Talk about a tiny house!

[SRP]

I love this... but honestly, I think I might get claustrophobic!

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/simple-life-in-manhattan-a-90-square-foot-home-2472666/

[Madsen]

lol --- barely one step up from those coffin hotels in Japan!

[creaker]

Location, location, location! $700/month in Manhattan is not a bad deal.

I don't I think l could live without a real kitchen, though.

[loosechickens]

well, we've lived comfortably in a VW Vanagon for many months, so 90 sq. ft. doesn't faze me, but this particular 90 sq. feet seems poorly arranged. The same space in an RV or van would be far better designed, have much more storage so things weren't piled up in sight, but I guess I could live there pretty comfortably with some modification.

Even in our van, we had a nice little two burner stove, small sink, under the counter fridge, and adequate storage for necessary pots, pans and dishes, and could cook real meals with no trouble. I had a deep cast iron skillet and would put a trivet in it, and a lid, heat it up, use it as an oven, and bake "breadlets" in there, small loaves of yeast bread not much bigger than hamburger rolls.

I even had a small sewing machine in that van, and a roll-up, zippered compartment holder for sewing supplies that I could hang next to me as I sewed.

It's not really the SPACE that is important, but how well designed that space is, to me. As I go in living spaces any bigger than a medium sized RV, mostly what I see is unnecessary accumulation and waste space.....but that's a personal opinion, not shared by many, hahahaha.

[SRP]

Loosechickens - I think you've hit the nail on the head. That room is very poorly arranged. All those floor to ceiling shelves made me want to cringe. And the video said she's a professional organizer. Hmmm.

[Float On]

but this particular 90 sq. feet seems poorly arranged..

That was my first thought too. She had way more clothes than I do and just boxes and boxes of things. And then she went and stood on that rolling chair to reach some of her boxes and that just pushed me over the edge! Very dangerous. I thought the bathroom was poorly designed as well.

[Tradd]

Remember on the old board that someone posted a series of photographs of 100 sq ft "studio apartments" in Hong Kong? Some were as filled with stuff as this woman's place, and others were streamlined and organized?

[rosarugosa]

I had seen that video. Another vote for less than optimal arrangement. I think I could make something much more lovable out of that space, but it still wouldn't have a kitchen (used to joke when younger about fantasy house having no kitchen, cannot cook).
LooseChickens, I have a very small house, and I've fantasized about having someone who designs mobile homes consult on our space. I think we've done quite well with it, but those folks are spatial planning geniuses!

[kally]

http://photomichaelwolf.com/100_x_100/

honestly I can't find one of these tiny apartments that doesn't look cluttered.

[domestic goddess]

I happen to like small spaces and I generally feel cozy in them. She may be a professional organizer, but she is not a decorator! I think there must be more attractive storage options available (I've seen them!) and going through her stuff might help her to get rid of all those high shelves. She has way more clothing than I do, and I bet she could pare down there, too, freeing up some closet space. I'd have to have more of a kitchen than she does; I'm sure she doesn't cook much, since her toaster oven is the home for her bananas. I think shelves on the walls instead of bookshelves taking up floor space might open it up a bit. I would surely do things differently, but it is a doable thing.

[Tradd]

http://photomichaelwolf.com/100_x_100/

honestly I can't find one of these tiny apartments that doesn't look cluttered.

#4 is the one I remembered. She still appears to have a lot of stuff for the space, but it's neatly organized and it's not haphazardly thrown around like in some of the other pics. She seems to have done the best with what she's got.

[lhamo]

I would never hire her as a personal organizer. Love small, well-designed spaces but this is definitely not one. She has too much crap -- what is with all the clothes? Non-seasonal stuff could totally be stored out of sight, say in a captain's bed type arrangement, rather than being stacked up like she has it. COuldn't figure out WHAT she has in all those cloth storage bins, except in the one shot from the loft it looked like more clothes. Girlfriend needs a serious class in minimalism.

Now THIS is what I call a cool, small efficient space -- granted it is nearly 4 times bigger, but several people live in it. One of my all-time favorites:

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/green-style/green-style-tiny-studio-converts-into-24-different-rooms-114533

PS: Great slide show here in the NYT archives:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/garden/20090115_HONGKONG_index.html

lhamo

[Merski]

Visually it was waaaay too busy for me and I don't think I could live in there unless I had floor to ceiling closed storage to create a more visually serene environment. I too can't believe she's a professional organizer but I appreciate her honesty in showing her place and the way she lives in it.

[domestic goddess]

I got a chance to look at the pics of the tiny spaces. I have to say that the men generally had less clutter, and seemed to be more organized than the women. The women seemed to want everything sitting out, probably ready at hand to be used. The men seemed to have more things put away, out of sight.
I did find the peeling paint, lack of color, lack of windows and general clutter rather depressing, though. And I have the feeling that the people are packed in that building like sardines in a can. I stlll think a space this size can be arranged well, but it might take a trip to a store with some shelves and cabinets to do it. Obviously, that will mean spending some money, but I think it would be money well-spent, to have more attractive surroundings.

[Weston]

Another good source to view ideas is Apartment Therapy's annual

small/cool contest which happens to be running right now.

http://community.apartmenttherapy.com/contests/smallcool/2011

[jp1]

I agree with the other comments. What does she have in all those boxes on the shelves? The problem with the place was that it just seemed like the whole place was a closet. When I lived in NY I looked at a place that was about the same size. It had a real kitchen though. At the time I didn't own much stuff, so I could have made it work, but for an extra $100 I was able to get a much larger 250 sq foot place, and lived there happily for 12 years.

[ljevtich]

In our first RV we had 24 square foot of living space. We had a house before that was 2400 square foot of living space. So imagine going down so much! Now we are in a fifth -wheel which has approximately 240 square feet and it feels HUGE!

I agree with the other posters, she has way too much stuff. More of these stuff she has could be done digitally like all the papers and whatnot. But she is in NYC, so location is pretty good. And of course, like she said, she goes to libraries and other places to get out of the small house. We did similar with our RV - we lived in it for ~ 2.5 years and went to libraries, gyms and other places, to get out of the small space. It is all just what you can live with.