One Room Living

This little studio feels right. I had a larger one for quite a few years because I had a cat, and kitty cats do like their space to frisk about. Some time after the death of that cat, I moved down to a smaller room -- a room that didn't feel so much smaller or, for that matter, feel like moving down, except in the most literal sense. (I now live one floor lower, but in the same building, in a mini-studio less than 200 square feet.)

It did take a bit of planning to make the one room living space neat and comfortable. Interestingly, a Google search on 'one room living' yielded a variety of articles, some of which were about downscaling to... living spaces that are larger than the one I came from. I have fewer square feet -- and I'm not afraid to write about it!

On this page, I will share my tips and resources for living in one room, as a well as a sneak little peek into my... well, it's not quite a castle, but it's no shack either. A mini-studio doesn't have to feel like a dorm room. Within four small walls, one can have a lot of choices. This is true not just for the 500 square foot loft, but for the efficiency as well. And it's true not just for the person who buys all new furniture, but for the one who makes do, at least partly with what they have.

I have almost no counter space -- I use my dinette table in place of counter top when I prep food. That way my table gets a fair amount of usage every day, even if there are no visitors. It has become a multi-purpose furniture item. This wouldn't necessarily be feasible in a larger apartment because a single item couldn't be in the middle of everything. But it is accessible from the different living areas in my small space.

Most articles will tell you: It's good to let furniture and nooks do double-duty. Do give thought, though, to your own needs and habits when acquiring and arranging furniture. Some people let their table double as a desk, but that wouldn't work for me. I seldom work at a desk, preferring to perch or sprawl rather than sit in traditional fashion. I do have a desk, but it's for the purpose of storing things upon... and, in a pinch, under (since you won't actually find legs occupying the space).

As for the desk -- well, it's a good idea to have a hutch sitting atop it.

How to apply principles of one room living design

Just about all of have objects we wouldn't want to part with. In my case, one of those objects is a three-story Tudor dollhouse. At first glance, it would seem such an object would be hard to place in a smaller living space. And yet...

Stacking items can maximize space. The item of furniture the dollhouse sits atop takes up no more room than it would without the dollhouse sitting on it. The dollhouse actually serves more than one purpose. Living in one room, it's a good idea to section off small areas and also to hide clutter away from view.

In that corner is my workplace, my 'studio within a studio'. There are a lot of small items packed on the shelves and in the little drawer units. And yet you don't really notice them when you walk in the room. The Tudor hides far more than the furniture would alone, and, while I sure wouldn't want it toppling down, I know it's not heavy enough to do damage.

That Tudor wouldn't be everyone's choice of décor. Yet I think it has a more commanding -- and attractive -- presence than in the larger space. And that brings us to one of the more surprising principles of one room living design: A single large item can contribute to a spacious look where a number of smaller ones make it look cluttered. Scale is important -- but sometimes in ways that seem counterintuitive.

Some people would choose to put a TV/ entertainment center in that space. That could work, too. Much of the related paraphernalia, from videos and music to small equipment, can be tucked away behind the drawers of closed furniture. Just make sure the arrangement is sturdy.

Hidden storage can be ideal for one room living -- but do analyze your space first to see what you need.

I thought, when I first moved into the apartment, that if I bought one small item of furniture, it would probably be a storage stool or small bench that doubled as seating in my 'studio within a studio' work space. At that time, I had a Styrofoam cooler I found in the 'free stuff' area of the laundry room downstairs that I cautiously tested and determined, yes, I was light enough to sit on.

This one is pretty cool, even cooler than the cooler...

I picked up two stackable cabinets that are combination kitchenette/ living room furniture -- they were actually free. One thing that went inside is the recycling bag; cleaning supplies take up half the space in one of the cabinets.

There's a decorative medicine cabinet sitting at an angle on top.

You can see just a bit of the dinette table there in the foreground.

It looks like this apartment dweller has not only found stylish hidden storage but managed to create an extra wall with his shelving unit. His wall mount TV is a space saver.

Image: urbaneapts, Flickr Creative Commons

This decorator uses color and texture to unify elements across living spaces. There's a lot of stuff, but it doesn't look cluttered.

Some smaller storage items actually add to the cluttered look. Over-the-door hooks are something that actually make things look better! I have several sets. There is a rather elegant burnished metal one on the closet door -- on the front of the closet door. There are a couple small, plain ones on the back of that same door. Of course, hooks work just as well screwed to the wall, but they may not be appropriate for apartment dwellers.

Here I am featuring some nifty over-the-door hooks. They're not mine. There's not a lot of science to my selection process -- except for a couple things. I like to find things that aren't apt to be at the local drug store -- i.e. not plain old chrome.

And they shouldn't look like they belong in a utility room -- in a studio apartment, you can see everything. I think the hook sets with the bird shapes are rather elegant. They come in both black and white.

I also have a preference for things that have reasonable, or better, shipping prices. Sometimes I click on something that appears very cheap and then I see a shipping price that... well, I know it doesn't cost anywhere near that much to ship. Other times, the item is priced well out of the bargain basement range but comes with free shipping. I tend to have warmer feelings toward those sellers.

Here are some more ideas, some written by experts.

A small place looks less cluttered when clutter is tucked away in cupboards or in baskets on the shelf. I have quite a few baskets... but arguably not enough.

There's plenty of room! (Pull up a cooler.)