Whatever your project can be

Whatever your project can be, Benjamin Moore has the paint that is right for you. Nobody portrayed the I Love Lucy apartment as "small." By North American standards, when the average family in the 1930s lived in roughly 1,000 square feet, the homes of the '50s and '60s were spacious. If you were born in the '70s, you got a bit more space, but it was not till the '80s - throughout the years of Dallas and Dynasty, big shoulders and bigger hair - that the average single family home ballooned to over 2,000 square feet. J.R.'s mansion on Southfork Ranch was nearly 6,000 square feet, and that has been considered palatial. Fast forward to 2016. Can you guess the size of today's average single family home? At 2,463 square feet, it lets each inhabitant to take pleasure in roughly 1,000 square feet of floor space. But if you are looking at the downtown condo market in any big city, the average three bedroom "affordable" condo for a single family is back to 1,300 square feet - exactly the kind of space I grew up in. And still, these spaces feel more livable than the old bungalows and ranch houses of the '60s and '70s. we are smarter now. We do not waste much space on hallways. Formal dining rooms are gone, and things like ultrathin wall mounted flatscreen TVs, tiny Sonos sound systems, window walls and glass partitions save space and create an expansive feeling. But beyond that, we have learned to embrace "small" as a virtue, and to tailor our lives to having less and enjoying the freedom that comes with that. I think we have learned most of what we know about smart downsizing by watching how savvy millennials live and decorate. They do not annoy with landlines, phone sets, full size printers, cameras, CDs or, sadly, books. they have done away with box springs, many sets of dishes, and cupboards full of glasses. The right tableware looks great for everyday and may be dressed up for special dinners with some smart layering and all purpose, low stem crystal wineglasses, which generally work.

A beautifully intended modernist bench makes an stylish declaration in a fraction of the space of an oldfashioned, overstuffed upholstered one. Thin lamps, thin tables, thin rugs, and wardrobes that are about seasonless layering of thin, warm fabrics - so much easier than storing all kinds of heavy winter clothes. Seating and beds are lower, and tubs are smaller and freestanding, or struck me. The best approach to decorating small spaces looks to be a selective, creative use of decorative materials like patterned tiles, wallpaper, mixed woods, natural stone and composites. Hardware is sleek and special - like good jewelry - and light fixtures are sculptural and stylish. We know from the example of single floor London flats that a tiny room may be layered up in a luxe mixture of glossy black paint, petite antiques, lively prints and exquisite artifacts for a dressier look. One by one, my friends seem to be leaving behind their big family homes and moving into condos and townhouses - customized to integrate carefully edited pieces into a new new mix. each one of them loves their new sleek, effortless space. there is something so appealing about the idea of living in a self contained, small still stylish apartment that offers all the zones of a real house, close at hand. To this day, I still keep a file of favourite one room "great rooms" with a dressy kitchen along one wall and a comfy sitting room that will include a round table as a centerpiece.

Thinking back, I have realized where that idea came from. I was watching those single girls in their imaginary apartments in the '60s and '70s, taking in every detail. My all time favourite was not Rhoda's kooky Bohemian lair or Mary Richards' charming attic apartment with the pocket kitchen and sunken living room, it was Brenda Morgenstern's tiny, fashion forward apartment in New York. I still remember the pale yellow wall of art hung salon style with a white Parsons table and a wicker fanback bench tucked in the corner. It was all one room, with a kitchen on one wall and a round, dressed table in the centre of the room - and I thought it was perfection. I am guessing... 400 square feet, tops. What do you think?