Could you possibly live in a 280 square foot apartment?

[bikerdib]

Like others have said, live in NYC's Times Square HECK NO (yes I wanted to use the other word). Live in 280 sq. ft., I think I could. I built a 280 sq. ft. camphouse at my weekend place in the woods (actually it would work out to about 312 sq. ft. because I have a sleep loft). Think about it, people used to raise families in cabins around that size.

[dmccarty]

Years ago I saw a TV program about a guy who had built a very small but nice cabin in the woods somewhere in the NE. Might have been coastal Maine. The cabin was designed to be small and efficient like a boat. It had a very small kitchen with a pantry that was also a small desk/study. There was one bathroom and a living room that might sit a couple of people. There was a small stove in the living room. The bedroom was a lot accessed by a ladder from the living room. I can't remember the square footage but it was small.

The point the guy was making was if you live in a small house you don't have much which means you can live cheaply. His power bill was almost nothing as were his property taxes. He had no mortgage either. With having less expenses you can work less and do other things. At which point, the scene changed to the go sailing on his nice 25-30 foot sail boat.

There was much truth to what the guy said and was doing.

Could I live in such a small place. I guess so. It would be much easier today than years ago though. A laptop would be enough and with eBooks are easy to store. I have tons of books that consume much space. At this point I have more books than space and the paper backs are in the barn in plastic boxes. Today, those books would fit on a small memory chip. SciFi Today it is.

While I could live in a small place not sure a family could do so. But a family could live in a smaller place than we normally do today. There are still old farm houses in my area of NC and you can see how little space people needed and used years ago. They started with a small house with maybe two or four rooms and added to the house as kids arrived. Maybe. One place we looked at had a house built by the sellers fathers around 1900. The seller was born in the house as were his siblings. It reminded me of the house in the TV show. The place easily had ten times more space in the various barns than were in the house.

I would certainly rather live in an old small single wide in the country than in ANYTHING in NYC.

Later,
Dan

[Soundguy]

that's essentially 12x24.

sure i could 'live' in that space if single

But it wouldn't be an apartment. I could say.. have a farm property and have a cabin there and live on that... etc. would like a shed for tools and working on the tractors.. but that could be a leantoo style if needed.. not a garage or anything.

all an efficiency needs is a bed, a bathroom and a kitchenette. a divider from the entry door to the rest of the space would be nice. But I sure could. easy to throw a chair and small table top beside the bed and throw up a tv or laptop.

no apartment though.. would have to be free standing.. or heck. A big drive thru farm building.. like thos ebig metal buildings.. and have a farm 'office' in one corner for a live in manager.. etc. I could SURE do that.

I know a guy that has rural farm / huntping property that had one of those metal carports put up on a slab. it's the kind where it's a carport and has an attached small room at the end. dunno.. maybee the 'room is like 6x20 IE.. full width but only the back section.. though i have seen them 24x24 wher ethe room is on the side .etc.

he uses it as a sleepover place at the farm / hunt. has room for a bed and set of cabinets/sink and economy smallish toilet/stand up shower ( no tub )... that's it..

soundguy

Today's local news has a story about a 31 year old man who lives in a 280 square foot apartment a few blocks from NYC's Times Square, and it goes on to quote the guy as saying: "There really isn't time to let things accumulate because where would I put them." I am composing this in a master bedroom that measures 270 square feet and it makes me laugh to think about trying to cram even a part of what I own into this room. But I see the fellow's point...if you don't have the room for 'stuff" you probably won't buy it in the first place...keeping your life much simpler and enabling you to concentrate on more important things. Maybe 25 years ago my dad told me that while it was nice to own stuff, after a while you had to devote so much time to making room and caring for the stuff, it owned YOU instead.

Sad thing is, my dad's advice didn't make any sense to me back then, but the older I get the better I understand the meaning.

[Soundguy]

come to think of it.. after watching some show on discovery channel.. I bet I could live in one of those cargo container roll off deals. the half size ? 20' ones.

I'd have to finisht he inside so it wasn't hard echo chamber metal.. and all.. but burry one of those suckers up in the woods.. and I think I sure could do it.

[MoKelly]

I could not live in that small of an area. Just curious, did the article mention how much he paid in rent for the place? I am guessing its pretty high given the location.

MoKelly

[TripleR]

No way, no how. I have been homeless and have lived in small spaces and I mean small and don't want to do either again. I am lucky enough to live in the country in a nice sized home. We were originally going to build a small one, but when the weather is too bad to get out, it is sure nice to be able to roam around and get a little exercise in the home. It may not seem like it now, but you will get old and unable to get out. My mother is 90 and very seldom in the house during the summer but in the winter, she is pretty much confined to her house.

[3930dave]

Only people better than long distance sailors at packing small would be submariners.

As a pack rat, I know I can fill up whatever space is available......

All this talk about Stuff had me thinking of Carlin.

Won't post the link, in case anybody would find him offensive (mild, by today's standards, IMO) - Look up George Carlin Stuff on Youtube.

I miss him.

Rgds, D.

[Oaktree]

Before I bought my first house I don't think anywhere I lived (not counting parents' house growing up) was even that big. Of course, I was in my 20s, single and didn't have much in the way of possessions. Had one furnished apt. that a friend of mine referred to as my "closet apartment"...it was small, but suited my needs at the time. Today my workshop is probably 300 sf, and is pretty cramped.

Aside from 6 months living in suburban Boston, I've never lived in a city larger than 100,000. Even that is way too urban for me, not even sure I could live in suburbia today.

[Soundguy]

yep.. have to be single living in a small place. if i was married and lived in a small place.. i might be single soon.

[Gary Fowler]

My wife and I lived for 8 months in a small apartment in Mexico that was smaller than that. Just enough room for a full sized bed and 1 chair in the living/bedroom area. The closet blocked off the doorway from the bedroom for about 4 feet and had barely enough room for a weeks worth of clothing. The kitchen/dining area was maybe 6 feet long by 8 wide with a small table and 2 chairs. In the entry hall was a chest of drawers which had the TV and water bottle setting on top of it. TV for ease of viewing and water bottle for lack of space anywhere else. We could make do with it because all our "stuff" was in a 2200 sq foot house near Houston Tx. and the kids were all grown up and on their own. I cant imagine a couple with a few kids living in that confines although I have seen the movies with the kids sleeping in the loft, parents down stairs in a one room cabin. That was why everyone stayed outside and worked all day and only came inside to eat and sleep.
That might be a good thing to do with kids today: Make them spend at least one summer in the wilderness with no internet, cell phone etc and work and play outside all day.
My work shop is bigger than the house that me and my 4 siblings and parents grew up in. It was 30x40, 7 rooms, one of which was the bath so the rooms were small by todays standard and the ceiling was 7 feet high rather than standard 8 or higher today. We rarely stayed inside except in winter and even then, I would be out in the woods hunting or just exploring. We were all outside working the fields most of the time so it didnt feel too cramped at the time. The house is still standing although owned by a different family now and has additional space built on. It sure was claustrophopic to go back there and visit my Mom when she was still alive after being in the larger spaces we all have to call home now. I could put two of my childhood homes under my present roof and have room to spare. Life was sure simple then.