"Home and garden" is a growing category in online video with media companies, real estate firms, retail businesses, and individuals documenting everything from gardening advice for beginners to key information for potential buyers.
One surprising focus in this expanding sector? Tiny and unusual spaces.
In the last three years, U.S. web searches for "tiny apartment" have more than doubled. And in the last 12 months, searches for "unusual homes" and "unique spaces" have grown more than 50%. As a result, entire web series have emerged to address related quirky decorating needs. One example is , which helps trendy renters and owners learn how to get creative with paint or turn a room into a "couples cave."
Naturally, those that manage to make small spaces work have posted countless videos of their compact masterpieces. Here are some of the greatest hits:
1. 78 Square Feet
In the battle for the tiniest apartment in the United States, Luke Clark Tyler may have won by several square feet. His New York city apartment totals 78 square feet, and it also often functions as his office. Tyler turned his bed into a convertible couch, he has a microwave in his closet, and a desk wedged between the two. As a freelance architect, Tyler’s humble Hell’s Kitchen abode saves him money (with rent under $800) and seemingly keeps his life in perspective. Prior to this apartment, Tyler lived in a 96-square-foot space, a shelter in the Southeast, and the largest slum in Africa. Seems that there may be more to learn from Luke than the decorating tips he gives to other small-apartment renters.
2. 80 Square Feet
It is hard to be more eco-friendly than living in a tree. Beren Harrington lives 25 feet off the ground in a tree house that he built to bring him closer to nature and to fulfill a childhood dream. Located in Parlin Pond, Maine, Harrington built the house as high as he possibly could because he did not want to "injure the tree." This house is not for those who suffer from acrophobia because the ladder to reach the house looks somewhat treacherous. At 80 square feet, the tree house is really more of a tree studio, with a single room for a bed and a deck. The house is a bit unconventional with no bathroom or kitchen, but the views look unbeatable.
3. 89 Square Feet
While Luke Clark Tyler claims to occupy the tiniest apartment in the United States, he wasn’t the first to start sharing his quirky living situation with the world. One of the earlier tiny home tours was from Jay Shafer in 2007. His 89-square-foot home has been viewed online more than 1.6 million times. His toilet is in the shower and his sleeping loft is above the kitchen. In the last 10 years Shafer has lived in three different houses, all of which were under 100 square feet because he feels passionate about reducing his environmental impact and did not want the burden of maintaining a large home. According to Shafer, his small homes afford him a slower lifestyle, and now he sells tiny homes to others looking to downsize.
4. 90 Square Feet
One of the first tours to really take off online was of a 90-square-foot Manhattan apartment rented by Felice Cohen for $700 per month. The closet-sized space was right by Central Park, and Cohen was able to put her professional organizing skills to the test. With a lofted bed frame, Cohen slept close to the ceiling and made use of the space underneath the bed for storage and seating. She used her toaster oven for additional food storage and had to sit sideways on the toilet. In April 2011, a number of pop-culture and real estate blogs discovered the video and helped it reach nearly a million views in a single day. Cohen has recently traded in her tiny digs for bigger pastures, but her old apartment and compact lifestyle were captured as part of an hour-and-a-half documentary on tiny home dwellers.
5. 330 Square Feet
According to architect and tiny home dweller Gary Chang, living in tight spaces is very common in Hong Kong. Chang decided not to leave the small 330-square-foot tenement apartment that once housed his whole family and a tenant. Instead, using a sliding door system and his architectural prowess, Chang reconfigured the apartment to transform into 24 separate rooms. A bedroom transforms into a living room, the kitchen is behind the TV, and the linen closet transforms into a bathroom. Chang’s space focuses on efficiency and "user experience." His mirrored ceilings and floors help disguise the tracks for the sliding doors and improve the natural light, reducing the need for electricity-powered lighting. The video of his metamorphosing layout has been posted multiple times and cumulatively viewed more than 10 million times.
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