So you want a shoebox unit? (part I)

Also known as Mickey Mouse units, shoebox units are apartments below 500 sq ft.

Among the new launches, there is a long list of such development, including Altez, Vivace, Dunearn Suites, Eastwood Regency, etc. Some are slightly above 500 sq ft, including Spottiswoode Residences and Suites at Orchard.

Life in a shoebox unit

I stayed in a shoebox unit in my hometown before I moved to Singapore.

After enjoying the freedom in college hostels for four years, I didn’t want to move back to my parents’.

This is how it’s like when your place is less than 400 sq ft:

– You can open the main door and jump right onto the couch.

– You can open the bedroom door and fall straight into your bed.

– A single-size bed is perfect for your bedroom.

– Have one person at a time in the kitchen.

– All furniture and appliances are miniatures.

– Storage can be found against the walls, above your head and below your bed.

– Infinite creativity in the use of spaces (pull down a wooden board from the wall and that’s a dinning/side table!).

– You don’t feel like staying too long in a cell. You only go back to sleep.

– It’s too cramped to invite friends over, except your boyfriend/girlfriend.

What a shoebox unit is not

I read the Today article in Nov 26 about shoebox units. The author honestly pointed out the problems of such units and highlighted the deceptions made by developers in the showflats.

It is a known secret that developers like to give buyers an illusion of a livable tiny area. The showflat is decorated with:

• higher ceiling;
• mirror walls;
• glass wall/door;
• no door for bedroom/bathroom;
• pillar(s) in actual layout missing out of convenience; and
• furniture and appliances smaller than actual size.

After TOP, when you finally step into a shoebox unit, you may find that places with little usage (such as balcony, planter, bay window, aircon ledge and bomb shelter) can turn out bigger than you thought.

What you see is never what you get!