My heuristic:

If I can plug-in the vacuum in the middle of the apartment and I can vacuum every single corner, the apartment is a good size.

Why this preference for such huge living quarters? My thoughts:

1. Either we’ve been socialized or duped into thinking we want bigger living quarters or homes (a case of “miswanting”). We see MTV Cribs and desire huge mansion homes… we get dazzled by the prestige (remember, prestige means “trick” or “magic trick” in Latin).
2. It is a non-concept to prefer smaller living quarters (the American mantra “bigger is better” fools and suckers us).
3. We don’t realize even if we are rich and have a huge house … we still gotta clean and maintain it! Even if you have servants or maids cleaning your house, there is hidden anxiety that they may be stealing your shit.

Morale of the story:

Choose higher quality (luxury) apartments, but opt for the smallest space possible (MVL, minimum viable living).

ERIC

Less is Better

• Minimalism is the New Elitism
• Minimalism as Consumerism 2.0
• Why Simplify Your Life?
• Minimum Viable Technology
• Why I Hate Heavy Cameras
• Minimalist Photography
• Why Less is More in Street Photography (and Life)
• Less, But Better
• Reduce
• Purge