Tiny Tokyo apartment makes up for lack of space with clever design details【Video】

This expat shows us why she loves her 8 square-metre (86 square-foot) living space in Japan’s crowded capital.

When it comes to downsized living, Bryce Langston from YouTube channel Living Big In A Tiny House has pretty much seen it all. Yet, even he was surprised when he stepped foot into this tiny apartment in Japan.

Measuring just 8 square metres, the apartment’s current resident, Australian expat Emma, otherwise known as Tokidoki Traveller on YouTube, has learnt to make the small space work with some personal touches, but the place itself, and the included furnishings, have also been cleverly designed to maximise the living area. Let’s take a look at the tiny Tokyo apartment below!

Unlike some apartments in downtown Tokyo, which are only single rooms where the bed has to be placed right next to the toilet and kitchen areas, Emma’s tiny place has a loft, which she loves, as it helps to separate her living and sleeping areas.

While tiny rooms are common in the centre of the capital, this apartment is one of the narrowest that Emma has ever seen, as she’s able to touch the walls on either side of her without even stretching her arms. Still, the furniture she has allows her to do her work, even if does involve responding to emails and video editing under a ladder or on a floor chair by the window and the kitchen sink!

What the place lacks in width, however, it certainly makes up for in height, with a tall ceiling that provides a sense of openness within the small space. Two windows on the tall wall at the end of the apartment also help to bring in light from outside to brighten the living area.

One of her favourites things about the apartment is the cleverly designed bathroom, which conceals the toilet underneath the slide-out sink. Seeing as it’s a wet-style bathroom, everything inside the space becomes wet when taking a shower, which means the toilet, and the cleverly concealed toilet roll, stays nice and dry when hidden away underneath the sink.

At 69,000 yen (US$607.89) a month, including Wi-Fi and utilities, the apartment isn’t too expensive for Emma, who says she enjoys living in the area. One of the things she likes about the apartment is the fact that the tiny space challenges her to think more and be more creative about making the most of the space around her. She also has to be more selective of her purchases and possessions, so she only chooses things that mean a lot to her, which is a big part of the minimalist movement in Japan.

Source: YouTube/Living Big In A Tiny House (h/t: Design Taxi)
Featured image: YouTube/Living Big In A Tiny House
Insert images: YouTube/Living Big In A Tiny House

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