apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I looked at that picture and didn't see the lamp, and thought that was some sort of "electric table."

Interesting surrealism there - "electric table" - sort of like the electric chair, except you can get up and walk away...

Good wishes to Matt on repairs & restoration!

Living in 400 square feet--very small urban apartments lead one to live the life of the "flaneur" -- outside, in cafes, in parks, museums, etc. That is a very particular sort of life, attractive to some and not others. I am always struck when coming to NY how full sheeps meadow is of people living life, playing board games, reading, talking, sleeping, etc. in contrast to Boston where people seem mostly to be on the go (except in very hot weather). I think it's the difference in the size of living space for many

My first apt here in Boston may have been about 400 sf, on Beacon Hill. I spent most of summer outside, on Esplanande, Harbor Islands, North End. It was a "feature" not a "bug". Now that I live in 1000 sf, I sometimes think of that with nostalgia,how little I had, how easy to keep clean, and how I could paint my entire apt in a weekend!

My husband and I live in a 365 sq. foot apartment in Tokyo. We don't live the life of the "flaneur". :-P

It's not hard to manage, but you can't sacrifice space for beauty. You have to be practical. That doesn't mean that you have to live in a cramped or cluttered space (we don't), but you also can't have acres of free area devoted to a minimalist aesthetic nor can you artfully set all of your furniture in the middle of the room to avoid the "dance hall" look that so many people living in big places scoff at.

The way we cope is by not having a ton of stuff we don't use or need, cutting down on furniture when possible, taking advantage of vertical space by using tall shelves, and by going digital as much as possible to keep memento space down. I found that it really helps to use floating shelves by desks or wire racks with hanging baskets (which can be added to or rearranged at will) to keep stuff off the available surfaces. Because of the arrangement of our apartment, we cannot have a real dining room table. That's probably the biggest sacrifice. We use a type of folding table if we have guests (not exactly like what is commonly used in the U.S. - it's very sturdy).

I envy those with less.

Truly. In the process of divesting down to just enough for 1000 sq ft, max. I'm not heavily laden by any means, but by casting a ruthless eye on my stuff, came up with a lot I could live happily every after without. Boxed it up a couple of months ago and retrieved just a couple of items. The rest, I now feel sure can go ...

Can you provide the link to the NY Times article you refer to? Thanks.