Tiny Flexible NY Apartment

[HappyHiker]

Pretty amazing--so flexible.

http://gizmodo.com/5967622/the-tiny-transforming-apartment-that-packs-six-rooms-into-350-square-feet

[iris lilies]

Pretty amazing--so flexible.

http://gizmodo.com/5967622/the-tiny-transforming-apartment-that-packs-six-rooms-into-350-square-feet

I loved it and watched it from beginning to end.

[shadowmoss]

http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/6-rooms-into-1-morphing-apartment-packs-1100-sq-ft-into-420/
Another video of the same apartment.

http://faircompanies.com/all/tagged/tiny-apartment/
Several more videos on that site about small 'transforming' apartments. One of my favorites is the 'Swiss army knife' apartment. Kind of an earlier version of the one above.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I really really like the abundance of storage, it makes me think differently about having storage and how much it helps (now if you'll excuse me I'm off to the container store :laff: - being I'm not building any more into this rental). It also makes me very much appreciate the space I have, which no is noone's idea of excess space - but is real room to actually live in - a 1 bedroom) - and how spacious that space really can be if organized well.

Other than that though, I have to agree with the critics in the comments. It's mostly (other than the cool storage) REALLY BAD design IMO. Noone is going to want to have to bring down their bed every night (sure it's exercise and means you may not gain weight, but you often just want to collapse on a nice sweet bed - not to have to work for that too in addition to everything else!). And so eventually yes the bed will be always down - but then you have nowhere to sit - so pretty soon your sneaking in an Ikea chair - just because :). What I'd try to do with the main room: single twin bed up against the wall length wise, in addition possibly a small futon for seating if it fits, if not then just a comfortable chair. Yes that would then look like the ultimate single person's studio, like a bachelor pad, but better to have a bachelor pad that it is a least functional as such than a place that IMO isn't functional for living at all (can't even sleep without working for it!). The kitchen is of course completely inadequate if you actually cook. Fridge too small to hold anything unless you shop every few days. A giant stainless steal monstrosity isn't needed - a real apt size fridge is. Heating pads will eventually be left out because you don't want to bring them out every day. Pretty soon you just want a real kitchen you can cook with - no stainless steel or marble required, just a real fridge, a real stove. And the computer setup doesn't even kinda look ergonomic IMO.

[ToomuchStuff]

I was wondering if they welding the slides together for that table, or found someone who manufacturers them like that, and I found a wooden version of that table on Instructables.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Expandable-formal-dining-table-that-seats-ten-and-/

[Zoebird]

I really like this apartment, but I also feel like it's a bit much. Yes, it packs a LOT in to the place, but i prefer just living japanese-style and minimalism.

[Miss Cellane]

Well, I like part of it and I don't like part of it.

The Murphy bed isn't too bad. You can get to bed by tossing two cushions aside, lowering the bed and undoing one strap. That's much easier than a futon sofa/bed combo or a traditional sofa bed, where you have to make and unmake the entire bed daily, plus move it from sofa to bed and then back to sofa. And with this Murphy bed, there's still a bit of sofa to sit on when the bed is down. Having lived in a couple of studio apartments, I'd go with a Murphy bed if I needed to hide my bed during the day.

The small freezer and fridge make sense in NYC. Most people there commute by foot at least part of the way to and from work and probably pass several small markets and produce stands daily. When I lived in Boston, I walked by a supermarket and a vegetable/fruit store twice a day on my way to the subway--it was very easy to pop in a couple of times a week and get food for the next few days. Also, because you are carrying all the food by hand, you can only carry so much.

And I've long maintained that the smaller your space, the more you need to customize it to your needs. So all the built-in storage works really well.

But, this entire apartment seems to give over way to much space for guests. I'd rather see the space used more for the people who will be living there. In NYC, in a 420 sq. ft. apartment, do you really need a guest room for two? I'd eliminate that moving wall and put the storage from that wall where the bunkbeds are. And how many people in a studio apartment routinely have 8 or 9 people over for dinner?

Take away the moving wall (which, I admit takes away a lot of the "wow" factor from this apartment), and you'd have room for a normal table that seats 4 or 6. And that can also serve as a workspace when you need more room than that little standing desk. I live alone, but just this past week, I've used my dining table for wrapping birthday presents, packing up a care package for someone who's deployed overseas, set up my sewing machine to hem new curtains, spread out the circulars for the 3 supermarkets in the area to make a shopping list, put racks of cookies to cool on it, and sorted out a bunch of old photos to give to family members. Sometimes you need a work surface--I would not want to have to be constantly putting that table together, even in a smaller form, and then taking it apart. The Murphy bed is a piece of cake in comparison.

The burners in the kitchen--seriously, they live in a drawer? That wouldn't work for most cooks. And it's an example of the way this apartment isn't completely thought out--seating for 10 for dinner, but is there space in the kitchen for the food and equipment and appliances needed to cook and serve a dinner for 10? There aren't a lot of cabinets in that kitchen; where would you store the plates and forks and glasses for a crowd?

They devote an entire cabinet to the latest and greatest compost machine, but what happens to the compost? There isn't a single plant in the place.

To say nothing of the cost. That expanding table is about $4000, the cheapest Murphy bed/sofa combination Resource Furniture makes is about $3200. The Resource Furniture is good stuff, but it is not cheap.

[happystuff]

I love the empty look and some of the efficiencies/gadgets/etc. But my hope is to get that way through minimalism and not by having everything stored away. It seems like in the video that it takes doing "something" in order to do "anything" - if you know what I mean.

I am currently sitting in my ran-away-from-home-vacation all-in-one room efficiency and I love this. I don't think that it is any bigger than the apartment in the op, but seems way more livable to me.

[jp1]

happystuff, I agree with you. For someone who is not willing to declutter this would be a good solution. At least as long as they are willing to always put things away as soon as finished using them. It wouldn't work for us because SO is not a believer in the saying "a place for every thing and every thing in its place." He's more of a "any random flat surface for every thing and every thing on a random flat surface" kinda guy. If we lived in the apartment in this video I'd be pulling my hair out dealing with the mess because putting stuff away that SO had left out would be 10x harder than it is now in our "normal" apartment.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Well my thoughts on storage is store stuff that only gets used here and there - store the fan in winter, store extra blankets, store a humidifier you use when you have cold - though accessibly - dont' want to make too much effort in those conditions, store gardening supplies if you don't use them daily, store the cookie sheet if you only making cookies for the holidays, store hammers and screwdrivers and drills (unless it's how you make your living or a hobby of yours). But no you don't store your stove top, that's crazy. So I LOVE the storage - but where it makes sense.

[shadowmoss]

Leave the burners out if you use them, leave one out every day if that is what you use every day and bring the others out only when you need them. I find the comments funny from those who seem upset at the flexibility. You can have them out if you want. I wouldn't use them every day, so it would work for me. The electric composer, not so much...

[Miss Cellane]

Leave the burners out if you use them, leave one out every day if that is what you use every day and bring the others out only when you need them. I find the comments funny from those who seem upset at the flexibility. You can have them out if you want. I wouldn't use them every day, so it would work for me. The electric composer, not so much...

The problem with storing the burners for many of us is that the kitchen isn't really set up to have the burners out all the time. There is limited counter space and the burners would take up most of it if left out all the time.

I admit, if I was dealing with that kitchen, at least one burner would be out all the time. People were complaining about the Murphy bed? Good grief! Think of dealing with the burners--you have to open the drawer and fish one out, plug it in and turn it on. Cook on it. Wait for it to cool down, then clean it. Then put it away. Nonsense. And if you were sauteing something, instead of the grease spitting out and landing on a nice, easily cleaned enameled or stainless stove top, it's landing on your counters and backsplash, which you will have to clean, as well.

The kitchen seems designed for what I understand is a typical NYC lifestyle--most meals are purchased and eaten outside the home. Mostly because the kitchens are so small and poorly equipped that working in them is a hassle.

So this kitchen could have been a way to show how to create a workable kitchen in a tiny space. But instead, they went for bells and whistles instead of solid function. I'll grant the oven combo is a good idea. And the portable burners would be a great addition to a smaller cooktop--say they'd installed a two-burner cooktop and had two portable burners stored somewhere to be used as needed. But they need more cabinets in the kitchen and a bit more counterspace.

The kitchen looks lovely--all clean lines and white spaces. But why no upper cabinets over the sink area for more storage? Why "spend" one of your few storage drawers on the burners? Oh, because having a cooktop would mess with the look of the kitchen? Imagine having to get something out of the cabinet over the oven while the oven is on--I hope that oven door is well-insulated. And storing food supplies above a heat source is seldom recommended.

And that composter--while I grant you that it is good that such things are being made, just how reasonable is it in a kitchen this size to devote an entire cabinet to that? I'd rather throw my carrot peelings out and have the storage space, to be honest.

This kitchen is fine if you mostly reheat frozen things or only cook from scratch occasionally.

In my first studio apartment, I had a smaller kitchen which still managed to have a small 4 burner stove with an oven, a small full-sized fridge, some huge to-the-ceiling upper cabinets that held all my kitchen stuff and plates and glasses and so forth. What it didn't have was much counterspace--just a huge sink with attached drainboard that functioned as a counter. I still managed to cook dinner parties for 4-6 people in there, because the work triangle between stove and fridge and sink was ideal. It was small, but very efficient. This kitchen is small. I don't know about efficient.

[jp1]

The kitchen seems designed for what I understand is a typical NYC lifestyle--most meals are purchased and eaten outside the home. Mostly because the kitchens are so small and poorly equipped that working in them is a hassle.

In my first studio apartment, I had a smaller kitchen which still managed to have a small 4 burner stove with an oven, a small full-sized fridge, some huge to-the-ceiling upper cabinets that held all my kitchen stuff and plates and glasses and so forth. What it didn't have was much counterspace--just a huge sink with attached drainboard that functioned as a counter. I still managed to cook dinner parties for 4-6 people in there, because the work triangle between stove and fridge and sink was ideal. It was small, but very efficient. This kitchen is small. I don't know about efficient.

Your studio kitchen sounds pretty much exactly like the kitchen I had in NYC for 12 years. It was perfectly functional for cooking for one person regularly and more on occasion.

I think you've got it backwards though regarding the NY lifestyle. Kitchens are small and poor because teh people who build them know that people will be eating out a lot.

[ToomuchStuff]

Your studio kitchen sounds pretty much exactly like the kitchen I had in NYC for 12 years. It was perfectly functional for cooking for one person regularly and more on occasion.

I think you've got it backwards though regarding the NY lifestyle. Kitchens are small and poor because teh people who build them know that people will be eating out a lot.

Chicken and egg argument. I expect the argument could go either way, depending on several factors.

[jp1]

Chicken and egg argument. I expect the argument could go either way, depending on several factors.

You're probably right. My comment was undoubtedly based on my particular experience, which was that people in NYC didn't live their lives at home. Special occasions like thanksgiving, yes, I'd invite people over. Otherwise friends that weren't among my 3 or 4 best friends were only in my apartment if it was because they were meeting me there before going out to do something. And that seemed to be normal among pretty much everyone I knew. My home was very much just for me and my close close friends because having anyone else in my space for any length of time was just way too intimate and I didn't really want that. After all, I had a futon that doubled as a couch and bed, so anyone who came over and sat on it was essentially in my bedroom sitting on my bed. It just happened to be in an upright position at the time.