Is this 12ft by 7ft apartment America's smallest living space?

Is this America's smallest apartment? Woman describes life in 90 sq ft home

By DANIEL BATES
Last updated at 9:14 AM on 4th April 2011

If you think your apartment is a bit poky, take a look at this one.

Felice Cohen has squeezed her life into a 90 square ft flat even though it has no kitchen and a bed whose ceiling is 23 inches from her face.

The bathroom is so small that she has to sit sideways to go to the toilet and on her first night there she suffered a panic attack because it is so cramped.

Scroll down for video

Cramped: Felice Cohen has lived in her 90 sq foot home for three years now. Here she demonstrates how close she sleeps to the ceiling

Storage is at such a premium she has to keep her bananas in the toaster oven.

When it comes to the rent, however, it is all worth it as Ms Cohen, in her 40, pays just $700 a month to live in New York's Upper West Side - whilst neighbours are charged $3,000.

Ms Cohen, who happens to be a professional organiser, said the last three years in the apartment have been a joy and that friends even prefer to come and visit her.

She told the MailOnline: 'I'm sure there are some compromises, but it's worth it.'

Ms Cohen found her 12ft by 7ft 'microstudio' through a friend and cleared out all the furniture left behind by the previous tenant - the clutter was so bad you could see just a thin strip of carpet on the floor.

She then installed a desk with shelves about it on one side and a dresser behind a curtain on the other.

Above the dresser and towards the back of the room she installed a bunk bed style frame for one person with a short ladder.

This elevated her mattress so it was off the ground but just 23 inches from the ceiling.
'The first night I slept in the apartment I had a panic attack,' she said.

'When I went up to bed and I woke up in the middle of the night - I had a friend stay over because I thought I was going to fall out of the bed - when I woke up there was the ceiling and the wall on every side.

'After that night I have not had a panic attack and it's cosy.'

Sorted: As a professional organiser Felice has had to use her skills to master the cramped environment she calls home

Balance: Using the bathroom is tricky business

Inside the apartment the 'living room' amounts to little more than a chair by the window with a reading lamp.

Whilst there is no kitchen Ms Cohen does have a hot pot, a toaster oven and has installed a tiny fridge to keep her basics.

She regularly fillets her wardrobe to ensure that it does not grow beyond the boundaries of its small space.

And she is finally getting her head around the bathroom, even if it is 'daunting' getting in and out of the bath itself.

'The bathroom is actually pretty big. You just have to be careful you don't hit your knee when you go to the toilet. Sometimes you have to sit sideways,' she said.

Ms Cohen said she was inspired by her father, a bankruptcy attorney, who taught her that you don't acquire what you can't afford.

Ms Cohen told the MailOnline she had been living with her uncle in the Bronx in New York when she heard about the apartment.

'A friend told me that if Michael Jordan stretched his hands out he could touch both the walls,' she said.

She spent about $1,000 on shelving, the bed and other storage units to make it as homely and manageable as possible.

Privilege: While others pay a whopping premium for the central location, Felice pays just $700 a month

Along with her clothes she has had to cut down on many other things in her life and has just two plates, one fork and one spoon.

She has two fold-up chairs that she uses as tables when guests come to stay.

'I guess I just think that people have too much space and so much stuff. I grew up in a house with two walk-in closets that are about as big as my entire apartment is now but I've cut down.

'How much stuff do we really need? It's less than you think.'

Ms Cohen admits she still has some personal items at her uncle's and mother's house but wants to find a way to squeeze her bike into the apartment.

In addition to be a professional organiser, Ms Cohen is also a writer and an artist - who appropriately enough makes shrinky dink artworks.

She said she loves not having the pressure of high rent and has squeezed as many as nine people into the flat when family have come to visit.

'I wanted to live in Manhattan but I didn't want to take all my money and found this place through a friend,' she said.

'It's a great location, it's right near Central Park.

'I'm a professional organiser so organising the space was a challenge - but one I wanted to take on.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372926/Felice-Cohen-describes-miniature-90ft-home-Is-Americas-smallest-apartment.html#ixzz1IYO8pkS1