Decorating a Tiny Apartment, One Shoe at a Time

This is exactly the sort of apartment that looks good in photographs and awful to live in - and I don't meann the size, which is fine for one person. Has Ms Hopp forgotten what sofas are for? Does she imagine displayng her client's personal items as if at a shop makes for greater visual (or real) order?

Looks like a set display, or a childs prefab doll house, not a space that a human could actually live in. Too much little junk all over the place, and other than the couch, the chairs appear to be horribly uncomfortable. Guess you would do your entertaining "out."

Looks cute but impractical. Neither the chairs (rope or white plastic ones) nor the sofa look comfortable. Cringing at the thought of dusting this place or watering the plants....

Closets and shelves exist not only for putting clothing and other items out of sight (they can be colorful and interesting, as shown here) but also, and at least as important, to keep them clean and free of dust. I had to laugh when I started seeing open shelves in kitchens. Looks great in a store but no way would I wash everything every time I used it, or dust the shelf it was sitting on all the time. Anyway, her place now looks like a store.

I actually love this and I think it came about perfectly for the client. Just one nitpicky note, though, and it's with the newspaper, not the apartment. 400 square feet is not "tiny," and you - New York Times, you - do this a lot. In most stories about "economic living" and "tiny space" living, you sound as if 400 square feet is a cabinet and it takes some kind of genius to make it work. I live in 296 very lovely square feet, and I do okay. I would LOVE more space and the thought of an actual bedroom makes my heart flutter, but it isn't a cell. You can call my apartment a "small studio," but "tiny" just sounds silly. "Tiny" is the bowl where the goldfish lives and poor thing, he's never getting a one-bedroom.

While Ms He doubtless loves her little toy-sized dog, buying such breeds only perpetuates a terribly cruel industry.

Looks like there is no space to walk around. Looks like you would have to climb over the furniture to move around the room. Also, the plants are going to drop leaves onto tables and floors requiring daily cleaning. Also the plants on low tables in such crowded space will get tipped over or damaged easily. Just looking at this practically.

Can someone please give me the information for that cool corner shelf thingy that is sort of over the couch? Thanks!

Don't man to sound too snarky, but the renter needed a designer to come up with *that*?

Just a friendly reminder that in many parts of the world, 400 sq-feet is not considered "tiny" at all. It's pretty large by Tokyo standards. Resource-hungry American cars and homes are wasteful and hopefully not the way of the future.