Kelly Kreth

Now that the micro-apartments are nearly here, I thought I'd try my hand at giving some service-y advice on making life work in a small space.

As a long-time renter of relatively small walk-up apartments, and someone who has a lot of belongings, there are a few guiding principles that have helped me stay organized and uncluttered. 

A recent article in The Village Voice confirmed what I already knew firsthand from living in Hell’s Kitchen: I am going to be single forever.

According to the Voice's Michael Musto, the neighborhood of Clinton, a.k.a. "Hellsea," has the highest number of gay bars in NYC—13 to Chelsea's 7.    As a single straight woman--the unwanted meat in many a gay sandwich--this is not exactly a promising statistic for my social life.

I recently celebrated the joys of living in a crappy tenement (most notably, less tipping and more interesting neighbors). But now that the feel-good holiday season is over, I'll go back to my complaining.

A compulsive contest enterer and oftentimes winner, last month I won a $300 black Perlina leather purse via Lucky Magazine (Yay!). I considered it my holiday gift from the Universe. 

While I often lament the fact that I have no laundry room in my building, no elevator and no doorman, after my latest post about how unaffected my building was by the hurricane, I got to thinking about the other benefits of low-rent living. 

About a week before Hurricane Sandy, I had what I can now only think of as a foreshadowing event.

I arrived home exhausted from a surgical procedure in the hospital. It left my arm bandaged, and I was sent home with a warning: Whatever you do, don’t get it wet. 

I meticulously wrapped my arm in a substandard cling-wrap product and duct tape (it was raining and I couldn’t risk getting it wet so I had to make do with what was available at the downstairs bodega) which took about 20 minutes.