so far I've loved our little studio apartment. I remember telling my mom that I had a secret dream to live in a studio apartment in a downtown of a city, and who would have thought my wish would have come true? only the occasional outburst of "I hate this place, I'm done!!" has escaped my lips, but recently we've been thinking and dreaming about living in a 2 bedroom anything with a backyard, and we just can't say no. so when our lease is up in August we are gonzo.
but we've learned a lot, and we would like to impart our knowledge.
PROS:
you get to hang out with your roommate all the time // i mean really. there's no way around it. like, there are only really 3 places to sit in the house: the bed, the love sac, or the toilet. i mean i guess we could sit on the floor in the kitchen, but who does that? so we have a lot of time to spend together. it's unavoidable.
easy to clean // one general area and you're done. we don't have a lot of things anyways.
generally cheaper (our "rent" pays for all utilities, rent, cable & internet) // we were spending 800+ a month when we were living in Sugar House, and what we're paying now.. we can't ever imagine paying that much for an apartment ever again.
cute building right in downtown (the location!) // across the street we have the grocery store, plenty of restaurants within walking distance, down the road we have the University, close to the Tiki Shack (this is winning) and pretty much anywhere we go we are straight in the middle of town. stellar.
nice views // the outskirts of cedar city and surrounding areas are gawgeous, and we can see lots from our corner apartment.
trendy & easy to decorate // we've painted a whole wall in chalkboard paint, put a corkboard on another wall, and pretty much just put art on the walls and everything matches. it's so fun!
forces you to downsize & practice a simplified lifestyle // we have most of our stuff in storage at nick's parent's house because all we can have in our space is the necessary things for survival & school.
it's just FUN! // living in a studio apartment is just fun. i'm not boasting and saying how cool we are or how good our lives are, but people who come to visit always say, "man i wish we could live here! i've always wanted to live in a studio apartment." and we feel pretty good about that. it's nice to know that we are not living an undesirable lifestyle. we have so much fun and always joke about our simple lives, but we really do love it. i mean, we are artists and it's only natural that we live in a studio (insert courtesy laugh here.)
CONS:
When i first heard that we were going to be moving into a studio apartment, i was really excited. I thought our lives would be something like the >Davis' how they did fun things like camped on their floor in their studio apartment and made memories. NOT QUITE. here's the deets:
little amount of space // here is the general layout of our place as of today: you walk in the door, and our bed is on the left. straight ahead is the lovesac, and to the left of that is the entertainment center. to the left of the main room is the kitchen, which is a small tile area that we keep our desk and bookshelf in, and a small hall with sink, dishwasher to the right and fridge, oven & microwave to the left. from the right of the large room is a combined closet/bathroom that if nick and i were to lay down with my feet on the tub and his feet on the far wall of the closet, our heads would touch. we can't have more than 8 people over at a time or we're on the verge of expiring from lack of oxygen.
hardly any personal space // like i said, there's really nowhere for you to go in our apartment unless you leave the building entirely or go do laundry in the basement. so if we get in the fight, we either have to get over it or get out.
when something smells, it all smells // kitchen sink, garbage, bathroom... if something starts to smell it all goes downhill from there. it is imperative that you are responsible for your own dookies in this house, because if it is bad enough candles must be lit and windows must be opened. true story.
monthly rent not towards house payment // i think this is a con of any apartment, but we always feel sick when we think about how much we're actually spending and how our money basically goes nowhere. like really.
your bed is in your living room, and your couch is in your bedroom // hi home teachers, we'll just sit on our bed while you share a lesson. having friends over? well, someone is going to have to sit on the bed. just suck it up and sit on it. just because it's our bed doesn't mean we are nasty nast. we keep it clean knowing that it is in the middle of our living room. but still, it's awkward.
your clothes are in your bathroom, and your toilet is in your closet // we have to be careful about how long we spend in the shower because the steam goes straight into our clothes. we wash them frequently, but mildew always finds a way. also, if your friends need to use the bathroom, they can also check out what they want to borrow and/or steal from you in the future. dirty clothes? always.
no room for a table // this is probably the saddest but funniest thing about living here. we love that someday we can look back on our pathetic times having thanksgiving dinner on the floor, but when we have friends over and we serve pizza and sandwiches on the floor, we have to explain that YES this is really how we live, we're sorry. we're just glad our friends love us enough to keep coming back.
hardly any storage // none. our pantry is as deep as 2 cans of beans & as wide as a small poster. we don't have a linen closet or a place to store extra blankets.
no laundry room // another con that i think is common to a lot of apartments is that we don't have laundry washer/dryer in our apartment. we have to take it somewhere else. lucky us though, we have a laundry room in the basement. we still have to lug our clothes up and down 4 flights of stairs, but it beats going to a laundry mat. and for that i am grateful.
all in all we love living here. we're excited for the new tenants to move in and the memories they will make & things they will learn. we're still trying to convince the building manager that he should let us keep the chalkboard wall up for the next people, because who doesn't want a giant chalkboard wall in their kitchen?
conclusion: if you're considering moving into a studio apartment, i recommend it.
