<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/514cb22beab8ea6659000007-750-562/lifeedited-guest-room-1.jpg?maxX=400&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="LifeEdited Guest Room" width="400" height="300" /></div>Matthew Williams/LifeEdited</div><keyword id="217265" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Graham-Hill">Graham Hill</keyword>, founder of minimalist design firm <a href="http://www.lifeedited.com/">LifeEdited</a>, received a lot of attention for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0">his recent Op-Ed in The New York Times</a> encouraging readers to pare down their lives and rid themselves of the chains of consumerism.
"I have come a long way from the life I had in the late '90s, when, flush with cash from an Internet start-up sale, I had a giant house crammed with stuff — electronics and cars and appliances and gadgets," he wrote. "Somehow this stuff ended up running my life, or a lot of it; the things I consumed ended up consuming me."
Hill changed his life to fit inside <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/garden/the-founder-of-treehugger-and-his-apartment-of-the-future.html?pagewanted=all">a 420-square foot apartment</a> and gave a popular TED talk in 2011, "<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html">Less Stuff, More Happiness</a>," where he previewed the concept of the <a href="http://www.lifeedited.com/">LifeEdited</a> apartment. The idea is to fit <a href="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/01/24/transformer-apartment-soho-new-york/">700 square feet into 420 square feet</a> with the creative use of space, featuring fold-up beds, hidden cabinets, removable walls and more. Hill's Soho apartment can be transformed from a living room to bedroom, workspace, dining room and entertainment space.
However, the catch is that while it's "small living," it cost upwards of $500,000 — not a price tag that most can afford ... in New York City, no less. Which is why readers criticized him for being <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/millionaires-shouldnt-give-frugality-tips-2013-3">out of touch with the average American</a>, and therefore not in a position to advise on how to live frugally. 
We reached out to Hill and asked him whether his popular <a href="http://www.lifeedited.com/">LifeEdited</a>-style apartment will ever be affordable for the average person. He said yes, when built on a larger scale: "We truly believe that this is not only a middle, upper-class type thing. We can absolutely do this on a cheaper basis."<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:421px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/514cb6df6bb3f7660e000017-750-562/lifeedited-thinbike-1.jpg" border="0" alt="LifeEdited ThinBike" width="421" height="315" /></div>Matthew Williams/LifeEdited</div>
Hill started downsizing his life because he realized he wasn't happy with everything being "unnecessarily complicated." In 2009 and 2010, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/garden/the-founder-of-treehugger-and-his-apartment-of-the-future.html?pagewanted=all">he bought two apartments in an old Sullivan Street building</a> and held a design competition for the larger of the two, which is now the popularized <keyword id="1754377" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="LifeEdited-apartment">LifeEdited apartment</keyword>. The space cost about $300,000, plus an extra $250,000 to $300,000 in renovations.
Since it's a prototype, he and the LifeEdited team intended to make it a high-end space and didn't build it in the most efficient manner. There were some "mess-ups" during construction and he was particular about the design because he wanted to get the first one done right.
"Our apartment was a one-off prototype and as such was much more expensive than it could have been — we went a bit over the top and there were numerous delays and changes that affected the price considerably," David Friedlander, who handles communications for LifeEdited, told us. "We are working on bringing this to a much larger scale, which would make it considerably less expensive."
Hill explains that costs are bound to come down once similar small apartment spaces are made in volume. The LifeEdited team is in talks with partners interested in creating apartment buildings in urban settings that stress a minimalist lifestyle, with a lot of shared systems. They're focusing on San Francisco and New York City, but they're also in talks with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tony-hsieh-will-change-las-vegas-2012-9">Tony Hsieh's Downtown Project in Las Vegas</a>.
He envisions the apartments to have "product libraries" where residents can rent out items they don't use that often and take up space, such as tents, coolers and ladders. There also may be bike <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zappos-founder-tony-hsieh-just-bought-100-teslas-2013-3">or car sharing systems</a> and an area with spare beds that can be rented out online when a resident has guests come to stay. 
"It’s about efficient living, trying to do more with less. The apartment doesn’t have to be tiny, but you have to get a lot out of it," says Hill. In a place like New York City, such an apartment might cost $50,000 more, but could save a resident hundreds of thousands in the long-run.<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/514cc1b1eab8ea3a79000004-750-562/lifeedited-resource-furniture-swing-bed-2-1.jpg" border="0" alt="LifeEdited Resource Furniture Swing Bed 2" width="400" height="300" /></div>Matthew Williams/LifeEdited</div>
"The really important thing, with these spaces is you need to look at them differently. The cost of a square foot is quite possibly going to be a little higher because you're doing a lot with it. It gives the functionality of an apartment twice the size."
Many people in the world's largest cities already live in tiny apartments, and one way to save on costs for a space similar to Hill's is to cut down on the number of alternatives needed, says Lloyd Alter, managing editor of <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/">Treehugger</a>. For example, Hill's apartment has a dining table that seats 12 and bunk beds to sleep two guests. "The fewer options you need, the less it costs," he says. 
And after an apartment has been converted to a small space, the resident is bound to save money. Energy bills will be lower and they won't spend as much money on "junk" since there isn't any extra room to put it.
Hill says defeating the consumerist culture is central to his mission: "We just live a much bigger lifestyle and what it’s brought with us is a lot of debt, higher environmental footprint and made our lives more complicated. If you’re smart in how you apply design and technology, you can build really compelling lifestyles."

ENTREPRENEUR: Soon Everyone Will Be Able To Afford A 'LifeEdited' Apartment

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:401px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/515b005eeab8eac06d00000c-514-385/lifeedited-party-scene-2.jpg?maxX=401&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="LifeEdited Party Scene" width="401" height="300" /></div>Matthew Williams/LifeEdited</div>Graham Hill, founder of minimalist design firm <a href="http://www.lifeedited.com/">LifeEdited</a>, brought his ultimate dream home to life less than a year ago.
After shedding the excess, he managed to fit his entire life inside <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/garden/the-founder-of-treehugger-and-his-apartment-of-the-future.html?pagewanted=all">a 420-square foot apartment</a> in Manhattan's trendy SoHo neighborhood. 
The idea was to fit <a href="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/01/24/transformer-apartment-soho-new-york/">700 square feet into 420 square feet</a> with the creative use of space. The result is a home that doubles as a treasure trove of storage space, featuring fold-up beds, hidden cabinets, removable walls and more. It can be transformed from a living room to bedroom, workspace, dining room and entertainment space.
"A simpler life is a happier life," Hill told Business Insider in an interview in March. 
But his particular brand of simplicity comes at a cost. 
In 2009 and 2010, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/garden/the-founder-of-treehugger-and-his-apartment-of-the-future.html?pagewanted=all">he bought two apartments in an old Sullivan Street building</a> and held a design competition for the larger of the two, which is now the popularized LifeEdited <keyword id="6362656" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="apartment">apartment</keyword>. The space cost about $300,000, plus an extra $250,000 to $300,000 in renovations 
"You have to fill it full of stuff and then you have to light it, heat it, cool it, clean it, maintain it, move it," he said, adding that his intention isn't for Americans to copy his design exactly. 
"We truly believe that this is not only a middle, upper-class type thing. We can absolutely do this on a cheaper basis." 
With Hill's permission, we've published a walk-thru of his LifeEdited apartment.

Take A Tour Of Graham Hill's Remarkably Tiny SoHo Apartment

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right" style="width:401px"><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/515b005eeab8eac06d00000c-514-385/lifeedited-party-scene-2.jpg?maxX=401&amp;maxY=300" border="0" alt="LifeEdited Party Scene" width="401" height="300" />Matthew Williams/LifeEdited</div></div>Graham Hill, founder of minimalist design firm <a href="http://www.lifeedited.com/">LifeEdited</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/graham-hill-lifeedited-apartment-2013-3">made headlines last year when he transformed a tiny, 420-square-foot apartment</a> in Manhattan's trendy SoHo neighborhood into a livable - and fashionable - home.
Now he's put the apartment on the market for $995,000 - that's $2,369 per square foot, according to <a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/03/19/famously_foldable_apartment_wants_1_million_for_420_sq_ft.php">Curbed New York</a>.
The idea for the apartment was to fit <a href="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/01/24/transformer-apartment-soho-new-york/">700 square feet into 420 square feet</a> with the creative use of space. The result is a home that doubles as a treasure trove of storage space, featuring fold-up beds, hidden cabinets, removable walls and more. It can be transformed from a living room to bedroom, workspace, dining room and entertainment space.
"A simpler life is a happier life," Hill told <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/business-insider">Business Insider</a> in an interview last year. 
Hill spent around $300,000 buying the space, plus an extra $250,000 to $300,000 in renovations. He walked us through the stunning space last year. It's being sold with all furniture, and <a href="http://www.corcoran.com/nyc/Listings/Display/3168153">is listed with Corcoran</a>.
Megan Durisin contributed to this story.

Buy This Incredible Transforming 'Micro Apartment' In New York City For $1 Million

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5baa8786254699fb5f8b456e-944/sullivan street apartment nyc.png" border="0" alt="tiny apartment soho nyc" data-mce-source="Google Maps" />Google MapsThe apartment is at 150 Sullivan Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>A tiny <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/penthouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">penthouse</a> apartment in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/new-york-city" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York City</a> is on the market for $750,000.</li><li>At just 350 square feet, that puts the cost at $2,143 per square foot, which is $370 more per square foot than the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/manhattan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Manhattan</a> average.</li><li>The compact <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/soho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SoHo</a> studio was designed with simplicity and multifunctionality in mind.</li><li>The space is also tech-heavy, including motorized blinds, energy-efficient light bulbs, Nest security cameras, and air purifiers.</li></ul> New Yorkers are used to paying a lot to live in small spaces.The <a href="https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/21/16179926/manhattan-average-square-foot-price" target="_blank" rel="noopener">average Manhattan home costs $1,773 per square foot</a>, according to Curbed.A newly renovated apartment in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood is on the market for $750,000 - for a space of 350 square feet, which makes the cost $2,143 per square foot. For comparison, <a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/new-us-homes-today-are-1000-square-feet-larger-than-in-1973-and-living-space-per-person-has-nearly-doubled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> the typical American home is 2,687 square feet</a> and <a href="https://www.zillow.com/home-values/">costs $216,700</a>, according to a 2016 report from the Census Bureau and data from Zillow. That makes the average price per square feet about $81. The compact New York apartment, which could fit inside the average US home about seven-and-a-half times, was created by Graham Hill, founder of lifestyle and design company <a href="http://lifeedited.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LifeEdited</a> and advocate for minimalism and living with less. "...<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> houses I design contain less stuff </a>and make it easier for owners to live within their means and to limit their environmental footprint," Hill wrote in The New York Times in 2013.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/heathersenison/2018/08/31/expert-tips-for-first-time-nyc-apartment-flippers/#3e3a3d0fc8e3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 350-square-foot SoHo home</a> is the second Hill has renovated in the same building, according to Forbes. The other unit, a slightly more spacious 450 square feet, sold in 2014 for $790,000.For Hill, Americans simply don't need so much space."<a href="https://www.dwell.com/article/small-space-living-by-lifeedited-771f02de" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Americans are using three times as much living space today</a> as they did in the 1950s. Even with all this space, we're supporting a 22-billion-dollar personal storage industry. I see a home like this as a compelling alternative to the status quo," Hill told Dwell magazine in 2012, referring to the first apartment he renovated in at 150 Sullivan Street.Here's a look inside the tiny yet functional home in SoHo.

You Searched For "LifeEdited apartment" and got 4 results

ENTREPRENEUR: Soon Everyone Will Be Able To Afford A 'LifeEdited' Apartment

Megan Durisin

Take A Tour Of Graham Hill's Remarkably Tiny SoHo Apartment

Megan Durisin

Buy This Incredible Transforming 'Micro Apartment' In New York City For $1 Million

Julie Zeveloff

This tiny NYC penthouse costs $2,143 per square foot - but every detail was designed so it 'functions like one twice its size'

Katie Warren