What is the minimum square footage required for a person to live comfortably?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Inspired by measuring my new apartment. An adorable little studio in a historic building (claw foot tub and gas stove, hooray!) but there’s no doubt it’s tiny. So I got to thinking about tenements and the like, though I’m sure this building never served as a tenement. My best guess is that it was built to house single men or young couples employed in one of the city’s early building booms.

So, basically, what is the minimum square footage per person for a comfortable (though probably slightly cramped) home?

I’m going with 300 sq ft for a single person. Yes, my apartment is 305 sq ft, why do you ask?

Add 150 sq ft for each additional adult.
100 sq ft for every teenager.
75 sq ft for every child 3-12.
50 sq ft for every infant.
If the family consists of 3 or more persons, add an additional 100 sq ft.

So a couple with a 5 year old and an infant could comfortably live in a home or apartment that was approximately 675 sq ft.

What do you think? I’m not aiming for everyone having their own room, and obviously different rules apply for unrelated adults living as roommates, but what do you think is the bare minimum to keep people out of third world or tenement-esque living situations?

2

There is some complicated city code involved in our town, but we just go with no more than 2 people to a bedroom. It’s not followed too much, though.

3

Heh, I think my home office is 305 square feet.

I could probably live OK in this amount of space if I lived by myself, though I’m not sure how happy I’d be. No way I could happily live in less than about 1500 square feet with another person.

We spent 3 months in a 900 square foot place last year, and it was really bad. Two adults, 2 small dogs, one million house centipedes. OK, it might have been better without the 'pedes, but still - it was cramped, there was no privacy, and I was miserable.

4

Japan it’s a 6 mat room, which is around 160 to 180 square feet depending on how it’s configured in terms of an entry way, kitchen and bathroom.

5

Have you read about the tiny house guy? He’s living in 89 square feet.

6

What exactly is meant by “tenement?” Simply an older house chopped up into little rooms?

7

No way in hell.

If I had to live with two kids that age in 675 sq. ft., there would be kid stew bubbling on the oven within a week.

The last apartment that I lived in was a one bedroom that was about 600 sq. ft. And I was cramped in that, living by myself.

8

I think that the answer really depends on the layout of the apartment, the amount of storage available and the amount of crap that the occupants want.

An issue that may come up is that often times, furniture seems to be designed for much larger spaces. My wife, my son, and I lived in a 1600sq ft. row house and it can feel a bit crowded. Furniture can be an issue. We have gone to furniture stores looking for things, and everything seems to be too oversized for our rooms.

Our place felt crowded until we built more closet space and could then get rid of furniture to hold a lot of clothing. We built a lot of shelving in one room which helped as well. Converting a room’s small useless closet into a linen closet with shelves helped a lot as well. I think that a very square 600 sqft apartment will feel larger than a very rectangular 700 sq ft. apartment, although neither will feel very big.

That being said, I would not want to live in an apartment with two kids where I didn’t have a bedroom for the parents and at least a bed room for the kids.

9

Our first apartment was 700 square feet, in the married-student housing at UNC. 2 bedrooms. We had no kids, but I’m quite sure families with 2-3 kids lived in those even at the time (mid-80s). They were a bit cramped, but if you don’t have a lot of STUFF, they were tolerable.

I think we’ve gotten to “require” more space in recent decades, certainly in our parents’ day, they crammed more people into smaller houses than we’d consider acceptable these days.

10

Location:

I would like it on one eighth of an acre [city lot] that is entirely fenced with 6’ chain link including a 2 car driveway. Land to be flat, with the house centered on it so that the back yard would be rather secluded with a good tree overhanging it for the shade. The front yard would have wheelchair accessable raised beds for herbs and some vegetables. I want an avocado tree and perhaps a meyers lemon as well.

It needs to be on a good city septic system, but I would like to have a good deep well and cistern system so I do not have city water, or I have an alternative to city water.

I would prefer Castroville as I adore artichokes but I dont know offhand if avocados would grow there so Indio would be a good alternative. I would prefer to avoid the LA basin as I hate the air and traffic conditions there.

conditions:

I would have to be single again, no mrAru :frowning: though perhaps my cat.

I would need to have a job telecommuting, or an income that would allow me to live modestly.

I need to keep my amusements in house so to speak as I have mobility issues. I need a cable company that will not restrict my unlimited bandwidth, and has lots of channels [movies and programming, not sports. I hate sports]

It has to be in a good cell coverage area as I like not having a wired phone.

The house:
the enesti modified - no second floor, a small cubby with a full sized indulgabath instead of the stairs, and the optional bedroom off the kitchen, and really nice cathedral ceilings in pace of the second floor.

I would like a brick paved patio in the back surrounded by privacy hedges as I would like to keep my new hot tub, it is working our quite well in reducing the pain and inflammation issues right now. A nice grill and outdoor table and chairs with an umbrella would be nice to have friends over for dinner.

I have gotten heavily into electronic books, and mp3s instead of hard copy items for the most part, so I would probably end up with 2 computer systems - one for work and gaming, and the other set up as an entertainment center, interfacing with the cable box. Also I would need a decent all in one print/scanner.

I would prefer a gas range, as I find the control better than electrical, and the tiny house webpage shows the cutest little gas heaters, though I would also need an air conditioner for days over 75 F.

11

We live in a 900 sq ft apartment with a total of two adults and two kids, ages 5 & 3. We had a dog (border collie/lab mix) until she died last year. We don’t feel cramped at all. I will say that we have really good storage - huge walk-in closets and a storage closet on our (tiny) deck. We also don’t have a lot of extra stuff.

12

Your link doesn’t work for me so I don’t know whether ‘tiny house guy’ and ‘comfortable’ can be mentioned in the same sentence where he is concerned.

Here is a photo of what I believe is the smallest flat ever to come onto the London market. It has a deceptively spacious 62 square feet. Details can be found there.

An analysis of comfort levels experienced by its various occupants is as yet unavailable.

13

I’m not sure of the square footage, but I lived onboard a 25 foot sailboat for about 5 months. It was…cozy.

14

There are two of us and we have been fine in 450 sq feet (but access to a shared kitchen (this was a villa in Dubai). Now we have about 1700 sq feet in the US and 900 sq feet in Europe and both are fine, though of course the US place is more comfortable. More than 1800 though would be too big. I think about 1500 for two would be perfect.

15

When I think of tenements, I think of the historic little apartments families lived in, in NYC.

Strange. You can google “tiny house guy” or the dude’s name, Jay Shafer.

16

Depends on the ceiling height and windows/light, I think. Also, how you decorate. On that note, Apartment Therapy’s Small Cool Contest is an amazing resource for anyone trying to make a small spot livable. Great storage solutions and design ideas for places as small as 210 sq. ft.

17

That’s about what I live in 200 feet or so. Me and a cat. It’s cozy, but I like having my own space, and the rent is unbeatable. I do wish I had more than a “one butt” kitchen (only one butt will fit in there at a time - my mom’s term), and my bookcases do make it seem smaller, but if I need to stretch I can go outside. I’ve been here 5 years now and they’ll have to pry me out with a crowbar to get me to leave.

My girlfriend stayed with me for just over a month last year and it did get cramped. By the end of it, we were glad she was headed back to school.

18

“…I have to go outside to change my mind!”

“…the mice are hunchbacked!”

“…I just stick the kids to the ceiling with Velcro!”

Seriously, those are some teeny-tiny apartments. As to the OP, I think every person will give you a different answer. So long as there’s a place for you to lie comfortably in bed and store your stuff (however much you permit yourself), you could live in a very small space indeed. If you have a shared bathroom down the hall, and never ate at home and thus didn’t insist on a kitchen(ette), it could be smaller still.

19

The smallest apartment I ever saw was one rented by an employee of mine with his wife and newborn. It was an old converted motel that turned the already teeny rooms into apartments by squeezing in a micro-kitchen. It had to be less than 400sq.ft. The kitchen had those special tiny appliances like the 2’ wide stove and fridge and a sink from a wetbar.
You can see the outside of them on google street view at 500 Revico Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL.

20

A lot would depend on where this housing is. In a warm climate, where you can use the park across the street all year round? Or a colder climate, where for 4 months a year you can’t use your balcony?

I can’t imagine a 300sq ft apartment in Minnesota. By spring, I’d be ready to tear it down.