Super Cozy? Or Super Crazy?
By Christa TerryLiving small. Small space living. Whatever you want to call it, there are people doing it all over the world. Some get into small space living out of necessity — usually because either the money or the space simply isn’t there. Others do it because they want to see how low they can go when it comes to their ecological footprint. And I suppose there are those who think that 175 sq. ft. is plenty, thankyouverymuch.
Zaarath and Christopher Prokop appear to be just that, according to the NY Post. They work a lot, they don’t eat in, and they don’t host guests, which is why they had no qualms about buying a microstudio — possibly Manhattan’s smallest — for $150,000.
The kitchen is used to store the few articles of clothing they keep in the microstudio, with most of their clothes living at various dry cleaners. Oh, and the couple’s two cats eat on the counter. There’s naught in the fridge other than espresso and champagne. A queen bed takes up a third of the microstudio, and the bathroom is the size of a small closet. At a mere 14.9 feet long and 10 feet wide, you can bet it feels a little claustrophobic.
“I’m amazed we can fit two people and two cats in there,” Zaarath said. “But it’s harmonious at this point. I have friends who say they could never live with their husbands in a place this small. It’s a good thing we like each other enough to live there.”
The only other resident of the microstudio is the couple’s Roomba, which must scare the bejeezus out of those poor cats every time it’s turned on. On one hand, I applaud Zaarath and Christopher Prokop for making the most of the space they can afford — they’ll apparently be able to pay off the $150,000 in a mere two years. On the other hand, they seem a little self-congratulatory about their knack for small space living.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Unbelievable — I paid only $30K more for my home, and I have exactly 10 times the space.
I agree most people have more space than they need, and some people are obscene about taking up as much space as they can. But, that’s a step just a wee bit too far in the opposite direction. I’d start clawing a the walls within a week.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:06 am
i think because i grew up in a too-big mcmansion i always enjoyed smaller space living with a minimum of things. unfortunately because my husband is big on being a packrat I could never live in a space that small, that’s what led to the renovation. our impending child and his penchant for collecting non-working subwoofers just weren’t going to mix.
they have plenty of room, it looks like. i mean, they could’ve even done a loft bed with couch under, or at the very least some wall shelving above the bed. looks like they have room to grow, in all seriousness. hee!
December 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Yes, well, they could probably afford a larger place that they could pay off just as quickly if they didn’t eat all their meals out and have most of their clothes living at the dry cleaner’s all the time. But hey, I guess everyone has their priorities, right?