It’s getting harder and harder to land a place that’s rolling in the square metres these days, and this has led to peeps becoming pretty creative.

People living in many of the world’s major cities suffer from the same problem, which is why places like Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and Manhattan can teach us a thing or two about how to make the most of every last inch.

CNN have looked closely at a book titled “Small Homes, Grand Living,” which shows how “innovative designers and architects across the world have managed to create innovative homes for people in compact spaces”.

More on the book before we check out those innovations:

“The luxury of time is a value that can replace the luxury of space if you are willing to live in a smaller, more compact home,” German architect Sigurd Larsen points out in the book’s introduction…

Larsen points out that shared facilities and energy savings make compact living in densely populated areas “the most efficient form of accommodation”…

“They are retreats within which our weekly routines occur, and hence they contain the potential to contribute fundamentally to the quality of our everyday lives,” Larsen says.

Hear that – your tiny space helps make you happy.

So let’s take a look at some pictures of folks who have made their cramped spaces work in their favour:

The movable shelving units in this apartment slide to convert this space from kitchen to bedroom.

The open-plan space of this one-room apartment was divided into two areas to separate private and communal areas.

This apartment in New York’s East Village was remodelled into a small, functional studio flat that provides generous storage.

This multifamily apartment [in Buenos Aires] project consists of 12 dwellings, all of which have large sliding glass doors that allow in light and let residents feel engaged with the neighbourhood.

Suspending the bedroom in a box from the ceiling of this converted artist’s studio has turned it into an islet that straddles the apartment’s two floors.

Sounds like fun.

Next time your folks (or some other old fart) moans about Millenials, just remind them that they generally didn’t have to suspend their bed in a box to maximise the size of a property most of us will never be able to afford.

[source:cnn]