apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

NO WAY. I couldn't stand staring at the same things all of the time.

That's ridiculous!

Clearly i'm a New Yorker. My reaction was "eh, pretty small, but totally do-able". I've definitely lived in rooms smaller than 15x10, but i'm not sure i'd want to BUY something like that.

My boyfriend and I currently live in 455 sq feet, which we thought was small. But at least we have different [small] rooms! This space could be manageable for one person with the creative use of a folding screen or two, and wall/ceiling storage. I'm not sure why someone would buy it to live in for more than 2 years -- unless it was to rent it out.

Apparently the 250 sq ft apartments in San Fran (Cubix) went bankrupt... so much for that working out.

We live in about 200 sq. ft. With 2 pit bulls! Totally do-able.

There was a 130 sq ft apartment for sale in Sydney for a year. I was very tempted to buy it, mostly for the challenge. I still sit down with drawing pads designing HOW I would live in it if I had it.

The challenge is huge and the paring down would be cathartic.

You could do it this way:

- Use the 'two twin beds made up with cushions to look like a couch' idea. Daytime, corner sofa. Night-time, double bed. Set-up can be changed by just pushing them together.

- No books, no TV, just a media centre/computer in a nice wall unit. Watch TV on-line, rent dvds, download music, buy an ebook reader and manage your library digitally. All the entertainment you could ask for, on a hard drive.

- Make a DIY closet out of cabinets with doors. Put a tabletop on top of it, and get some high stools. Voila, table for six.

So, put your table/wardrobe as a room divider parallel to the kitchen, put your media centre on one of the walls and arrange your bench/couch/bed opposite. You could totally do it.

My husband and I moved to Korea a month ago and our (free) apartment is about this size. Luckily the paring down happened before we got here, but it's going to be a challenge to make it comfortable. Our current plan is to have our bed on the far side of the room from the door, and use a wardrobe (there's no closet) and a bookcase to divide the space so we can have an eating/living section, too.
The wallpaper, on the other hand, is kind of... well, it's a problem. And the floors.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3866810852_438ec1777e.jpg

We returned from a short trip to Japan recently stayed on real Japanese futons all but 1 of the 8 nights and are wondering if it is possible to buy those in the US, specifically New York. That's certainly one way to make such a small unit work!

Crazy. Really have to be creative with this space!

http://smallspaceresources.blogspot.com

WHAT A RIP-OFF!!!!

Someone should buy it and make an art project out of it. Different architects and designers would be invited to have residences where they would transform the space and live in it at the same time culminating in an opening and a series of open studio days.

Totally depends on the location. Those SF condos were in a lousy up and coming area.

Before we were married my husband & I lived on the UWS of NYC in a 9'x12' apartment (not including small bathroom). We were there for 18 months. Most of our "stuff" was in storage in California but we found many great ways of finding spaces for everything. The ceilings were 14' tall though so we could put the bed over the "kitchen" area. He even worked at home! Great memories and I'm glad we did it but don't think I could do it forever =/

It would make a great "vacation" home if anyone had the money these days for something like that =)

Of course I could do it... but I call those dorms, not apartments.

$195,000???? Gee, I only want $150,000 for my 2208 sq ft house on 6 acres which I can't seem find a buyer for. NYC is obviously out of my price range!!

I plan to buy it, then deco it up and win the next small cool contest.

the cubix apartments in sf are only about two blocks from where i work. not exactly a crumby up and coming 'hood, but mostly businesses and already "there". they came available just as the credit/real estate crash was hitting...simply bad timing for what is basically a good idea.

as for this, it's a hotel room with a very big mini bar. probably better suited for somebody who lives in the 'burbs and needs a place in town to crash during the week, or as a vacation type place.

if you could manage living in a place this small full time, god bless you.

Laughable price, but 175sf? No problem with a good floorplan. I've lived quite comfortably having 5 person dinner parties, in 2 different studio apartments that were 173 and 136 sf respectively. In fact, I would have to express a strong preference for the smaller one which had a much better layout.

I forgot to add, my partner grew up in Japan in a 600sf apartment in a family of 4, or about 150 sf each. In the 1970's it was apparently considered quite luxurious in terms of space.

Yes I could but would need storage for 99% of what own.

Needs a PS3 as your entertainment center, a huge LCD TV, a sofa bed, small table, couldnt cook in there it would be unbearable I would prepare cold foods and eat them hot food I would eat out a lot. Acouple of your favorite books clothes, and small garment rail. and a picture for the wall.

Have I forgotten something. A good job so your cream crackered when you get home.

Looks great.

In the advert is states $170 a month for maintenance what is this for some one to act as boss of the building?

@poppasmurf: Not entirely sure what you're asking (punctuation helps in communication), but that's just another $170 that you're shelling out on top of the mortgage payments. It's the equivalent of a homeowners' association fee in newer neighborhoods - payments to take care of the common areas (in this case a yard, stairs, the elevator, etc).

I agree - it would make a great vacation/crash pad, if someone had the money to shell out. Or a great first-time place, but at $175K and a slim chance of re-selling, why not keep renting?

Not only could I do it, but I have done smaller. At least it has a bathroom INSIDE. They are building homes around this size now, too. I think it's cool. People don't need 5,000 sq.ft houses. The planet doesn't need people who think they need 5,000 sq.ft houses.

By non NYC/SanFran/other expensive cities standards, this is not absolute market insanity. My friend pays upwards of 2300 for rent alone in NYC, and her studio is not much bigger than that one. I could see why buying would make sense. Usually, it's the smarter use of money.

Still, I wouldn't buy it. Lol and I couldn't buy it either with all my student loans!