< two fifty: life in a tiny apartment.

Overnight guests: permission to say no?

In previous apartments, James and I had a futon that could accomodate two guests quite comfortably. In North Carolina and again in Rhode Island, we had loads of overnight visitors. I loved setting up our futon: adding fresh sheets, smoothing a blanket across the foot of the mattress and shouting goodnight from our bedroom after we'd turned out the lights. In the morning, it was pancakes from James and jazz on the radio and coffee while everyone took turns showering. Since we've never had a distinct guest room, I always preferred to fold up the futon during the day and set it back up at night. It's a little extra work, but it meant space for raucous games of trivial pursuit and other nerdities. I like to think that we hosted some pretty stellar sleepovers.

Hosting overnight guests in our current apartment is a whole different ballgame. In fact, I'll admit that in almost two years of living in New York City, we've only done it once. Yes, you read that correctly. Did I mention that our guest was my sister?

The largest swath of unoccupied floor space in our apartment measures just under 6' x 6'. If we moved our small telephone table and blocked the entrance to the bathroom, that's enough space to just barely squeeze a double air mattress. Where guests would put their bags or coats or, even, their toothbrushes is a bit more of a mystery.

I'm honestly a little embarrassed about our lack of hospitality when it comes to offering a warm place to spend the night in the city that never sleeps. The problem is that I'm not sure that inviting folks to sleep in our tiny apartment would really be enjoyable for anyone. For now, I think my best tip for truly tiny apartment dwellers is to give yourself permission to explain that you don't have the space overnight guests.

What do you guys think? Do you invite guests to stay in your tiny spaces? Or do you make like I do, and suggest a good find on airbnb?

PS. We're back to that time of year when there's a sun patch on the floor in the afternoon. Time change, I love you.

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