Never Too Small remains one of my favorite YouTube channels. And I have written about their videos before on the blog. The homes that they feature on their channel are generally below 600 square feet or so, and most of them are well below this mark. Some have even been designed for young families.
One of the common strategies that you’ll see with small floor plans is that the bedroom is often reduced to only what is necessary for sleeping and it is often inset within the home, away from any exterior glass. As an example, here are before and after screenshots from a 318 sf apartment in London (link to video).
Before:
After:
In this case, the bedroom was pulled away from the apartment’s bay window and a small mezzanine level was created. This makes a lot of sense since the bay window is kind of a main feature — one that, I think, is better reserved for a primary living space. They also flipped the kitchen up against the other window, rescuing it from the bowels of the apartment.
If I had been the one tasked with redesigning this apartment, this is a floor plan that I could see myself landing on. But here’s the thing. All things being equal, I think most people would prefer a bedroom with a window. And even when all things aren’t equal, a lot of people seem willing to compromise on their main living space so that they still get one (see before plan).
So before you go ahead and watch the NTS video, I’m curious: Which do you prefer? Would pick the before plan or the after plan given these two options?
BRANDON DONNELLY 
I would pick the second one. I just renovated a condo in Old Montreal, and got a variance to have all 3 bedrooms away from windows. This resulted in a large bright and open living space. My family loves it. The bedrooms are away from the street noise so my children can sleep – and stay asleep. I also think it is safer for the kids as we live on the main floor.
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sounds like a great place. thanks for sharing laurene.
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100% after. This idea that bedrooms *must* have windows – I get where the requirement comes from, but I don’t think everyone wants that, or that it’s always necessary.
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And if you’re tight on space and a trade-off needs to be made, this, to me, makes a lot of sense
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After. It’s been proven that we sleep better in a dark room and most of us don’t spend anytime un our bedrooms aside from sleeping. A tiny, quiet black box is the best bedroom you can hope for from a health perspective.
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do you think waking up to a sunrise is important?
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