apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

ahhh hmmmn
how do you take a photo of such a small space
when your back is up against the wall?

OMG... Feeling the pressure...

YIKES.

Now this is one contest I can actually enter! Of course, one person's "small" may be another person's "adequate". How small is small?

Yeah, what qualifies as small? Under 1000 sq. ft.? Under 500? Studio? One bedroom or less?

500 is big for one person! I think it should be how the place is used, with bonuses for being smaller than average or having a couple or family living there...

There's probably no way to quantify this into criteria for the contest, but I think it's far more interesting to see people's design solutions that are based on creative problem-solving and frugal ingenuity, rather than simply relying on truckloads of cash. If given $200 grand and set loose in New York, couldn't ANYONE come up with something impressive?

Uh, have you seen the interiors in some of those McMansions in the suburbs? They're not always great, even on a huge budget. Of course, anyone reading this could come up with a beautiful interior for 200k, easy... right?

Max,

What a Pandora's Box! I was interested in this site because you lived in a studio and used ingenuity to provide more usable space - if I had a lot of money, I could do wonders - I don't and feel that this contest should be about great ideas on a small budget - if we are concerned with fairness.

I want to see everything--from luxurious to frugal-but-ingenious. why get all in a twist about the rules? exactly what difference will it make in anyone's life if they win the smallest coolest apartment contest? just have some fun!

Small is certainly relative especially when you compare NYC apartment living to other parts of the country. My 350 sq ft. studio apt. in Brooklyn is feeling awfully small lately although I know there are many in NYC who have even smaller apartments. I always laugh when I see these books or magazines about decorating for "small" spaces which are larger than the "smallish" 850 sq ft. two bedroom home my parents had. And Mary is right. It makes a difference how many people or children are sharing the space.

The only design show I've seen that deals with honestly small spaces is Christopher Lowell's. I usually don't like his style, but I do like the solutions that he comes up with, and I like that he works with breakfast nooks rather than kitchens the size of my studio. He did a book on small spaces that used a double-wide trailer. I wish someone who was less decorator-ly would try and do the same. Surely not every living room in America has space for a sofa with two chairs and a loveseat...

Small is relative another way.

There's a huge difference between how a 6'8" man feels in a space and how a 4'9" woman does.

I've visited a place that made me feel like the third shoe in the shoebox that suited the owner and her cat quite well.

Speaking of apartment size, you might get a laugh out of this...

When I was moving to NY last Summer I was looking through online apartment ads. One headline said "Perfect Apartment for Shorter People!" I was curious about what that could possibly mean (landlord hates tall people?) so I read the entire ad, which gushes about the place's features, then at the end the ad says "low ceiling height -- around 5 feet high." LOL That sounds like a crawl space! I was wondering if that's even legal...

Wow, 5' tall ceiling? My friend lives in an adorable space in Brooklyn that my 6'4" husband could never live in, but it works for my friend. It's under the eaves, and the wall/ceiling height at the edges is my height--5'6"

Something really tickles me about the "Pandora's box" reference in the context of New York apartments, and this contest. So apt (whoops-- pun intended!), so poetic and rich with connection/association.

Sadly, same goes for Fred's "shoebox" reference!!

Rob--
Hilarious! Have you seen the Geico insurance commercial that parodies reality TV shows? I think it's called "Tiny House" and it borders on humor brilliance.

Fiona--
There you go again, flaunting that tall, strapping husband of yours! ;)

Patrick (the other one)-

Tee hee. I just used him as an example because the apartment made us all speculate that NYC becomes more comfortable if you are short and thin. (Maybe why people in NYC tend to be sticks, and seem--to me, at least--to be shorter in general. Except for those darn models, of course.) Trust me, there are trade-offs. I do like tall men, but he does take up a lot of space! It also limits your furniture choices more than you'd think.

Fiona, funny you mentioned that about shorter people in NYC. I grew up in Minnesota which at the time had a lot of very tall people generally from Norwegian, Swedish or German ethnic heritage. When I first moved my 5'3" to NYC I almost felt normal size! I thought it was the more common Italian and Hispanic heritage that tended to be shorter than where I grew up, although there are always exceptions. It seems to be shifting taller here as well. Its harder to find smaller size shoes and slacks than when I first moved out here. Still want a bigger apt. though.

I wonder if people who chose to live in Manhattan are more comfortable with the smaller spaces because we're actually thinner than most Americans. I have a tiny bathroom where everything fits only because the toilet almost touches the [shortened] bathtub, and the sink hovers over part of the tub. It certainly wouldn't hold that "Big John" from earlier in the week. I think it's tiny, but if I were twice the girl I am now, I'd really feel claustrophobic in there.

New Yorkers are thinner because all our money goes to rent.

I can sympathize with the hovering sink, too. But the fact that the sink hovers above your lap when you are sitting ... well, there ... provides a nice cool strip of porcelain when you need that extra comfort on a Saturday morning.

Ah, how apropos. We just found our ideal, gorgeous, quintessential new york aparment - its just so beautiful, it is also so very tiny. We are in need of lots of advice of how to make the kitchen work - has a 1/2 fridge and convection oven but no drawers for silverware, etc - any recommendations for decent kitchen islands that have drawers AND shelves? we have the space to put a nice island and possibly some shelving above, though that I think we'll decide on that portion later. I spent all night rearranging furniture in my head - we're moving from a 3 story 2 bedroom townhome to a small one bedroom home in the village.

bonnie -
Check out chefscatalog.com for islands with drawers and shelves - i bought one from them for my old apartment. it was about 42" wide by 24" deep with one drawer that spanned the entire width of the island with four cabinets below. mine had a wood top but i think they're available with stainless as well. it also had a knife slot on one side and a towel rod on the other. If i recall, some models were also available with an extension to make it into a dining bar.

Thanks so much - those are beautiful - also found a portable burner (the apartment has no stove top). This is a great online store.

You guys don't know about small abodes. my co-blogger Paul is the owner and operator of Mote1 Deluxe Mote1, whose ceilings are approximately 4' high. (Alas, it is closing soon, and being replaced with Gallery Deluxe Gallery, the world's smallest art gallery.)

How is that no one else has mentioned those kick-ass haikus yet?

Love the Haiku. .

Inspiration! In todays NYT there is an article about an extremely well designed small space. There are great pictures at www.messanaororke.com. Of course this space is professionally designed. A few points off for that.

I knew I should have posted here instead

From the other thread
BTW, speaking of studio apts, and I guess I could have stuck this in the smallest coolest apt thread, but I thought that the studio apt in today's house and home was a brilliant way to use storage to divide a studio without putting up a wall that blocks light.
Then after trawling through the landliving.com blog that was linked to again today I found a similar idea here
www.abito.co.uk

If I had a studio I would aim to do one of the above.

Thanks for the link to the architects site. I'll have to check it out at home - flash is disabled on our corp network.

I wonder if there is a legal requirement for how small a space a person can legally inhabit.

My college dorm could have really been a contender.

Photo tip

Cannon S series cameras (a very popular series) have a built in panorama mode. this will allow you to "stich" together photos you have taken of your places.

There may also by a freeware app that does this as well (I'll try to track and provide a link if any one is intrested) Just just try to keep a 15% overlap in each photo. Also try to turn the camera in relation to the lens, not the camera body to avoid warping.

Photoshop does all this and more.

Perhaps a post on photo tips by AT?
To level the playing feild. (there were a few bad photos in the bedroom contest)

I know that there's a legal limit on how small a prisoner's cell can be, but I don't think there's an official "room" size. My friend was looking for a room in Cambridge, MA, and he saw this place where they'd literally built a wall around a single bed in the living room and were trying to rent it. His "trying to find a place" story was worse than most people's in New York...

me of me, I was going to recommend the canon s70 because it has a wide angle lens but then I saw that these entries are going to be professionally photographed.

Good hint on the panorama mode though. I have not tried that yet - mainly because I learnt to use the thing without reading the manual. Maybe I will have to break it out.

I looove the apartment featured in the Times. Thanks for the link to the architects' site... That bathroom, with the glass and the curtain, is brilliant.

~J pup (if you were to be a rapper that would be your name)

You have to 1st become a finalist before you can get your place professionally photographed.

Every now and then I will go about the place taking random photos..save and forget (this is the sort of thing a terabyte of space allows you to do) ...in about 3-6 months I repeat. What ends up happening is I get a evolution of the place, sort of a photo essay. I can see what works what doesn’t mix match etc.

Panorama is great...This is the only one I had on my laptop http insert colon //photos6.flickr.com/8044089_157d401fc5_o.jpg

however you get the idea.

Also the same thery can be applied towards 3-d walkthroughs.

I'm not very good at reading all the words lately. Thanks for correcting my correction.

CR wrote, "What a Pandora's Box!"

Considering the topic, it's more like a Pandora's Pillbox!

I'm sorry if this is a really stupid question, but how does one submit an entry? What email address should I use?

thank you.

My old apartment was less than 300 square feet; my new one is more than 500. I had that that other place configured in the very most space efficient way that it probably had ever been in its life, or ever will be.

The new place is looking fantastic, but since it's about twice as big, and since I'm only 5'8", it's not feeling small enough to win anything, even though it's still a studio.

But, I'll enjoy seeing what other people come up with.

Bonnie -- I'm sure there will be a big announcement sometime later in the month, just like with the kitchens and bedrooms contest...

How sad that we New Yorkers wonder if 500 square feet counts as "small enough". Yikes. But Curtis, you should enter anyhow!

An excellent article about - ahem - 'efficient' living in the Feb/March 2004 issue of Budget Living magazine. Back issues are ironically spendy, but maybe you have a friend who subscribes and keeps towers of them in their small space...

Main Squeeze
Can a 375-square-foot studio possibly hold all of a thirtysomething woman's worldly possessions? How about her most prized one - a supersized sense of style? With the right affordable approach, one room does fit all. By Christene Barberich

I heard a someone somwhere say once upon a time "so I got hip to living in NY" and he was refering to his storage space.

There are wardrobe services that will take your off season clothes and delivery indavidual peaces on demand, pressed/dry cleaned.

I'm just assuming those who live long term in a sub 500sq ft space utilize some sort of storage facility.

Well, I've lived here [a 12x24x10.5h studio with a 4x5 bathroom and one enormous 6x6 closet] for two years out of the nine that I've lived in Manhattan, and I don't have a storage space. Mostly I just keep things put away and try to avoid having things that I don't need or use. My space is spacious because I don't need that much stuff, especially if having that much stuff means that I can't use and enjoy the space I have. The only time I ever had a storage space, I never bothered to grab things from it and eventually emptied it out. What could one person possibly have that wouldn't fit into my apartment? An enormous fountain? A medieval bed? Just because everything you have *now* doesn't fit in a studio, doesn't mean that you couldn't fit everything in one room if you wanted to.

Maybe we should have full disclosure of all rental storage spaces as part of the contest...

I can't belive people are being so anal about the rules. you you obviously shouldn't be entering the competition as you have no concept of cool, let it go and just take the bloody photo!
Great idea for a competition by the way! it would intresting to see from what perspective people take the photo and if that effects the outcome of the competition.
peace

momi strikes again! A "sub" 500 sq foot place?
What the hell is that supposed to mean? Guess what? Many of us live in spaces that size and perhaps even smaller. And we survive quite nicely without the services you mention.

If you want constant verbal jousting, why not find another place to do it?

My studio is 250 square feet, basically one square room. I'm always looking for ways to make it faboo but it's frustrating when you have NO decorating acumen. I don't use a storage facility, nor do I have a closet. I purchased a lightweight, unfinished pine wardrobe that holds a lot of stuff. And the stuff it couldn't hold, I decided I didn't need and donated it.

One thing about living in a small apartment--you learn how to live simply and streamline..d..ly.

Is it possible that me of me inc meant, by "sub 500 sq ft", just "less than 500 sq ft"?

Good day Am associate of professional printers in
london England
it's sending their delegates to country on a
studiesbeing
an agent i was told to check an availability of
your
apartment for rent from april 20th to may
10,socalculate
the total amount and get back to me immediately if
will
be available.

Good day Am associate of professional printers in london Englandit's sending their delegates to country on a studiesbeing an agent i was told to check an availability of your apartment for rent from may 22th to may 10,socalculate the total amount and get back to me immediately if will be availabl

hi gys, i live in a 320 square apt, have lived here for 15 years, its not big at all. i have one closet, and really no kitchen,its cabinets a sink. and 2 burners, is it legal to have no oven im my apt?there is a space in the wall, where a built in is supposed to go. but they told me they would have to rewire the whole thing for me to get an oven.is this even legal? please help.. i cant even cook here..it does not sound right, even the smallest place has ovens.. thank you, james muro