Life in 400 Square Feet

Home Design and Decor magazines and television shows seem to be jumping on the “tiny home” trend, and now, so have my husband and I. Living in 400 square feet wasn’t a choice we made because we like a challenge – it’s because it’s London and it’s expensive!

Many London row houses have been bought up and sub-divided to make multiple dwellings – increasing profit for property owners. And the market is quick. My husband and I were in a race two months ago to find an apartment – a requirement for my UK visa – in four days before I returned to Canada to apply. We viewed about 15 teeny homes in four days, and lost two before we got one on our third attempt. It’s amazing what people are willing to pay (us included) for such tight living quarters. Apparently, there’s seven willing tenants for each property that comes available to rent in the UK. Some were gone in the half a day it took us to decide. It’s astonishing. My husband and I were ok with studios, as long as they had a bit of breathing room. While we’re newlyweds and madly in love, we didn’t want to live on top of each other. Some whole apartments you could touch the kitchen from the bed.

So our flat is one bedroom, but it’s tiny. It’s been a challenge to make it ours with only one income so far, (so many great home decor stores in London) but luckily I was able to come to London with most of my art and two beloved white Eiffel arm chairs. (the only furniture I kept when I gave up my apartment to move here)

Our challenges are:

• One wardrobe and one husband with lots of dress shirts and suit jackets, one wife with lots of blouses and dresses
• No storage for large items like suitcases
• Storage for a mountain bicycle
• Very little kitchen storage

We’ve solved the last one by buying an Ikea Malm dresser – which may sound strange, but we think it works with the kitchen’s clean white look.

So here’s what the apartment looks like so far. It still needs side tables and some lamps, but not bad for three weeks.

The box on top needs to go, but these shelves are great for random storage, and I’ve been able to hide it behind travel mementos and books

The dining room set came with the apartment unfortunately, but it’ll have to stay for now.

We bought the Ikea dresser as a solution to our lack of kitchen storage. It’s the smallest kitchen I’ve ever seen, but it’s done well, with subway tile and new glossy cabinets.

The bedroom is a bit plain, but we’ll jazz it up soon with a fresher duvet cover and shams, and more art in the future.

The bane of my apartment existence. This is the only closet, and we have no where else to store large items like suitcases. If anyone has any suggestions to hide it, please send ’em my way!

I call this the airplane bathroom. They had to squeeze the toilet into the corner to fit it!

Bathroom is so tiny I couldn’t take a picture of the whole thing!

The couch came with the apartment, and it’s not in great shape (hence me hiding it under a blanket) but the rug we got at Ikea makes the place more warm, I really like the floors, and my art helps make me feel at home.

My favourite part of the apartment – my favourite chairs, plants, large windows and the floors.

Do you have any suggestions for our small space dilemmas? I’m all ears, (or eyes, as the case may be) so please leave an idea in the comments.