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ABOUT THIS TOUR
HOME TYPE: Studio Apartment
LOCATION: Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York
STYLE: Minimal, Organic Modern
BEDROOMS: 0
SQUARE FEET: 220
Studio apartment living usually requires a little bit of guts and sacrifice. For content creator Joseph Carano, he’d lived in a Manhattan studio before, so he knew the game. After a breakup (and living in a 3,000-square-foot home), he returned to the city and found a 220-square-foot studio in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
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What drew Joseph to the over-100-year-old building was the apartment on the top floor. “Baby, this is basically a converted attic apartment,” he jokes. While it has a small footprint, the abundant lighting, views of a park and river, and private terrace were features he absolutely adored.
Joseph is known socially and on his platforms for being an avid gardener and outdoor enthusiast, so he needed a place for his plants to thrive (spoiler: He has several indoor and outdoor plants and they’re doing wonderfully) — even if that meant giving up a traditional bed.
It wasn’t that the apartment was too small for a typical bed; Joseph could’ve fit a full- or even a queen-size bed. But knowing how often he hosts, he didn’t want guests to be sitting on a mattress when they visited.
“People think I am crazy for sleeping on a Japanese Tatami mat at night,” Joseph explains. “Every comment I get is filled with people telling me to get a ‘real American bed.’ But I know myself. If there was a bed in my sight, I’d want to get in it! This helps the apartment function properly in the daytime.”
Thinking outside the box, like Joseph’s sleeping arrangement or creating a standing desk using just basic shelving, makes his apartment feel spacious. In 220 square feet and within only a few months, Joseph has created separate areas in his home that cater to his lifestyle, which is full of gardening, hosting, creating content, and being creative.
Thanks, Joseph!
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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