Joe's Chicago Gem: Small/Cool 2012 Entry

Joe's 420 square foot unit goes to show just how effective paint, nice finishes, and cohesive flooring can go to make a space unique. For some reason I'm slightly hooked on the paint color combinations, loving the upgraded kitchen, and scale of the furniture. Making things even better? Joe's unit is in Chicago (my city) and always encourages me that spaces right in my backyard can be transformed on any budget. On another note, I really wish landlords would take the time to upgrade the flooring, kitchens, and bathrooms in apartments. Seriously... incorporating granite and stainless steel appliances in a space under 500 sq feet is NOT asking for much. Plus you'll open up the pool of renters and be able to charge more rent. I'm even down for wood laminate floors. Yes, wood laminate can be annoying and I'd much prefer real wood, but dirty, dingy carpets? Hell no. I'll pass. Sidebar: Can I get white trim, please!! I can't begin to explain how much brown colored trim I've seen lately :/ It makes my heart ache.

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Name: Joe

Location: Chicago, IL

Square Footage: 420

Division: Tiny

What I Love About My Small Home

We love the coziness of our home. While it is a small space, we’ve worked hard to transform it into OUR small space, trying to best address space issues with our design aesthetic. Brainstorming clever ways to maximize function and potential has been fun, and is one of the ways our home is ever-changing.

Biggest Challenge of Living in a Small Space

Entertaining guests is difficult in a small space, but cooking for our friends and family is one of our favorite things to do. To address the impracticality of a full-size dining table in our home, we’ve custom-made (I know, we’re sort of handy) an extendable dining table/desk combo. When we are having friends over, the table slides open to seat 8 people comfortably. When it’s just us, the table slides closed with the leaves removed, and functions as a perfectly sized desk. This project in particular took A LOT of planning to pull off (probably more than I should admit). From determining the size of the table leaves (when not in use, they needed to fit under our bed in a storage tub) to figuring out how to seat an ideal number of guests (the coffee table needed to double as a bench seat), everything in our home must serve multiple purposes. Nevertheless, we’ve created something we’re proud of, and hope our guests feel as comfortable as we do.