5 Reasons Why I Love the Studio Apartment Lifestyle
Living Pretty Ep7: Studio Apartment Living - Why I Love My Studio Lifestyle
Are you considering moving into a studio apartment but you’re not sure you’re cut out for studio apartment living? Or do you currently live in a small studio apartment and you’re feeling bummed out by the challenges of the studio lifestyle?
Well here’s my take on why I LOVE my studio apartment life, and hopefully it’ll give you a glimpse into some studio apartment benefits and help you reframe your mindset on living in a studio. While there are pros and cons to living in a studio apartment, I think it can be a lovely lifestyle with the right attitude and some creative styling.
If you’re looking for tiny studio apartment decorating ideas, small apartment tips, and some insight into the studio apartment lifestyle, watch this video along with the rest of my Living Pretty episodes for studio apartment inspiration and more!
Watch the video now!
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I’ve made some slight edits in the transcript below so that everything makes more sense in text form. But overall, this is almost a word-for-word dictation of what I say in the episode. I’m a much better writer than this, I swear, haha.
Even if I won the Lottery, I probably wouldn’t move out of my studio apartment.
Or at least, it would be a very hard decision. I love it here that much.
If you’re thinking about moving into a studio, or you already live in a studio and you’re kind of bummed out by the sacrifices that you have to make for this lifestyle, you’ll want to watch this video.
Because I’m going to tell you the 5 main reasons why I love living in a studio apartment, and maybe it’ll help you reframe your mindset about studio living.
I’ve lived in my studio apartment in Seattle for almost 3 years, and I’ve truly made it a home for myself.
You can see my full apartment tour in this video to see, in vivid detail, how I made my studio apartment a home. You can also download my Studio Styling 101 workbook, which will help you get started on your studio styling experience.
Anyone can make their studio into the cozy retreat they deserve to come home to everyday, but in order to do so, you need to shift your mindset to see the potential in studio living.
So let me help you do so by sharing my 5 reasons why I love living in a studio. And if you have any questions about decorating a studio small space living in general, let me know in the comments!
1. The first reason why I love living in a studio is the independence that comes with it.
This space is totally my own. I live by myself. And I feel like I’ve really come into my own in this apartment. I’m in a time in my life where I feel like I have thoroughly become my own independent person and this studio represents that.
In here, I have total control over my environment, and so I’m able to create a space that reflects my style and my style alone. I have a sense of ownership in this space, even though I’m technically renting.
I have a feeling of freedom in living here and of not being rooted down, and I feel like I’m really my own person when I’m living in a studio apartment by myself.
So if you’re searching for your very first apartment where you don’t have roommates, where you can live by yourself for the first time, a studio apartment is perfect because it’s not super overwhelming and you can really make it your own without having a huge multiple room space to decorate. Not to mention, it’s cost efficient.
2. Which leads me to my next reason why I love living in a studio apartment, and that is because of the cost.
The only way I can live the downtown city lifestyle that I want to live without roommates is to live in a studio. There’s no way I could afford more in downtown Seattle. Even renting this studio is kind of insane cost-wise, so I shudder to think how insanely expensive it would be to live in anything more than this.
And frankly, I don’t need anything more. This amount of space is perfect for one person and her awesome cat.
So if you’re looking to live alone and experience that sort of independence that I was talking about in reason number one, then a studio is perfect. Because it’s much more affordable than living in a one-bedroom, two-bedroom, so on. And if you’re wanting to live by yourself anyway, why not just live in a studio? Because that’s really all one person needs.
So yes, cost is probably the number one appealing thing about living in a studio, at least from a technical standpoint. ...Money is so boring. But it’s a valid reason to live in a studio.
3. Speaking of city life, living in a studio can bring with it an entire city lifestyle.
Not that living in a studio apartment is only for city life, but if you’re looking for that city life, and looking for a cost effective way to live right in the thick of things, then a studio is perfect.
But not just because of the cost, it’s because of the lifestyle that comes with it. When it comes to living in a small apartment in the city, what you lack in space you gain in location.
This is a sacrifice I’ve been making since years ago when I lived in a tiny shoebox apartment in East Village in New York. That was way tinier than my space here, but the location made it totally worth it. And that’s kind of how I’ve felt about my apartment selection ever since; location over space.
Not to mention, living in a studio in the middle of the city is just plain cool. I feel really cool.
4. Another reason why I love living in a studio apartment is the cozy factor.
Small space living is just inherently cozy, but it’s not just cozy because of the size. It’s cozy because of the mindset and the energy that comes with small space living.
You walk into a studio apartment and immediately have a sense of being embraced by your space. Everything is in plain sight, your bed and your couch are in close proximity to each other… it’s like condensed comfort.
And the fact that I can get from my bed to my couch without even setting a foot on the ground is serious lazy girl goals, right?
5. And the final main reason why I love living in a studio is the simplicity that comes with it.
Aren’t we all craving some more simplicity in our lives? Between technology, and demanding work, and social lives… there are so many things that complicate our lives. We’re all dealing with so much noise all the time. And I think we’re all craving a sense of simplicity.
A studio is just simple. It’s straight forward. Everything is right here, there are no hidden spots, It’s easier to clean because there’s not much of it to clean.
And yes, it is a downside that you don’t have very much storage space in here, but a way to reframe your mindset about that is… there’s something kind of appealing to not having a ton of space for a ton of stuff.
A studio forces you to simplify. If forces you to get rid of stuff or watch how much your buying, watch how many clothes you’re buying, because you just don’t have the space for them. And there’s something kind of beautiful about that, isn’t there? To be constrained in the amount of stuff, the amount of material items that you can fit in here. It’s kind of a nice way to live.
If left to my own devices I would have… like… oh, I would have so many clothes.
But I can’t because I live in a studio and it forces me to simplify. And I think that’s… I think that’s beautiful.
So, those were the 5 main reasons why I love living in a studio.
If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not you want to move into a studio - or if you currently live in a studio and it’s bumming you out - my hope is that this helped you shift your mindset a bit on a living situation that - admittedly - many people would consider undesirable.
I think studio life is very desirable. I’m free, I feel a sense of ownership of my space (even though I’m renting), I’m living in the heart of a beautiful city, I am super cozy every day, and I live a relatively simpler life than that of a homeowner.
If you feel like you’ll never be a homeowner - like so many millennials and others do - don’t feel ashamed.
If you’re not settled down yet, if you don’t have your dream career yet, if you’re not married with kids yet - like all of our friends from high school seem to be, if Facebook is any indication - that is fine.
In fact, it’s better than fine. It’s really cool. It can be really powerful!
We should reframe the way we think about success.
Is settling down in a house with kids one person’s version of success? Yes.
Is living alone in a downtown studio apartment with your cat this girl’s version of success? Yes.
Whatever your version of success is, embrace your living situation. Make it yours, style the shit out of it, and leave your stamp on that place. So that when your lease is up and you decide to move out, you can confidently say “I may have been renting this apartment, but I owned this space.”
For daily glimpses into my studio apartment life, follow me on Instagram @moda.misfit.
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