It’s true that New York apartments are small, and open spaces are hard to come by unless you’re willing to fork out lots of cash or live next to the airport. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone’s apartment that’s this small, especially one whose space is used so cleverly!
The apartment is a project by treehugger.com founder and entrepreneur Graham Hill who enlisted the help of design firm Life Edited to make his Soho closet into a practical, highly functional, transformative space. His goal was to create the ideal New York apartment that not only leaves “a small footprint, both physically and environmentally,” but one that’s also beautiful and has the utility of a space ten times the size.
Hill’s apartment is a constantly evolving space. However, it currently has the ability to turn into eight fully functional “rooms” thanks to hidden sliding walls, bunk beds, and even a stove tucked away in a drawer! Hill and Life Edited are persistently working to streamline the room, stripping it down to its bare necessities.
As a fellow New Yorker, I can relate to the struggle to maximize the space your allotted and find inventive ways to create storage and free up room to move in confined areas. However, most of these solutions seem like more hassle than help, and forget having a real wardrobe or making the occasional mess!
GIZMODO – The Tiny Transforming Apartment That Packs Eight Rooms into 350 Square Feet from Gizmodo on Vimeo.
What do you think of this transformative apartment? Sure, it’s an interesting experiment in practical design, but would you want to live in it? Does this video inspire you to do any functional reorganizing of your own?
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wowza! this is so awesome! But I wouldn’t live there personally, too much assembly required and I’d probably just be really confused about where anything and everything is at all times. Plus after a night out i probably would break something or just resort to sleeping on the floor… drunk brain is too primitive for drawers and hidden furniture
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It’s pretty amazing! I love the whole hiding away the bed idea, beds always take up way too much space in a room!
But I’d be having anxiety attacks due to such limited space! I’d be sticking my head out of the window every five minutes gasping for air. Is the apartment 424 square feet, or 350? If it was 424, I guess it would be easier for me to adjust, since my house is only a little over 1000 square feet, it would be like living in half my house.
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What if it breaks?
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I think the concept is interesting, but I don’t know if I’d like it very much! I think it is perfect for the young, able bodied single person who doesn’t stay home much or cook and entertain often.
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kind of like living in cruise ship cabin.
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I would live there (single) or possibly with an SO. But I would have to really love that guy.
dahlia / 2942 posts
this is an aweeeesome apartment setup for people who dont have a lot of crap. i notice he barely had any actual things (maybe 6 books, decorative, where’s all his clothes, shoes, bathroom stuff, seasonal stuff, cleaning supplies, kitchen pots pans, etc). i also imagine this would be as expensive as getting a slightly bigger place with more room.
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I am constantly amazed by how people can come up with interesting ways to fully facilitate the places they are living in, but I don’t think I will be choosing to live in such tiny space.
Random interesting fact: Similar thing was accomplished by Gary Chang in Hong Kong before.
Transforming a 344sq. ft. apartment into 24 rooms
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@happyobligations@xanga - A different article I read somewhere (Yahoo?) listed the price to remodel it as somewhere around $200,000. The guy is now remodeling on a different studio on a smaller budget. I am curious as to how that will turn out.
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Ive seen a video of a guy’s NY apartment that was the size of a short hallway. literally. it was one a kitchen/bedroom/dining room all in one…
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i found it. kinda crazy it’s the size of a closet, and he pays $800/month. it’s 78 sq feet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4FoAr8i26g
dahlia / 2942 posts
@snarkius@xanga - $200,000?! in some places, you can buy a freaking house for that price!
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I live in the city, in a house that doesn’t have much space, and I liked his approach. I’m always looking for new ideas to make my space more livable. We are retired on 1/4 acre, the house including double garage is 1200 sq. feet, and we’d love to knock out a wall and make the master bathroom larger, as the house was built in the 50′s. Whether or not it happens, I still have my flowers in the summer, and wonderful neighbors.
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I like the idea of making the most of space, but this is needless extravagance in my opinion.
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It’s really neat, and if I were limited to a small space I think it would be cool to incorporate some of the ideas! I like the guest room idea and possibly the pull out bed. I don’t think I could do all of that though, definitely too much assembly! Plus, I don’t think I could take so much white
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i love the ingenuity. i’m always interested in how to make the most out of a small space. this is really just absolutely amazing. BUT it’s still a little too claustrophobic for me, SO i would probably not want to live in it. this would be such an interesting project though!! i’d love to design something like this.
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Very innovative..but too confined for a claustraphobic!