Interview

I did an interview to complete my groups reasearch methodology, each group member do one reasearch methodology, and here is the result of my interview .

Ang Fei Xi is a student in Nanyang Academy of Fine Art. She lives in a studio apartment around Lavender, named City Light. Beside school, the interviewee is also busy with her part time job, so the interview is done through online chatting.

Stated that she prefers living in a studio apartment because it is cheaper compared to other HDB rental. Other than that, she feels that studio apartment is easier to manage because it has smaller space, which gives the advantage for 1 person to live in. She also finds that the rental cost for the studio apartment is cheaper, because the space is small and the facilities were pretty simple, so it is relevant for what she pays, she gets. But the problem is that, the place could be really messy because of everything she has, been all placed at the same place, as there is no other space for her to spread out her stuffs.

Looking at the brighter side, she finds that it is easier to pack her things because of the small space. But she said that, “No matter how many times you pack the area, it still seems very full!” The air ventilation there is not really that good, you have to open all of the windows for fresh air. Aside of that, cooking is another problem which she encounters. She said that she did not really cook that often, because of the small space of the studio apartment has, the smell of the food she is cooking will cover up the entire apartment, and the smell will also stay for a long period of time. It can also produce stains everywhere in the apartment and in clothes. Not to mention that the stain smells too. She feels comfortable and cozy with the small space that the apartment has. But it is only for when you are alone. It would not be comfortable for both the visitor and yourself to spend some quality time together in the apartment, as the space of the apartment is small so it is hard to move around, and your personal stuffs may get exposed. She said that it is better for the people who do not spend much time at home. Her things were stored in stack-up drawers that she has to buy by herself, as there is not much space available for her to store her things. It is interesting that studio apartment usually has multifunctional furniture in order to save space. And what she has is a sofa bed. She said she would fold up her bed into a sofa during the day after she wakes up.

How To Design a Small Studio Apartment

A studio is a small apartment comprised of one room that serves as a living, sleeping, dining and kitchen area combined. Studio apartments rent for less than larger spaces, making them desirable for people with small budgets. Because of their size, studio apartments are easy to maintain, but they also present decorating and storage challenges. It is possible, however, to design a small apartment to take advantage of its limited space while still making it inviting, cozy and uniquely yours.

1. Define the space. Decide if there is room for both a dedicated sleeping space and a living area. Hang a curtain, or use privacy screens to separate the living space from the sleeping area. Place a media center between the sleeping and living areas. Attach fabric to the back to form a headboard for your bed.
2. Buy furniture that does double-duty. A daybed, futon or convertible sofa will serve as a couch by day and a bed by night. A three-shelf bookcase can act as both end tables and bedside tables. Choose a drop leaf table with leaves that can be opened when you have guests or folded down and pushed against the wall to act as an office while creating floor space. Use a vintage trunk for both a coffee table and storage. Create extra seating with storage cubes.
3. Create storage. Make use of vertical space. Build a loft bed if the ceiling is high enough, creating a space for storage or a workspace underneath. Install floor-to-ceiling shelving. Supplement your storage space with armoires, dressers and trunks. Corral clothes, magazines, shoes, purses and laundry in baskets. Make use of space under the bed, couch and chairs. Hang a pot rack in the kitchen. Choose one that you suspend from the ceiling or a wall-mounted style. Hang a shoe storage bag on the back of your bathroom door. Buy a shower curtain liner with built-in pockets to store shampoo, body wash and other essentials. Use drawer dividers in your kitchen drawers to keep utensils organized. Keep dry goods in stackable containers.
4. Paint your apartment with light colors to make the space appear larger. Choose pastels rather than brighter hues. Paint the ceiling a lighter shade than the walls. Add a splash of color with accessories like throw pillows, rugs, artwork and quilts or afghans.
5. Purge your apartment of things you don’t use or rarely use. Donate items to charity, hold a tag sale or rent a storage unit. When you bring something in to the apartment get rid of something else. Pare down collections. Display one or two pieces rather than every piece you own. Sell or donate clothing you haven’t worn in two years.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_7886787_design-small-studio-apartment.html#ixzz309uyUn1u

How to Decorate a 400 Square Foot Apartment

Whether your apartment is a 20 X 20 foot box or a 12 X 33 foot bowling alley, a 400 square foot apartment is difficult to decorate. You can to create space to sleep, entertain, and sometimes even work without feeling claustrophobic. Here are some ideas on how to decorate a 400 square feet apartment.

Instructions

1. Stick to slick, streamlined, small-scale furnishings. For example, avoid king sized beds, overstuffed sofas, and massive dining tables. You just don’t have space for this in a tiny apartment. It is fine to have one large scale-furnishing piece in the apartment, especially if it is something that organizes your items, but you should generally stick to smaller pieces. Ikea has a great deal of furnishings make particularly for small spaces.  
2.  Look for vertical space. If you have tall ceilings, then by all means take advantage of it, by hanging items on the wall, and putting shelving all the way up, even if it means you need a ladder to get to it. Just put the things you use the least up high. Another way to take advantage of vertical space is to purchase a loft bed that you can have your office space underneath.
3. Use versatile furnishings. There are some very clever versatile furniture pieces on the market. There are hide-a-beds that when put up transform your space into a home office. There are sofa futons that fold out into beds, while still being comfortable, and there are sofas and beds that double as storage units. These items can be very useful in small spaces.
4. Use sheer curtains and see-through bookshelves to divide your space. If you have a long narrow apartment, you can place your bedroom at the far end and put up a divider that still allows natural light to shine through while providing a little privacy
5. Stick to light colors. Dark colors have a way of making a room seem smaller and cozy. Since your room is already small, you want to choose a paint color that has the opposite effect. Soft light colors to consider are butter yellow, silver blue, and pale green.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_2285246_decorate-400-square-foot-apartment.html#ixzz309sgdjrK

disadvantages research

Continuing my research before. There are also disadvantages of living in studio apartment. Limited space become one of the major issue, because there are no enough storage room. It could easily end up with noisy neighbour the space between each units. And having guests over could be a problem because it's not big enough to load people . And since It's not your property, so you are not in control.

References:

http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/what-are-the-disadvantages-of-living-in-an-apartment#axzz2sukYQ5J9

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/disadvantages-apartment-living-44989.html

http://shailesh143.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-studio-apartments/

advantages research

I did research on what the advantages of live in a studio apartment and here are some advantages. First, we don't have to share the room with the others so we can have our own privacy . If we live in a hostel or whatever it is, we have to share with the other. It might have a room for one person but it must be expensive and what you get is just a bedroom. So it can save your rent money too, because when you rent a studio apartment, what you get is a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen and some spaces for put the furniture in. But, if rent a normal apartment it must be much more expensive. Live in a studio apartment also helped you to be multitasking, since everything is in the same room you're in. You know how annoying it is when you have to do something and have to walk to move to the other room, with everything in one room and within reach, cooking, cleaning and even watching can all be done without having to switch rooms. Studio apartment has not much space to be clean, it also less space to be furnish then you're foreced to have less and buy less. And last but not least is lower electricity bill, because the number of lamp and other electronic stuffs also less.

references:

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/09/09mar23a.cfm

http://apartments.about.com/od/apartmenthunting/a/studiooronebedroom.htm

http://shailesh143.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-studio-apartments/

Unfolding Apartment

Almost all studio apartment in over the world are small , so do in Manhattan . In 2005 , Eric Schneider bought an studio apartment sized 400sqft which was basically an open rectangular space and only comes with a tiny kitchen , when he also need a bed room, living room , dinning room . But the space he has was only a small space and not really an enough room to have a real bed room for sleep and living room . But then these small apartment can transform and has 4 rooms in it .

He let architects Michael Chen and Kari Anderson designed his small apartment. they created an object that’s bigger than furniture, but smaller than architecture and that morphs with the changing activities of a day. It's a a large, blue, oversized cabinet that houses all of the walls, bed, tables, shelving, closets needed for at least 4 full-sized rooms.

The wall can be open up as a desk which is can be functioned as bar also

To create a bedroom, the cabinet door swings out to create a wall dividing the living room from the sleeping area, then the bed folds down revealing a built-in nightstand complete with lighting.

The idea comes from the Japanese sense of space which called as Origami Apartment . And they call this creation as Unfolding Apartment. In my opinion the Origami Apartment help much to save the space and makes your tiny apartment looks bigger also has many rooms inside .

reference :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RbxkrmuQ5E