That leaves you with a full city full of funky, misshapen apartments. When I lived in the 6th, I shared a place with two other students that would under normal circumstances have been a one bedroom apartment. We had one real bedroom off the living room while the other "bedrooms" were accessible by a desperately small spiral staircase. One room was an open mezzanine which overlooked the living room. The other room, lovingly referred to as "the crypt", was cut off from all light and air circulation save for a small porthole window that opened up to the bathroom directly below. You could literally look down into the toilet from the bedroom. One could lie in bed while listening to the bathroom activities of their roomate as the sound traveled up. Yes, odors too. To top it off, a slanted ceiling hovered low over all of our upstairs space, meaning we could only walk upright if we kept our backs against the wall.
I've heard of apartments that have bathtubs with planks that fit on top them to serve as dining tables. Apartments with the bedroom on one floor and a separate communal toilet two floors below. Bathrooms that are so small, you walk inside and you're instantly sitting on the toilet. Our friend Eric lives on the 7th floor in a building that has no elevator. I've seen places that have the shower next to the kitchen stove. My friend Matt says this is practical as you can fry your eggs and wash your balls at the same time. The trick is just not to confuse the two.
For those who buy such apartments, the choice is to be creative with what you've got or perish. We have a friend who just bought his own place. And it's beautiful: parquet floors, intricate molding in the rooms, and nice high ceilings.
However, the bathroom had little room for both a toilet and a sink while the shower was accessible by a creaky old staircase that looked like someone had been going up and down it using a jackhammer as a pogo stick. I wish I had a before shot to show because when he bought his place, it was a trainwreck. After much work and creativity, it looks great. The big find was a toilet shaped perfectly to fit the corner by the sink. And he's got a nice set of stairs that lead to the shower, which doesn't let water splash out onto the stairs. At his house warming, he unveiled the new bathroom to exclamations of "What great taste you've got!" "It's beautiful!" "It's so chic that if you didn't have a girlfriend, I'd think you were gay!" My commentary was that it's unique, stylish and clean. Inspiration for the day we buy our own funky, mishaped apartment.
