff with this many kids.

I agree with home body - I think it would have been nice to let the three children have the master bedroom. I bet the girl feels lucky having her own room even if it was the dining room originally. I read the article about the super supposedly putting up doors for her room - but why not just do curtains for now? I can't help wondering that.

I do have to say thanks AT for actually showing us a space this big that has to be shared by six people - we've seen spaces on here this big only a couple is sharing.

i bet for what they're paying to live on the upper east side they could've gotten a whole house in the outerboroughs.

Just 'cause they could afford a larger house outside or on the outer edges of the city doesn't mean they should automatically move. Some people prefer city life. People here are lamenting the small amount of space each person has, but if you live in a big city, you don't stay shut up in your house all the time.

This doesn't seem that small to me. In fact, it seems to be a perfectly reasonable amount of space. However, I grew up with three other people in a two-bedroom, one-bath house, so two bathrooms for six people seems fine.

I'm sure it's a more difficult adjustment if you're used to living in a much larger space, but look at it this way -- there's less to clean, right?

Do the kids have grandparents? Maybe you could send 2 of them there are rotate them every 6 months.~:o)

"Just 'cause they could afford a larger house outside or on the outer edges of the city doesn't mean they should automatically move."

Indeed -
Not everyone wants to commute 2 hours a day to their jobs in the city.
Not everyone wants to maintain a lawn or a house or pay real-estate taxes - or even be tied to a mortgage.
Not everyone wants to own a minivan or an SUV to haul their brood to soccer practice and the mall and another car to drive to work.
The schools in the 'burbs aren't always better and the neighborhoods aren't always safer.

I applaud this family for living their life as they see fit and imposing a smaller footprint on the planet.

Lucky Lilly! What a view & what a sweet little room she has. I love the clear dining chairs, and everything else in the apartment seems right in its place.

Proof that I lived in NY way too long: that apartment looks spacious to me.

I grew up with five other people in about 1500 square feet, plus a German Shepherd, a budgie, and a cat. And one bathroom. Let me tell you, with three teenage girls in the house, I now understand why my Dad got up so early in the morning to shower and then had a nap on the couch until breakfast.

These are lovely pictures and I am incredibly jealous of those big windows and the views of the river. Lily's bedroom is adorable and the master is beautiful. Anyone wondering why the family chooses not to live in the burbs should read her blog entry about her neighbourhood--there's a fruit and veggie stand outside their front door, and a Starbucks across the street. I can't imagine anything more perfect. :)

I congratulate you on a great job finding an apt that gives everyone in the family a bit of personal space. While the adjustment from a house can be rough, you are incredibly lucky: The majority of housing in NYC, is incredibly smaller than 1200 Sq ft.

I actually know of three employed, well-educated adults that share less than 400 sq ft. in Manhattan.

You are lucky you found such a good fit.

i read the blog and it's great - funny, interesting, and i'm looking forward to following it in the future.

it's so fascinating how architecture and design can make a difference. i'm a family of 3 in about 1000 sq ft - but with teeny tiny closets. however we all play hockey so i often find my living room full of hockey bags if we want our car in the garage (which our neighbors prefer!) if you have nooks and crannies for stuff and amenities nearby then you really don't need a lot of space - just a nice big couch for everyone to veg on all together!

i find it amusing that everyone says Americans are so spoiled with space. In my experience pakistani and Indian homes are a lot larger than ours. i think she's done a great job- and i'm sure the master bedroom is a welcome retreat from the kids.

"In my experience pakistani and Indian homes are a lot larger than ours."

Only the upper castes have homes that are even comparable to American homes in Pakistan and India - and they're most often inhabited by large multigenerational families.
...the vast majority of citizens in those countries live in far smaller homes if not outright slums and squalor.

...the vast majority of citizens in those countries live in far smaller homes if not outright slums and squalor.

and with no internet so they cannot comment on this,

I had to comment because I too lived in Manhattan as the only girl with three brothers in an apartment that looked very similar to the layout you now have! Since that's how I lived in my formative years, that's exactly the size that seems perfect to me. Plus most of my friends lived in similar sized apartments.

At first I roomed with my youngest brother but then the boys all went together and I had my own room. It's true that we eventually moved to the "country" because of my brothers (one of them now lives in Colorado), but I came back to the city as soon as I could.

I once hid behind the couch to see how long it would take for anyone to notice I was missing - I was there from lunchtime until dinner before they noticed - and I post that incident just to show that we were not on top of each other, and a person could in fact get "lost."

Welcome to New York! What you lose in space you gain in diversity and Culture. One question is that a triple bunk bed in the boys room? Where did you find it I never knew things like that existed. Smart choice.

Wow. All these posts with people who are thrilled that the children don't have any toys. :(

Personally, I hate my kids' clutter. But they use all of their stuff and it's important to them.

Great Job!!

I live in a three bedroom house (mid-terrace, I think Americans call it a row house). It is expected to house 2 to 5 people. It's between 900 and 1000 sq ft. That's the reality in cities in most developed countries with a similar standard of living !

This home is lovely by the way, and with three in one bedroom... they'll really miss being together as each one leaves for college. Children are often put together untill old enough to have their own room (teens). This can be because houses are being renovated over time and so on... Kids love it being together like that.

One friend of mine with a large house had all three daughters in the same room as children, whe went to split them up and give the oldest daughter her own room (she was 13 yrs old), after two nights they all told their Mum they misseed each other and the chat's they had before bedtime everynight so they moved back in together and stayed that way right through high school.

I'm sorry I missed this post! I have to say I'm disgusted by the stupid burb-bashing of so many posters. The idea that living in the burbs equals having a mcmansion and going to malls and big box stores is absurd--NYC's suburbs are diverse and varied and offer a tremendous array of options. There are many areas with great natural beauty, amazing nature preserves and parkland, gorgeous old and modern houses, wonderful schools, and plenty of culture--all 45 minutes from Manhattan and a lovely daily train ride down the river. You can check out my blog if you want to learn about northern Westchester--but at the least don't make stupid blanket statements about the suburbs.

I grew up in Brooklyn, but my family of 4 had the luxury of a 4 story brownstone--more space than I have now in my farmhouse. As for this family living in 1,200 square feet, I personally couldn't do it--but kudos to them!

I know Rod and Michelle and their family. This move was not an easy feat for their family. They considered the suburbs but Rod works in the city and the commute was not worth the time away from the family. I have only one child and I did not envy what they had to go through to find an apartment and move their family to the city. I greatly respect them for making the best out of a challenging situation. In NY you can only find a place to live about a week or two before you need to move in. Imagine selling your home and not knowing where you and your family will live. They literally put their stuff on a moving truck and had it wait until they had their apartment lined up to send for their stuff. The ambiguity of the situation is enough to drive anyone crazy and yet they handled it with as much grace as possible. I am proud of them. Congratulations on your beautiful new apartment. Hope to see you guys soon.

Sorry...no sympathies here. We are a family of 5: three kids ages 5/2/2 and a small dog and our 2.5 BR/1Bath apartment living in approximately 750 square feet.

We could have our own "reality" tv program but there'd be no room for the cameras and crew.

Lovely, but we have about half the space and 4 people. This is not all that small for New York City in my opinion. And we have plenty of toys, but I don't think more is better in the case of toys. Private, playable outdoor space is a HUGE desire for me, but more floor room, eh, for what exactly?

I grew up in a similar sized home as the youngest of 6 kids. Eight people in a very small 4 bedroom 2 bath house. I shared my 10'x10' bedroom with 2 of my sisters, and our tiny bathroom with my 5 siblings. I never knew that this was anything abnormal, and as an adult, I really do appreciate my childhood experience.

I now live in 1000 sq ft duplex with my partner and 2 cats... I don't think I'd ever want anything bigger.

this is really boring. all other homes featured on this site have had great design or great color or something unique. not sure why this home was chosen to be on this site.

I agree with Coletta. Not much interesting here. Maybe its the fact that 6 people live here makes it somehow unusual?. In my opinion 6 people in any space would feel like too much....I don't get it.

Hmmm... not sure why there are so many people who need to take this family down a notch. They are doing a very nice job and I don't sense they are broadcasting how much they are suffering in this space. Just showing off a pretty space that happens to be smaller than usual by American standards.

I also have a family of 6, age ranges from 13 to 2, and we also live in 1,200 square feet. I also run my marketing business from home, so about 200 sf are dedicated to the business. Our secret solution: we use Japanese futons that fold away during day so that living room is public during day, private at night. We also converted dining area to do double-duty as an extra sitting room. We use lots of furniture on casters and folding, multi-purpose tables. In all, it works really well and we are able to live very frugally in a town with great schools (otherwise we could not afford the area).

Great to see AT doing a story on a larger family in a small space. Keep these stories coming!!

"(I laughed at the pro-burbia comment boasting about the great nature preserves in the suburbs. Don't you mean the small swaths of nature that haven't been paved over with parking lots and malls?)"

Thanks! That is indeed exactly what I meant when I refered to "stupid blanket statements about the suburbs." As it happens, my town--which is roughly the size of Queens--is well over 50% open space. We've got numerous parks and nature preserves, and miles and miles and miles of hiking trails. My family hikes pretty much every weekend. In addition to arts camp and sailing camp, my son goes to the nature camp at one of the preserves and knows a tremendous amount about the natural world and why it is important to maintain and protect. With a number of working farms, numerous organic/local food stores and farmer's markets, and a huge number of personal gardens, the area is also a hotbed of the locovore movement. We get our dairy, meat, and poultry from the family-owned farm down the road--and we bought many of our Xmas presents from the alpaca farm across the street and from the local craftsman who makes bowls out of reclaimed local wood. The area is home to numerous ex-city residents who want to live surrounded by natural beauty and to raise their children with an appreciation of nature. You should come visit--a little fresh air would do you good.

I think your place looks well put together and shows off a lot of good design choices. I love the dining room chairs and how you set up the kids' rooms. The trundle bunk is smart. My four brothers could've used something like that (I had my own room because I was the only girl ;) ).

You made a huge adjustment, and I totally respect and admire that. You've got the physical space covered, and I hope your family is adjusting mentally and emotionally, too. I think NYC would kick my beach-raised, burb-livin' butt if I had to live there--not talking about space, either; my boyfriend and I just left our beloved 490-sq ft condo--here in Phoenix, that's considered a closet. My friends were appalled that we managed to share that space so happily for almost 3 years. When we moved into a place three times the size last month, I joked about dividing the bigger common rooms into apartments and subletting them. I'm loving the space all for ourselves, instead, though.

That apartment is beautiful!!!!! The light coming in from the window makes up for the smaller quarters- and the floor- beautiful. Congratulations on editing and great use of storage. It's great for 3 kids to share a room- it may lead to a few too many arguments but it also means everyone is encouraged to interact with each other and make compromises- that's what family is about. I also don't agree with giving over the large bedroom to the kids just yet- you deserve the space for peace of mind and you make the moolah so you get the space. If the kids start complaining you can always switch later but don't give up that mirrored side table- it's beautiful!
I shared all my life with my 2 sisters in what was supposed to be the dining room of my parent's apartment in the Bronx. Today I live in 400 square feet with my baby daughter and my husband- we gave her the room and got a murphy bed for the living room. We could have skipped the crib because she prefers to sleep next to us in her port-a-crib or in the baby swing. I would LOOOOVE to have a separate space for our bikes and the baby carriage but you can't have it all....

djs- I made a comment about the burbs and I was grossly generalizing. You are right not all burbs are created equal and I am sorry if I sounded lame. I am purely getting my material from the burbs outside of the area I live in (and not all are bad) and maybe from Desperate Housewives of Orange County- barf!

Just a really boring post. And that furry sofa makes me itch.
Not hip. Not edgy. Just, um I guess, some NYC "small" space thing for a big family. Can someone re-do this space for them and then post something INTERESTING?

Having a hip and edgy place is probably not a priority for a family of six. Also, not everything has to be avant garde or trendy to be interesting. In fact, hip and edgy can be really boring too.

I think it looks fantastic, and kudos to them for making it work.

We are a family of 5 in the process of moving out of the 1100 sqft house we have lived in for the past 8 years and into a 2200 sqft house (real estate is cheap in our city).

In our new house, we will gain a dining room, a mudroom, a sleeping porch and a sunroom and all of the other rooms are bigger than what we currently have. Since I don't anticipate anyone spending much time in the mudroom, and the sunroom is doorless and right off the living room, I doubt this move will mean that we spend less time together as a family. In fact, our two youngest will still be sharing a bedroom.

I'm mainly excited that we will be able to have people over again. The dining room means we will not have to have our table pushed against the wall and can seat more people around it. The bigger living room means we can fit more than a loveseat and two chairs--maybe even a pullout couch (our old living room wasn't wide enough). And the sleeping porch will serve nicely as a guest room. So yeah, I suppose we could fill it with junk from the big box stores as someone suggested, but I'd prefer to fill it with family and friends.

Lorisf--I just saw your mea culpa about burb-generalizing. I really do appreciate the comment! As a born-and-bred city boy I totally understand the anti-burb stance--but, as I said, the burbs vary dramatically and we really shouldn't make blanket statements. Thanks for responding!

1,200 sq feet sounds just right for a family of six (we are four in 800 sq feet). Solop, I think people feel the need to take this family down a little because they sound like brats making a big deal about what a hardship it is to live in SUCH a SMALL space when it really isn't small at all.

Kudos to the family (since they are transplants) for moving to THE city. Soon they'll realize, this is far from an impressive feat. Everybody in NYC makes due with a small footprint. They're just a regular family with regular taste . Asethecially uninspiring.

For families that are used to living in a much bigger house, it is a small space. And it is commendable that they are willing to forgo a level of spaciousness and personal privacy for a different lifestyle (imo, a more interesting one). I know this personally as my bedroom in my parent's home in the suburbs is the same size as my entire studio in the city. For myself, it was horrible to wake up every morning and see the kitchen, bathroom door, and living room in one glance. Regardless of what you think of my "hardship", the reality is that because of my life and experiences, I found it strange and difficult to live in one room. It took adjustment but the ability to walk rather than drive everywhere made it worthwhile to me.

Just because you can do better and stick 10 people in similar amount of space doesn't mean you should put down other people for "merely" having only 6 people. I think it horrible that people are trying their best to change their lifestyles and people call them brats for thinking it is hard. It is hard to change.

I am amazed at how inflexible some of the readers of this blog are. I would think that people interested in decor of small spaces (which tends to be the focus of *apartment* therapy) would be more open and accepting in their opinions, when instead we get the extremes of both suburb-bashing and "your space is still too large!".

I grew up in the Soviet Union in a household of 6 that was *2* separate families, one bathroom, 800 sf. Did I like it? No. No privacy and no personal space. Did it make me adjusted to living with less and in small spaces? Yes. Would I want to live like that again? Probably not. Would I criticize someone else for making a similar choice? No, because it all comes down to personal preferences and economic reality.

I am a family of 2 and 2 pets in 350 sf, and many of my friends don't understand my choices precisely because they are spoiled by their suburban upbringing, whereas to me right now the family of 6 in 1200 feels rather palatial.

I love your couch......Where did you get it?

Hi everyone. I appreciate all the comments posted here on our new apartment. I know not everyone has the same tastes or thoughts as we do on design or small spaces and that's alright. We each have a right to our own opinions.

The transition to a smaller space has been tough on us. We are not bratty or winey about it. We're just stating the facts. A family that is used to 5000 square feet and goes to 1200 is going to have some adjusting to do.

A few of you asked questions and I'll answer them here:

Couch is from Crate and Barrel. It is the Axis sectional and is microfiber.

The wicker chest in my daughter's room is an antique wicker.

The rug is from ABC Home store in NYC. It's a shag and sheds like crazy, but I still like it.

There is no toy storage except for in my daughter's room. Her toys are in her closet. The boys are older and their toys are their computers and video games. Each boy has his own desk area in their room.

The clear chairs in our dining room are from Ikea. I've also seen similar ones at CB2.

Hipsters in Billysburg and young people in Harlem do it all the time. Why not showcase them?

My husband and I have two children (ages 2 and 4) and are expecting our third this summer. We live in downtown Toronto (which is not quite as cramped and expensive as NYC, but nearly there) in an apartment which is reasonably spacious by city standards. We haven't measured, but I think it is more than 1000 square feet. People keep asking us if we are going to buy a house (which would mean moving out of the core of the city and possibly commuting an hour or more a day) now that we are expecting our third child. They asked when I was pregnant with the first, and then again when I was pregnant with the second. We got a lot of comments about what kids "must" have, i.e. a backyard, a basement, a playroom.
When my first child was born we lived in a much smaller apartment and I almost regret having gone bigger because we just filled the extra space with extra stuff.
I can imagine that this family must have lived very differently in a large house and I'm impressed that they were able to cut back to the point where it's possible for them to live comfortably in an apartment with 6 people, even a relatively spacious one like this.

Hi, guys! I LOVE this site and i just realized who you are:) So cool to see your place on here. Your apt. may be small but I love how bright it is. I hope you're enjoying NYC. I'm sure it's a huge change but I hope you're all enjoying it. Take care!

Where's the photo of your gorgeous view???

I like your house call. I think you have great style. I would have to second the suggestion to move the boys to your room. I kind of worry about whoever is sleeping underneath the bunk bed. I think you said it was the same size but it really doesn't look it?? Your daughter's room is adorable. I can't imagine the downsizing and lifestyle adjustment. Must have been a tough transition.

Hi everyone. I've done a bit more to the apartment and updated it on my blog if you want to take a look.
http://www.mysixinthecity.blogspot.com