I’m single and I technically live in a four-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment. Here in Panama it’s entirely affordable (even with a 15th floor apartment with an ocean view). I sleep in the largest bedroom, and use an adjacent one as my office. Another bedroom I keep for guests, although when I don’t have any I store stuff there. The last very small bedroom is intended for a live-in maid, but I use it for storage. I also have a large living room, attached dining room, kitchen, and laundry room.
I’ve lived in one-bedrooms (or more) whenever I could afford it. When I’ve been impoverished I’ve sometimes lived in basement studio apartments, and they were pretty horrible.
When I first moved to Brooklyn I lived in a decent sized studio with a terrace and big windows. I didn’t have any pets, and girl friends (including the future Ms. P) had no problem visiting. I moved into Ms. P’s small studio in Manhattan a few months before we got married. It was smaller than mine, with no AC or cross ventilation. We had 2 cats, and it was a longer commute to my job. When I’d had enough, we moved to a small 1 bedroom in Brooklyn. We were a little limited in where we could live, since I worked in East New York near the Queens border and she worked in the South Bronx. We were fine there until we had a kid; when that happened we decided we couldn’t afford to live in NY on what we made and moved to the DC area. We haven’t lived in anything that small since. Now we’re looking at kids leaving and possible retirement in the next few years, and I’m guessing we’ll end up in something smaller than the the 3 bedroom house we have now.
I’m in a 1 bed apartment.
It’s a pretty spacious one, as these things go, except the bedroom is tiny; literally room for a bed and the built-in wardrobes, you can only even stand up at one end of the room. I massively prefer being able to shut the door and have a separate sleeping space, but I was cheerfully informed by the very chatty landlord that the previous tenant had just used the bedroom for storage, and slept in the main room, basically treating it like a studio. So I guess some people really do prefer that layout.
When I had my studio apartment I eventually put my bed in my walk-in closet, making it into a sort of bedroom. It helped, of course, that I had a small, narrow bed. And a very large closet.
I am single. I live in a studio apartment. I’d absolutely love to have a one-bedroom instead. In fact, I’d like it even better if I could have a two- or three-bedroom place. Having a home office and a spare bedroom for guests would be amazing!
I haven’t live in an apartment since I was 24 years old, that was about 39 years ago. I had 3 periods of being single since then and I always lived in a single family home by myself. The smallest was an 900 square foot 2 bedroom house, the largest was a 3000 square foot Victorian built back in 2013.
If I had money to burn, one-bedroom would be nice. But I could be fine in a studio, too. If it were the choice I were facing right now, I would not pay the extra for the one-bedroom.
I have few possessions of my own and like it that way, I don’t have many guests who come just to hang out and… well, I guess I go back and forth on that. Right now, I really miss it and would kind of love to be able to hang out with someone and watch a movie or something. But normally, I’m more than happy not to have anyone around. Either way, I certainly wouldn’t plan on a whole lot of entertaining, romantic or otherwise. I don’t need a lot of space and I’m accustomed to making do. I can sleep on a couch and eat off a coffee table with no issue.
That being said, I did rather like all the space I used to have pre-roommate (and associated zoo). If I had money, I wouldn’t be opposed to having a two-bedroom apartment for just myself and my cats. Being able to spread out a bit is nice. On the other hand, it would very likely end up sort of like what I have now- someone I know would end up needing a place, I wouldn’t be able to justify having a room that’s “extra” while they’re in need, and I would once again end up with a roommate when I’d rather be alone. So a one-bedroom place might be a better idea.
I have fond memories of my little studio apartment back in Albuquerque, but I would never willingly go that route again. Extra space rules. But age may be a big part of the decision, as younger folks – like I was back then, in my early 30s – may be fine with that.
When I was a young, single person stationed in Hawaii, I rented a studio with a large lanai overlooking the beach. There was enough room for a full sized bed, the bathroom had a tile floor with a drain and the shower head on the wall over the sink. There was a cover you could slide over the toilet paper so it wouldn’t get wet.
It was a glorious time in my life.
I also had a great studio in CA. It had a fairly largish kitchen are with a full sized fridge and stove, and a very small front yard with grass and shrubs.
I was very careful to keep my stuff very minimal.
When I moved into a 1 bedroom, I bought more stuff.
When I moved to AZ, I bought a 2 bedroom trailer and bought more stuff.
When I ran out of room there, I bought a 3 bedroom home. And bought more stuff.
Is anyone seeing a pattern here?
I could never live in a studio again because of spouse and stuff, but it was nice when I was able to.