Ergo-Furnishing: Getting Smaller for Life in the 21st Century

Progressively smaller living spaces are now a permanent reality for big-city urbanite homeowners. While the 900-square foot 1-bed rental can still be found, young couples buying their first condo in the city should resign themselves to settling into a single bedroom unit in the ballpark of 600 to 700 square feet. With increasing population densities in all major North American cities, developers are left with no choice but to tailor their projects to conform to the accompanying space curtailing. The result can be a tough one to swallow for many; if you’re to live in the city, you’re looking at $370 per square foot - at least.

Welcome to a painful reality of 21st century city life.

The only recourse individuals have is to “get smaller” themselves. New homeowners must take an acutely space-conscious approach to both their furnishings and the choices they make as regards their placement in the home. I’m sure I wasn’t the first one who had to make the difficult decision to part ways with my sectional sofa and long double dresser when we purchased our new place earlier this year. That we were to go with a pair of vertically-oriented chest of drawers and a 79 inch apartment sofa was a necessity that I’m sure confronts nearly all homebuyers who are making a transition to city life.

Fortunately, furniture manufacturers have been sympathetic to this trend and pro-active in designing furnishings that are conducive to more effective management of available space. With the explosion of online shopping, more and more people are shopping for these products from the convenience of the home and Cymax Stores is a great place to get started. From armoires to wine racks, find what fits your new home best at Cymax Stores.

The Captain’s Bed is an interesting example of a furniture piece that has expanded its orientation in the wake of the aforementioned trend towards smaller living spaces. The captain’s bed was originally offered as something of a novelty for children or youth and derived it’s name from a very real design seen in the cabins of old tall ships, including pirate ships. These beds feature storage drawers, the same you’d find in a dresser or chest, being mounted below the side rails of the bed and directly above the floor. These platform beds are essentially resting on top of a horizontal storage cabinet.

It’s easy to see how these beds would be drawn into the realm of adult bedroom furnishings. Three drawers on either side of a bed would provide considerable garment storage and likely reduce the need for two chests of drawers for a couple. It wasn’t long before the captain’s bed expanded into this area, and now the design is as popular as ever with people who wish more open space yet not at the expense of their wardrobe.

You can find a captain’s bed to meet any style and budget with a quick e-visit to Cymax. For those looking for value and sturdy yet lightweight construction, a Prepac Sonoma or Monterey Storage Bed will likely be an ideal consideration. The opposite end of the spectrum is exampled nicely by the Hillsdale Tiburon Kona Storage Bed, blending a sleekly sophisticated urban look with the same practicality these beds are known for. The 2nd Nature Captain’s Bed from Stanley Young America falls nicely in between with an ever-popular contemporary vibe and four storage drawers.

History has shown that when cities struggle to expand towards the horizons, they grow upwards. This trend is starting to assert itself more noticeably in second-tier big cities across the continent and is very much a driving force in the “get smaller” phenomenon. We are in a transitional period right now, where many people find it difficult to not have the same living rooms and bedrooms that they grew accustomed to in the parents’ homes. It is likely, however, that in a generation or two those expansive and sprawling spaces will have been unheard of for city folk. After all, Grandma and Grandpa lived in a 2-bed condo as well.