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The Under 800 Square Feet Club
House Tour Roundup

One thing we've learned after a few years of doing house tours is recognizing the definition of a small space varies widely upon geographic location. In Los Angeles, "small" would be considered spacious in Japan, while downright cozy (or cramped) to a Texan. But we thought we'd narrow it down and share our favorite tours that range anywhere from a modest 800 sq. ft. down to a downright tiny 200 sq. ft. of living and work space…

 
 

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Comments (18)

i live in oklahoma and 800 sq.ft. here is pretty much considered a closet. my first house was 850 sqft, now my family just moved into a 1400sqft home. it feels like a mansion to me, but all of my friends homes are atleast 2500 sqft. (they are all in their 20's) I always have to remind myself that if i lived on one of the coast, i would have to live in tinsy winsy, one room studio. so i am very appreciative of my humble home.

posted by alicia13z on October 22nd 2009 at 2:56pm
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I totally get what you mean alicia -- I live in Dallas and have a 620 ft apartment in a safe well cared for complex with lots of amenities -- I'd never be able to afford that on either coast. I have friends in Seattle and New York who have apartments the exact same size as me who pay two and three times what I do in rent. Makes me quite happy with my little place.

posted by mlleErica on October 22nd 2009 at 3:28pm
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I live in a 590 sq.ft. studio in Ohio, and it's considered pretty spacious for a studio in my area.

posted by SonicPersephone on October 22nd 2009 at 3:30pm
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Thank you for this, AT! I own a 720 s.f. house and always laugh when I see or hear people talk about their "small" 1000 s.f. homes.

posted by MoxyThunder on October 22nd 2009 at 3:50pm
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Moxy- I'm in 583, I'd kill to live in a palatial 720!

posted by Ana on October 22nd 2009 at 4:29pm
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I love my 550 square foot junior one bedroom in Chicago. It really makes you edit what you have.

http://smallspaceresources.blogspot.com

posted by ldmortensen on October 22nd 2009 at 5:45pm
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I live in a 600Sq Ft 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle, but I'm lucky my rent is cheap for the area and it's in a nice, but busy and high dense neighborhood close to downtown and it also has a view and a balcony and I consider myself lucky but I've been in that unit for almost 6 years now and rent only went up $25 in that time.

*knocks on wood*

posted by ciddyguy on October 22nd 2009 at 6:48pm
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I live in an 800 square foot one bedroom in Pittsburgh, and it is more than enough room for me and my cat. I am a student, and considering most of my friends pack two or three people in a space this size, I feel very lucky to have a space this big all to myself!

posted by lasnap on October 22nd 2009 at 9:04pm
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I love the creativity and resourcefulness that comes with living and enjoying a 'smaller' space. So many of my friends and family say I need a bigger home but I fail to see why. The average family in the 50's lived in a home 900 square feet, all with mom, dad, 2.5 kids and Fido. Without complaint! I don't think Americans have figured out as well as others how to work with what they've got, they'd rather ditch it and go bigger.

posted by dallas10086 on October 22nd 2009 at 9:45pm
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I'm in a 480 sq ft house (yes, freestanding house) with 7 ft ceilings. I also laugh at 100 sq ft homes described as "small."

posted by michelle123 on October 23rd 2009 at 8:14am
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I live in about 500sq ft and it's fine for me and my bf. What I'd really love is a yard (live in a bungalow right now). I'd love to one day buy the tiniest little house with an enormous yard so I can garden and farm for myself. That's really my dream.

posted by graciela on October 23rd 2009 at 1:44pm
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I live in a 585 sqft cottage with my boyfriend and two cats in Boise, ID. Most of the older homes in our city are considerably modest (800-1000sqft) and located towards the city center. As you get further from the city center, homes get bigger, newer, cheaper, and - in my oppinion - not nearly as cool. Same with most cities I suppose.

Either way, my house is tiny comparatively for this area.

posted by amazonikon on October 23rd 2009 at 4:09pm
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I love my 450 SF apartment in the North End of Boston! It feels warm and cozy and perfect for me and my kitty. The really funny thing is that it is technically a two-bedroom apartment! For me, it's a one-bed with a library!

posted by glitchgirl on October 25th 2009 at 12:30pm
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Anyone else see the Solar Decathlon this year? I read those are 800 sf houses, and some of them are so nice that I'd move in tomorrow if I could.

posted by Bee T. on October 25th 2009 at 2:30pm
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I want to see more posts like this one. Good design is good design, but I like apartment therapy best when we focus on good design for small spaces.

I live in Texas, in a 900 sq ft house. I love the challenge of never being off-guard against clutter. My only closet being built into the bathroom, though, that's a different sort of challenge.

posted by EconGrrl on October 25th 2009 at 3:45pm
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Does anyone have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house under 800 ft? I do and I'd love to share ideas. I think grouping similar layouts with square footage would help a lot. 800 ft for a 1 bedroom is different than the same square footage in a studio, or my little 2-story, 2 bed, soon to be 1.5 bath rowhouse (720 ft2 or 65 km2).

posted by kaaachang on October 25th 2009 at 3:58pm
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Hey, be nice. I have a 1k ft2 two-bedroom one-bath home in Chicago (actually Evanston) and it can most certainly be defined as small. I house a family of four! The number of inhabitants could be a modifier to what goes by "small".

posted by frigoa on October 26th 2009 at 3:04pm
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My partner, 2 cats, and I recently moved out of our 594 sq ft loft into an 1100 sq ft duplex. Man, my new place is like a freakin castle.

posted by megnez on October 27th 2009 at 8:05pm
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