Personal experience: how Americans organize space and live on 8 square meters

Renting a home in New York is perhaps the biggest expense for most of its residents. And everyone is looking for ways to save money here. Someone rents a room in an apartment and lives with neighbors. Someone moves to remote areas, where rental prices are more affordable. And some manage to live in 8 square meters, but in Manhattan, writes the author of the channel "50 Shades of New York" on the Yandex.Zen channel.

Our compatriot met an attractive blonde in a cafe. I immediately liked her open smile. In America, it is not customary to simply pester people with questions. But apparently the interest and the foreign accent intrigued Ernie.

“After all, representatives of the most interesting professions also cannot boast of luxurious apartments. For example, my brother spent 20 years on a submarine. And there’s no need to talk about astronauts, ”Ernie reasoned. They climbed to the fifth floor of the Manhattan house on foot due to the lack of an elevator.

According to Milana, it was the most unusual room tour in her life.

The American lived in a communal apartment occupying a room of 8 m². In the heart of the metropolis, a stone's throw from famous theatres, exhibition halls and restaurants.

“At first it seemed that the room looked like a hornet's nest, obviously due to the abundance of semicircular shapes and the frame, divided into honeycomb cells. However, there was no particular tightness. Each item was in its place and did not interfere with free movement, ”the girl shares her impressions.

The hostess used popular design techniques to expand the space. The walls, ceiling and floor were of a light, almost snow-white hue. And the furniture also did not stand out too much against the general background.

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A meter from the window was a folding bed with a high mattress. With a flick of her hand, Ernie turned it into a rack of artificial flowers.

The one-legged chair turned out to be a table: the hostess parted the panels, and the lid almost tripled in size.

The chairs were threaded one into the other and stood in the corner of the room. Ernie placed her collection of shoes in a closet disguised as a fireplace. The girl kept bags and clothes on closed shelves, and utensils at the base of the bar.

For an unmarried city dweller, such an apartment is a real find.

Everything - from the office to the main attractions of New York - is nearby. Ernie is not claustrophobic. Well, it is convenient to store a winter wardrobe, this is a popular and inexpensive service here.

Renting such a room costs $1000 per month. Plus a one-time fee for the services of an agent who helped find housing. At 30 km from the city center for the same money it is really possible to rent spacious housing in the fresh air. But Ernie was born for the big city, so she is quite comfortable here.