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"The house belongs to others, but life is your own." In the past two years, we can see many young people renting houses with this concept in mind, trying to balance the cost of soft furnishings with comfort and practicality, making their small homes comfortable and practical. The small apartment we are going to talk about today is just like this.

At 28, Shirley is also a white-collar worker.She moved to Tokyo to work and live in June, and rented an unfurnished 22-square-meter apartment. She spent a month decorating the apartment by herself, and step by step turned the cold, empty house into a warm and comfortable home!

Although the area is only 22 square meters, she said that it costs 90,000 yen per month, which is about 4,400 yuan. Although it is a bit expensive, it is much more comfortable than those tiny single rooms of only about 10 square meters. Let's take a look~

22㎡ vacant house before decoration

Let’s first briefly talk about what this 22-square-meter apartment looked like when it was empty.

▲Entrance hall location

▲Indoor living space

The tiny apartment appears larger in the camera, but in reality, if you compare the proportions of her home, you'll find that the space is cramped.

• The area of ​​the small entrance hall is less than 1 square meter. It is used as a dust collection area with high and low platforms, and the shoe cabinet is hidden in the wall. Two steps away from the opposite side is the door leading to the main living space of the house.
• On the left and right sides are the bathroom and open kitchen of the house respectively. When she first moved in, there were only basic hard furnishings, washing machines, refrigerators and other soft furnishings and daily necessities, which Shirley had to prepare herself later.
• Further in, there is an open area where the bedroom, living room and desk are located. It was also the focus of Shirley's decoration during the month after she moved in.
• The house was finally tidied up. Although the decoration is not gorgeous, the details are well done. Everything from living convenience to storage is taken into consideration. It is really comfortable to live alone!

Use the narrow entrance as a dust collection area

The entrance area is less than 1㎡, but it still has high and low platforms where you can change shoes to avoid bringing dust and dirt into the house.

▲Small entrance space

The entrance area is very small, but fortunately the entrance cabinet is equivalent to a closet, which can store shoes and various personal belongings after entering the door; although the entrance is narrow, it is enough to change shoes when going home, at least there is a transition space for entering the house.

Standing at the entrance, you can basically have a panoramic view of the 22㎡ small home. Directly opposite is the indoor living area mentioned above, on the left are the toilet and bathroom, and the kitchen on the right is also very small, with no partitions, making it open.

The open kitchenette is full

This open kitchen makes sure not half a square meter of space is wasted.

▲The kitchen

The so-called kitchen is nothing more than a set of cabinets, countertops and wall cabinets. Shirley said that except for the fact that the gas was not turned on when she first moved in, the layout around the cabinets was quite practical. In this month, she just added some dining utensils and electrical appliances.

There is a space for cutting vegetables between the stove and the sink. The wall cabinets and base cabinets can also store the dishes, cutlery and various kitchen utensils she needs for her life. The small kitchen looks quite tidy at the moment.

Although there is a bathroom and toilet at home, the sink is too small. Now, the sink in the kitchen also serves as Shirley's daily washing function. She naturally puts various toiletries on the rack in front of the sink for convenient daily washing.

▲The kitchen before decoration

Before the renovation, the kitchen did not have any kitchen appliances such as a refrigerator or microwave. The ones you see now were all bought by Shirley from the second-hand market. Fortunately, they can be placed in the recessed space in the kitchen and do not take up too much space.

The redundant space next to the refrigerator is also used to place a set of three-layer small shelves, which can be used to store various condiments and small items in the kitchen, as well as to place kettles and mini rice cookers, making full use of every inch of space.

Redundant space for storage

Before entering the interior, there is a relatively narrow redundant space where Shirley made some detailed storage.

▲Two windows provide excellent lighting

It has to be said that although the house is only 22 square meters in size, the lighting is excellent. After entering the house from the entrance and the kitchen, the view suddenly opens up. The two large windows at the corners bring plenty of natural light and fresh air into the house.

In the corner next to the door, there is a set of small cabinets, mainly used to store Shirley's cosmetics. Because there is no place to put a dressing mirror in the entrance, she placed the floor-length mirror in front of the storage cabinet. I personally feel that the arrangement is just right.

▲ Make a simple clothes hanger behind the door

Most of the furniture and storage items in the house do not require punching. Take this set of behind-the-door clothes hangers for example. It is installed and fixed with support rods. It has strong stability and can be installed and used at any time. It is also easy to disassemble when you move it away in the future.

This set of simple clothes hangers is mainly used to hang up Shirley's coats and other items that she wears on a daily basis. It is very convenient to hang them up, and there is no need to open the wardrobe every day to stack and store them. The most important thing is that it makes full use of the gap space behind the door.

Place the bed against the wall and the desk by the window

There is a recessed space against the wall, just enough to fit a bed, avoiding the window.

▲The location of the bed in the bedroom

To be honest, this grooved space seems to naturally divide the bedroom space in the house, creating a warm and comfortable sleeping area. Shirley said that this bed is an old bed that a friend no longer uses, and it is of the right size, so she just used it.

There was no box under the bed frame, so she used storage boxes to organize and store things. She had just moved in for more than a month and there were not many things that needed to be stored, but as the seasons changed, clothes and bedding for the changing seasons could be hidden and stored in the boxes.

▲The desk faces the window

As a white-collar worker, Shirley often has to work and write at home, so a desk is essential. She placed the desk under the window with the best lighting in the room, facing the window, to ensure sufficient light when using it.

The drawers of the desk and the cabinets with rollers also add more hidden storage here. The desktop remains "clear" for a long time, and the blank space on the surface makes the 22㎡ small living space appear neat and tidy.

Relaxation corner and closet wardrobe

A small leisure reading corner and a large wardrobe are also tucked into this living space.

There is currently only a small sofa in the reading corner. Shirley said that she has been considering putting a small side table in the corner to serve as a dining table and storage table. While filling the empty space, she can also have a separate dining table so that she doesn't have to eat at the desk every time.

The closet-style wardrobe was there when she moved in, and she didn't make too many changes. She only added a few simple drawers to store small items of clothing and other sundries. When she opened the door, she saw that the clothes inside were neatly organized.

Dry and wet separation in bathroom

Finally, let’s talk about the toilet and bathroom at home.

▲Location of the bathroom

I found that many Japanese people have bathtubs in their bathrooms, and Shirley's 22-square-meter home is no exception. In the bathroom, the half-body bathtub occupies half of the space, and the washbasin and sitting area are squeezed next to the bathtub.

This "integrated" bathroom, which was derived from the habit of bathing, may look a bit crowded, but it is actually quite easy to use. It is not only moisture-proof and waterproof, but the ventilation fan also has an integrated drying function, so you can dry clothes in the bathroom.

The toilet is located in a small cubicle, and perhaps using the toilet here will naturally give you a sense of security; and the small washbasin above the toilet is not only convenient for washing hands after using the toilet, but also allows the wastewater after washing hands to flow into the water tank for flushing, which saves more water for secondary use.

Conclusion

What do you think? After reading this, do you think the small apartment of this 28-year-old white-collar girl is well decorated?

The 22-square-meter house was transformed from an empty house into a cozy home. The decoration took only one month. It is not complicated or gorgeous, but it is so comfortable to live in! If it were me, I would really like to live and work in this small house.

Do you guys like her small apartment?

Thanks for reading!

(Picture: TL, please delete if infringement)