Back in 2017 I asked “Can engineering make us comfortable in 200-square-foot homes?” and wondered if it might be possible to design multi-purpose furniture for urban Americans with medium incomes.
Here in 2018 the gap between American incomes and American housing prices is even wider, e.g., “Full time minimum wage workers can’t afford the rent on a 2-bedroom apartment anywhere in the USA”. With our borders now open to anyone who can get hold of a companion who appears to be under age 18, nothing stops us from reaching Chinese levels of population density.
At those Chinese levels of density even a moderately prosperous worker will be considered fortunate to live in a studio apartment. Instead of depending on new engineering achievements, what about simply declaring that the existing technology of adjustable bed (see Consumer Reports) can function as the only non-dining seating in a home?
Readers: Who actually has one of these adjustable beds? If so, does it work just as well as a recliner chair for reading, watching streaming video on a phone or tablet, conversation with others in the home, and watching a wall-mounted TV? Could it work to design apartments with a small table for dining and an adjustable bed? So if there were four dining chairs and three people could squeeze in on the bed, you could have a total of 7 people gathering and sitting.
Question: Are these made in China? If so, it seems like a harsh comment on the state of American manufacturing considering that the simplicity and weight/bulk would tend to favor a local factory.
Related:
- Sealy adjustable bases (surround these with any bed frame? How can that work?)
- Serta adjustable bases
- Legett & Platt
The problem is that people smell. Sleeping on a bed for 8 hours transfers that smell to the bed.
A better option is a push for a Murphy bed that disappears into a wall cabinet or otherwise is moved out of the way of the floor space. In such a case, once the bed is stowed that area can be used for something else.
The futon is an adjustable bed that you can use as a sofa and it’s mediocre at being a bed or a sofa.
Murphy beds can also get pretty rank. A lot of this kind of thing used to be in American homes, but people got richer and wanted a full bed in a decent sized bedroom instead of a closet with a Murphy bed.
Or you could move out of the city where the cost of living is ridiculously expensive. Or you could move to Texas… :). Remote jobs do exist. And I love my 4300 sq. ft. Home in the suburbs.
Japan does a pretty good job of providing a range of housing across income levels. One just needs to adjust to smaller spaces. I was recently in Tokyo where a recently constructed 1DK that could comfortably house two people across the street from the Tokyo Skytree, walking distance to Oshiage or Honjo0-Azumibashii metro, would cost you $1400 a month. No need to use the small kitchen because Solamachi underneath Skytree had an awesome bento selection.
Craig. Please tell us what a 1DK is? Describe the living and sleeping space.
@Bill:
1DK = one room apartment with dining and kitchen area;
Bill, give this a try.
Fabricated a loft bed with a 2ft clearance for storage, back when rent was $900. It was also queen size, to create a vicarious sense of having a girlfriend who would fit on it. Even with only 2ft of clearance, that was the single biggest innovation in storage. Unfortunately, vertical space may soon be getting billed by the foot.
how the Italians tackled it (Milan, early eighties):
unfortunately Google automatic translation to English is horrible.
Adjustable beds are a sort of simplified version of a hospital bed, if you have any experience with those. As such they don’t really take the place of a couch or even a reclining chair because there’s no way to come to a full sitting position (e.g. for eating at a normal table). AFAIK they are made mostly in the US because they are pretty simple yet heavy devices, although I would not be surprised if the electronics and/or motors were Chinese nowadays.
In terms of a very small house or studio apt. you would be better off with some arrangement where the bed can be made to disappear somehow – rising to ceiling, folding into a couch, flipping up into a niche in the wall, etc. This is not a new problem and various solutions (none perfect) have been around for a century or more. Most people, when they are entertaining guests (other than romantic guests) don’t want the bed to be visible.
Jackie: Why is it a deal-killer if the adjustable bed doesn’t come to a full sitting position? The original post says that the studio apartment still contains a dining table and four regular chairs. So the adjustable bed is used only for reading, chatting, watching TV, etc. The same things for which sofas are used.
I’m familiar with Murphy beds (or “wall beds”), but somehow they don’t seem to be popular. I’m not sure it saves all that much space because, for example, if you had an actual sofa you wouldn’t be able to pull the bed down from the wall (unless somehow it could be set up to come down only to about 4′ above the ground!).
“And I love my 4,300 sq. ft. home in the Texas suburbs.”
And the Mexican illegal to keep it clean.
If you have high enough ceilings then a loft bed is a good compromise because it allows the space underneath it to be used as permanent living space (whereas the space under a Murphy bed has to be kept clear or rearranged every time). It also puts the bed somewhat out of sight. But you have (be able to) to climb a ladder to get to bed and if the ceiling is that high you might as well just build a 2 story space (although staircases take up a lot of room). If your studio also includes a kitchen then you have to be willing to have your bedroom smell like a kitchen and vice versa – there is a reason why we developed separate rooms a long time ago and the whole family doesn’t just eat/sleep/live in one giant (or small) cave. Modern ventilation and HVAC help but not completely.
As far as rearranging goes, I remember once seeing a sort of robot transformer room where you push a button and things rearrange themselves – not only does the bed appear but the furniture that is occupying the footprint of the bed disappears or slides out of the way. But I’m sure that this is a pricey solution and you still have to deal with pillows, throw cushions, toys that your kids left on the floor, etc. which are always left out of the film clips that show a pristine setting.
@wilson If my entitled children could clean their own bathroom and bedroom, It would be much easier on my non-existent illegal. I actually clean my sister-in-law’s place, and the in laws once a month as well. I should just start my own cash business, but software audits pay better. So it’s more like my “recreation activity”. That and mowing the lawn. My pool illegal is a US citizen college student from Denton, TX. Now I just need to learn Spanish and I’m all set. Vamanos, muevelo, gracias.