The one room living experiment
Posted on July 23rd, 2010
We’re about six months into the experiment, and I’m still enjoying it. I wish I had one more room (eg, one to lock my daughter in when she is in demon mode), but other than that, I like it. My life is simple, my kid is happier, and we spend lots of time together. Cleaning up takes an hour max, and that’s if I’m working alone. (Although this morning while I was scrubbing the bathroom floor – by hand – P decided to chip in. She learned how to clean a bathroom and vacuum today. Since she can also make scrambled eggs – with supervision – she’s already way ahead of most men entering the married state.)
Downsides: Even the most minor messes trash the place. There is no escaping demon child when she’s on the warpath. Alone time with my husband requires creative thinking. My A/C unit hates me.
Specs: 750 square feet. One bathroom – with a (decent sized) shower. No bathtub. No closets! Three people.
The layout is like most hotel rooms: a bathroom to the side as soon as you walk in, a short hall, kitchen to the left, then living/bed space.
Without further ado, the kitchen. We brought the island from our house, although if I had unlimited funds I would have gotten something edgy and industrial. Anyway, without it I’d have zero counter space.
We brought our beloved Bosch from the house. I love, love, love it. It was my law school graduation gift to myself. You seriously can’t tell when it’s running, it’s that quiet.
The Asko W/D combo, which are growing on me.
I love this silverware thing. I found it at a restaurant supply place online. It was a necessity, because not only do we have no counter space, we have five tiny drawers in the entire kitchen.
This is what I mean about the mess:
Bad light, and my daughter watching Sesame Street with awful posture while drinking from a sippy cup. I’m so out of the mother of the year running.
My husband’s computer room, all in one nice and tidy armoire.
More with the “living room.” This is also P’s bedroom, because the ottoman folds into a twin bed. You can see the huge mirrored armoires in this shot. I’m not sure why I didn’t take pictures of them.
P’s clothes, knick-knacks, and inflatable moose head. (She loves that thing.)
Toy mess, concealed behind couch:
Music and yoga studio:
My little space. The painting was my first legal fee ever, in trade for work for a painter friend.
The view, cloudy and dark, just the way I like it:
My nemesis. Those are my French plastic placemats that I paid way too much money for in order for them to be used to protect the floor from leakage.
The master bedroom:
And the bathroom, which looked like a disaster hit, but I took pictures anyway.
Voila! One room living. File this under “Not crazy…yet.”


I love the view! And all the bookcases. Also, I wouldn’t call that messy at all, it’s just cozy.
The bookcases were my requirement on moving in. They’re just cheap-o Billy bookcases, but I paid a carpenter to install them, and properly shimmed and anchored to the wall, they turned out surprisingly well. I’m still waiting for him to come back and finish the job (the tops aren’t anchored), but… that’s why he’s a contractor, I guess.
IS that the NOLLI map of Rome behind your bed? We have that hanging in our “dining room.”
It’s the 1739 (?) map of Paris. I LOVE having it by the bed, because I’ll lie backwards and “walk” through the historical city.
I keep looking at these pictures with jealousy…lol. I think my son and I would need a bit larger space (we’d drive each other batty), but I’m considering selling my soul into private practice so that I can afford a loft anywhere but where we live now.
I definitely think this won’t work past the age of 4! I think of it as as housing detox, though – whenever we end up with two bedrooms, we’ll think we’re in a palace.
(We can’t afford this, either – we’re renting!)
I’m a perpetual renter — the thought of buying a place, whether it’s a house or a loft, scares the crap out of me, too much commitment!!