Wet blanket here, too, Bunnys.
I, too, am all for downsizing and reduction, but it amazes me what people will do (accommodation wise) to reside in certain cities. There is no city (or life) that could convince me to live like a caged animal.
Wet blanket here, too, Bunnys.
I, too, am all for downsizing and reduction, but it amazes me what people will do (accommodation wise) to reside in certain cities. There is no city (or life) that could convince me to live like a caged animal.
A relative of mine "Shared" this on Facebook. I can't find the original on that site's Web page (Interesting Engineering) so this will have to do:
If I could get that view in an affordable apartment, I think I'd live with that amount of space.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington
Beautiful, SteveinMN.
To add, I wonder where the dividing line ends, related to those who are cooped-up like chickens in a pen, where they long for a barefooted wander through freshly-cut green grass? In their own yard? Or to work the beds of planted flowers and trees? Or sit outside on a patio, with a barbeque and friends/family, and celebrate well into the night, never worrying about tenants/owners? Strikes me as being a pretty boring and stale lifestyle to say the least...
I love, love ,love tiny spaces!! Could definetely live in 300 sf and feel very comfortable. I'd take Stevein MN apt over a big McMansion anyday. While I'm not a fan of IKEA (although I love their coffee) I really enjoy their little showrooms of small spaces (although too cluttery for me). I think the samllest is around 245 SF and very cute and livable. I also like to whole concept of designing small spaces for urban dwellers and making them (and urban areas in general) as green, sustainable and user friendly as possible. I think those New Yawkers are on to something. "McMansions? Fugetaboutit youse guys !!"
I love "smaller" spaces, too, Spartana. but being caged in a room-sized environment 365, seems so clinical and institutional.
We just moved with our cat to a space that's about 500 sq. ft. It's nothing like the wonderful space pictured above - sure wish it were. I think you can live in a smaller space and make it functional and aesthetic - but if you do that, you sort of have to go vertical when you can't go horizontal.
We lived in a comparable space when we first got here, but the ceilings were vaulted, and I felt better psychologically. It felt spacious because - it was! Actually there was a lot of room, though it was up near the ceiling. Okay, so it was technically wasted space, but the mental feeling of height and airiness made living in fewer square feet underfoot totally doable. I'd even say it was exhilarating.
Now we're in a dark, cramped space. Some things we have now I love - a pergo floor that looks like cherry, but will be impervious to all the things our cat can do to wood floors. I have a modern kitchen with a granite counter top, which I love so much I want to sleep on it! And a biggish bathroom with slate tiles. Compared to what we had before, in a turn-of-the-century rundown space with no counters and two outlets in the entire apartment, it's heaven.
Main issue - no closet space, so we've had to buy retail clothing racks on wheels. He's got more clothes than I have (my fault, I'm always buying it for him - and he just got promoted at work, so he needs nicer duds). So the racks have two rails apiece, and they're wide. They occupy what would normally be our living space - and our bed takes up the rest of the room.
If one of us was handy, we might be able to custom build some kind of unit for storage, like what the guy did in that photo. If I were my money's-no-object father, I'd hire a carpenter to create something for us. Barring that, I have no idea how we'll solve this.
Maybe I'll post some before pics and solicit your suggestions. And then post the afters if we ever figure out something that makes it work!
I find it very cozy and sort of cocooning - snug as a bug in the rug... ;-)! But then I don't spend 24/7 365 in any place I live - big or small - and I find that the living in a small space with minimal stuff gives me much greater freedom. It means less time caring for things, doing chores, maintaining or repairing things and cleaning (you know how i hate that :-)!) and more time for fun, spending time with family and friends, being social and getting involved with my community. So I have never felt like a caged animal in a small space - it gave me a greater sense of freedom. It suits my personality but I know it isn't for everyone.Originally Posted by Mrs-M
these small spaces and McMansions are 2 ends of a very long continuum. Mrs M., I think people who would like to live in those small apts in New York, just absolutely love the city and the crowds and all the places to go. People like you and I don't understand that, because our needs are different. Its sort of a completely different mind set. Those people would probably go nuts out here in the country. haha
I think I could live in a small place.........as long as it had acres of fields, woods and no other people around it!
I think someone wrote a book about a place like that once...
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