For most renters, apartment living means a constant crusade for maximizing square footage, opening up floor plans and squeezing just one more pair of boots into the closet. Scavenging more space is a quest without glamour—or at least it has been until recently. Whether it's because architects have
become infatuated with high-design spaces the size of closets or because tiny apartments
puts less strain on the environment, or because, duh, the rent is
way cheaper, there's never been a time when living small has been more
en vogue. Super-small apartments, when designed well, cater to an intrinsic human desire to watch gizmos and extensive forethought (see:
NYC's origami apartment) create rooms out of thin air. But no matter how
futuristic and swanky or
mind-bending the micro dwelling, there's always the issue of livability—specifically that the most newsworthy tiny homes are brimming with awesome features that are actually not applicable to real-world use. We've collected the weirdest, most wonderful ways people make do in minuscule living spaces.
First things first: The best microdwellers have zero earthly possessions. The apartment pictured above (via Inhabitat), perched at the top of a 1890s mansion in The Hague, Netherlands, gets it right: There's not a single Neiman Marcus catalog or George Foreman Grill in sight.
Next: Walls that move.
