Small Space, Big Comfort
New Yorkers are very territorial. Whether it comes to defending their place at the communal folding table in the laundromat, or rarely inviting anyone over to their apartment, the behavior seems to stem from so many people having so little space to themselves.
I therefore consider myself lucky to have found (through a broker, of course) a fairly comfortable apartment big enough to house what stuff I didn't chuck out in the Pre-Cross-Country Purge of 2006, a place that includes a real kitchen as opposed to a mini-stove crammed into a corner and a fridge that acted as a room divider. Really, I did see apartments like those while I was looking.
Because a chaotic living space is known to cause depression, I tried right away to establish beauty and order in each room. It's a constant struggle and lately, I've been losing the battle.
For inspiration, Apartment Therapy sends a "Hot Post of the Week" email every Friday. The email profiles an outstanding small apartment. Some spaces are pretty cool, others not so much. But about a month ago, the site featured a beautiful, 355-square-foot cubby in Paris owned by a 71-year-old American woman who, after being diagnosed with cancer, decided this was the time to live in her dream home.
Small but stunning, I thought. But given my own propensity for too much stuff coming in and not enough going out, could I ever maintain a place like that? Hmm.
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