5 Things I Learned From Living In 90 Square Feet!

I remember reading a past Thread entitled "Tiny House Documentary" (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/440818-Tiny-House-Documentary?highlight=tiny+house), and I thought I must pose a question to our members...do you live in what could be termed as a 'tiny home / studio'

MSN Lifestyle - Erin Cunningham - 20 March 2015

"Could you live in an apartment that was only 90 square feet?

What if it meant paying less than $1,000 a month in rent for a studio in the West Village, one of New York City's most expensive neighborhoods?

Mary Helen Rowell has called this humble, 78-inch-wide abode home for two years now, and has become a pro at figuring out how to make even the tiniest of spaces work: She had a bed frame custom-built with extra storage and transformed outward-facing pipes into clothing hangers (there's no closet in the apartment, of course). Oh, and she shares a bathroom with her neighbor across the hall.

It may seem like a crazy inconvenience, but Rowell admits that being confined to such a small room has completely transformed her opinions on what really matters in a home. Ahead, she shares five tips she's learned from living in one of the smallest apartments you've ever seen.



Read More: http://www.msn .com/en-us/lifestyle/home-and-garden/5-things-i-learned-from-living-in-90-square-feet/ss-BBivqgW
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[/FONT]"Small rooms or dwellings discipline the mind, large ones weaken it". Leonardo Da Vinci

I could probably do it if I had to. But my bedroom is bigger than that and I pay less than $1,000 per month for an entire townhouse.

Would I like it...probably not. Would I survive...most definitely.

I think if I had to pay a thousand bucks a month to roost in a birdcage, I'd find a different place to live.

auk1124 said:

I think if I had to pay a thousand bucks a month to roost in a birdcage, I'd find a different place to live.

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Lay down your own newspaper

My apartment here is pretty small. I actually feel it makes you more appreciative of going out and doing things than just lounging around and being a Wall-E person

I had a bedroom in an apartment-style dorm that was about 105 sq. ft. It seemed quite spacious compared to sharing a 250 sq. ft. room between 3 people.
I can see living in 350-500 sq. ft. including bathroom and kitchen, but anything smaller than that would probably make me feel cramped.

As long as I can shower, go to bed and make dinner, who needs a lot of space? I'm one of those 'own what you need' sort of people, and see no real reason to collect or hoard too many things. I am an outdoor person as it is, but the one thing about living tiny, is it does make you want to go out more, which is something the world could use right now, a little nudge to move around. Home is for getting ready to start the day, and winding down to finish it, the rest is elsewhere.

We can adapt to a lot of different environments, even those which, from the comfort of our huge and well-heated/cooled modern homes, seem a great privation.

I have a wife and two kids - I already live in less than 90 sq ft in my own home

Tim_McD said:

I have a wife and two kids - I already live in less than 90 sq ft in my own home

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I feel your pain. Wife, live-in daughter and 4 dogs. Nothing is mine.

When I first came to Tokyo, my apartment was 13 square meters. The bathroom had a small tub/shower/sink in one tiny unit, the kitchen was a sink not big enough for a dinner plate, a single-burner electric stove, and a refrigerator big enough for one sixpack of beer and a couple eggs. The apartment was poorly insulated, so I had to endure my neighbor's endless karaoke practice whenever he was home, which was usually very late. The apartment was an oven in the summer, and a freezer in the winter.

But, I have moved up in the world, my current home's bathroom is larger than my old apartment was.

I spent years deploying to Saudi Arabia & living in tents with 8 other guys. The common space plus my hanging cloth "bedroom" might have hit 90 sq ft. I shared a 300 sq ft apartment with another guy in college. So could I do it? Yeah.

Will I?

Hell no! I've got a 25oo sq ft house on 2 acres with 3 horses, 3 dogs, the wife and youngest daughter and (currently) one grandson. I have memories of sharing open latrines with 5000 of my closest friends. Been there, had the misery, don't want to repeat!

Good thing it's only $1,000 a month. She needs that extra money for custom bed frames and storage solution services.

I lived in a dorm room in college. That was enough for me.

A couple random thoughts regarding "tiny homes."

1.) I think that some hobbies would be pretty much impossible. I'm an artist, and so I just don't see how you could have any space for painting without constantly backing into a wet canvas. Also, if you're into outdoor activities where are you supposed to store your gear? I dunno, it seems like it's fine if you just want to spend your free time "going out" but I guess that's not for me.

2.) That said, I really wonder whether the current trend in housing is sustainable? Family sizes have been shrinking since the 1950s but house sizes have been expanding. I'm not against progress, but I do look at some new house plans and wonder what I'd ever do with all that space. The rooms just seem so huge!

I guess I'm just a happy medium kind of guy.

Doc4 said:

We can adapt to a lot of different environments, even those which, from the comfort of our huge and well-heated/cooled modern homes, seem a great privation.

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I have, and that makes me appreciate a comfortable existence all the more.

Interesting post. Doable, but not necessarily enjoyable.

I would love to try it at some point

kevdogg329 said:

I would love to try it at some point

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Most students do at some point in time ... at least in expensive cities like Paris, Amsterdam, or London.

If you decide to live in New York, renting a four or more bedroom apartment is the way to go. Split it with friends, and you pay little per square foot compared to what others are paying. I have friends that live in Manhattan (close to Times Square), and they average $1,300 a month each in rent. Expensive, but not that much compared to the pictured apartment.

I need more room than that for books.