One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor

I’ve been claiming, round the house, that I’m applying for a job in New York. I’m not of course. They start work at 7am over there. But the pretence that I’ll be flat hunting in Manhattan shortly is cheering me up no end. New York and Tokyo are the only two cities I’d be interested in moving to, and the only two in which I would stand for having a tiny, tiny flat and not care. Here’s one, from Design Sponge, that caught my eye.

tiny new york apartment

Wouldn’t this be just the thing. The flat is home to Lotta Nieminen, a graphic designer and illustrator, and here’s what she said about it: ““When you look for an apartment in New York, you generally need to leave out one of out three: location, rent or size. I wanted to live in Manhattan, and had a fixed budget when moving in, so that left me with leaving out size.” Check out the floor plan!

New York studio floor plan

Lotta Nieminen

The piece in Design Sponge doesn’t tell you where exactly it is, so you can make it up in your own head. But the thing I like most is the fire escape, accessible through the window. It reminds me of this…

Paul SImon fire escape

… an image that manages to be both glamorous and hilarious. While looking for it to post here I found a site dedicated to pinpointing exactly where in New York it was taken. It’s brilliant. Go and nerd out over it for yourself, here. I might apply for that job after all…

STill Crazy album cover

12 Responses to “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor”

  1. vanessab16
    February 6, 2013 at 10:39 am #

    gosh there is a whole new aspect of architecture web browsing I hadn’t considered; moving to another city. there’s tonights entertainment lined up!

  2. myfriendshouse
    February 6, 2013 at 10:43 am #

    I know – the job advertised was editor of a very niche real estate magazine covering Manhattan only. They should hire me, right? I’ve looked all the neighbourhoods up on Google Street View…

  3. rebeccamarilyn
    February 6, 2013 at 10:56 am #

    love this, and love that i’m not the only one to waste hours upon hours browsing apartments in places i will never be able to live! also, that job sounds like a dream.

  4. Frances Berriman
    February 6, 2013 at 12:00 pm #

    I just had a week in Manhattan and spent most of the time wondering what the flats there are like and wanting to live with a big walk-up front stair and brownstone. Similarly, it’s one of the few places I’ve ever wanted to live that isn’t London, too (I feel like our clan is split between either extreme countryside or extreme-city). Not sure how long I’d deal with a very tiny space – think it would be okay on my own, but not so good for co-habiting.

    • myfriendshouse
      February 6, 2013 at 5:21 pm #

      I’m not good at tiny spaces, but I think the fact that everything is on your doorstep, and you never have to eat at home would make up for it. But yeah, singletons only, even so x

  5. Patricia
    February 6, 2013 at 12:45 pm #

    My sister lived in something very similar in NYC for about ten years, many moons ago. I absolutely loved staying with her, the way we had to squish everything in. But that whole 24 hour dining thing made up for it – incredible stuffed to the brim bagels at 2am and delivered to boot. x

  6. Julie B (@fantasydecor)
    February 6, 2013 at 3:04 pm #

    One day…. One day I will make it to New York, dammit.
    Also, I am always in awe of anyone who manages to make small spaces work so well.

  7. Trixie Lixie
    February 6, 2013 at 10:59 pm #

    That flat reminds me of the hotel room at Nite Nite in Birmingham that I just stayed in! Good talk on Monday at the NEC, thanks!

    • myfriendshouse
      February 7, 2013 at 9:56 am #

      thanks trixie! The hotels I’ve stayed in in Brum are just as small, but without the advantage of a million NY diners on the doorstep x

  8. emeraldinterior
    February 7, 2013 at 10:01 pm #

    Isn’t it amazing how the smaller the space, the more ingenious and tidier we have to become 🙂 I love that apartment. It may be tiny, but it looks so bright and airy.

  9. Mora Approved (@MoraApproved)
    February 11, 2013 at 11:13 am #

    I’m used to tiny spaces so it’s super inspiring to see how other people make the most of theirs!

    • myfriendshouse
      February 14, 2013 at 1:24 pm #

      I know. For some reason seeing tiny homes is my favourite. And always inspiring. Maybe it’s because they’re always so tidy and pared down.

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