Well-Designed 258 sq ft Apartment (No Ladders or Foldaway Stuff)

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't spend most of my weekends away from home. Pandemic or not. I just don't. Spending most of your time out of the house sounds like a good lifestyle for a 20 something or thereabouts. But I'm not a 20 something.

What's the point of living in these super cramped spaces anyway? Is there a belief they are significantly cheaper? I don't think it actually works like that. There are no great savings to be had there over a normal apartment (even a place with no kitchen at all will only save a small amount). I don't think it's something people really do if they really need to reduce rents, what people might do: location in an area may make a difference but there starts to be a tradeoff with commutes and other things, roommates is an obvious one, you can try to find a place with rent control but that only limits increases, beyond that more extreme stuff: renting a couch off someone else rather than a room or renting your couch, living in a garage etc..

It looks nice of course, but never choose a place to live based on looks, that's house flipper nonsense, to fix up the looks and think it matters oh so much. Choose it on is it practical to actually live there. A squishy bed right by the window is too much light to sleep. The fridge is tiny, I'm sure it would work if you went to the store every other day but if not ... etc..

[iris lilies]

I’ve been going down a rabbit hole watching videos of a guy who promotes New York City rentals. I watched him showcase these spaces, and some of them are not bad. And then some of them are not bad in price and I was thinking to myself, gee, $1800 a month isn’t all that bad when I consider that I would spend $1000 a month here in St. Louis.

But then he gets real and says well that’s per bedroom, And if he showing a two bedroom unit he quotes the monthly price as a per bedroom cost. That $1800 per month rental with a tiny bedroom and another small bedroom rents for nearly $4000 a month.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Based on the video link, I wonder if the design includes creature comforts, such as
Washer-dryer for clothes
Dish washer
spot to sit just inside entrance, with closet for outerwear, umbrella and boots.

well I would say that is optional as I don't have any of those things, but there is a shared apartment washer/dryer, and dishes they are a royal pain, but there is a thing called a sink, you take a sponge and wash dishes in it.

[Gardnr]

Some people are home so little during the week with working that when the weekends come they want to enjoy their home. We often did errands during the week so weekends were free for relaxing. This is also a great time to have friends over for dinner or in nice weather have friends over for a barbecue outside.

This is us!

[Tradd]

I don't spend most of my weekends away from home. Pandemic or not. I just don't. Spending most of your time out of the house sounds like a good lifestyle for a 20 something or thereabouts. But I'm not a 20 something.

What's the point of living in these super cramped spaces anyway? Is there a belief they are significantly cheaper? I don't think it actually works like that. There are no great savings to be had there over a normal apartment (even a place with no kitchen at all will only save a small amount). I don't think it's something people really do if they really need to reduce rents, what people might do: location in an area may make a difference but there starts to be a tradeoff with commutes and other things, roommates is an obvious one, you can try to find a place with rent control but that only limits increases, beyond that more extreme stuff: renting a couch off someone else rather than a room or renting your couch, living in a garage etc..

It looks nice of course, but never choose a place to live based on looks, that's house flipper nonsense, to fix up the looks and think it matters oh so much. Choose it on is it practical to actually live there. A squishy bed right by the window is too much light to sleep. The fridge is tiny, I'm sure it would work if you went to the store every other day but if not ... etc..

Some of it is reusing older housing stock. This one was a 1960s building. The apartment already existed. They just redid it.

Then there’s the thinking that smaller spaces use less energy, etc.

[GeorgeParker]

That is a really well-thought out space and it has a very serene vibe.

That was my impression too, but we seem to be in the minority. Many people who would never live in a space this size don't see the intrinsic beauty of what this couple was able to do in such a small space.

Oh well, to each their own.

[happystuff]

I would love it if it were just me. However, it's not just myself at this point in time, and I would want at least 1 separate and distinct "escape" room - LOL.

[JaneV2.0]

I lived in one reasonably-sized room with a bath down the hall in my last year of college. It was fine then, but I have no desire to live in spartan quarters now. Soon enough when someone deposits me in the Shady Acres Home for the Feeble...

I could be perfectly happy in 800-1200 square feet, but the looks, setting, view a property provides is always of paramount consideration for me.

[GeorgeParker]

I read that the trend now is away from open concept. With more people working from home they want office space, remote learning room, free from distraction. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues post-pandemic.

The trend away from open-plan houses was in place long before the pandemic. Ref: "Death to the Open Floor Plan Long Live Separate Rooms" (August 2018) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...separate-rooms The pandemic has simply accelerated it.

But whatever happens in bigger houses, an open-concept floorplan is the most practical design for sub-500 sq ft apartment because of it's flexibility.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Of course I've lived in studio apartments, two of them. But they do get to actually feel claustrophobic compared to a one bedroom, mostly having much less to do with looks, but because they lack the novelty of being able to change rooms and more so if they are small rather than large studios (having tried one of each but the small one was also rather dumpy as well, so there is that), which I realize may sound absurd (the novelty of changing rooms LOL!), but is a real thing, so I base it on how I remember them feeling, of course it's subjective.

But honestly if it was going to reduce my rent by leaps and bounds I'd be pretty open to it (still need a kitchen, don't consider that optional, so this place has a small kitchen but I've toured apartments without) but I don't see it as particularly likely, other things have much more to do with the cost of rent.