I’m so pleased to share the home tour of a family of 5 in NYC today. Sarah and Peterson have been sharing about living as a family of 5 in a 2 bedroom apartment filled with accessible DIY’s. Enjoy below and thanks for sharing with us Sarah and Peterson!

INTRO

Hi! We are Peterson and Sarah Almodovar of La Casa Almodovar. We share our journey of small space living with kids on IG (@lacasaalmodovar) and on our blog (www.lacasaalmodovar.com). Peterson works in customer success and Sarah is home full time (unschooling) with our three young kids.

How big is your home and what is the layout?

Our home is roughly 750 sq ft (69 sq m). We have two bedrooms, one long hallway, an enclosed kitchen, one bathroom, and an open living-dining room. We used to have three bedrooms, but when we did our (mostly DIY) renovations, we removed the walls of one bedroom in order to make space for a dining area. We've since added a closet that houses a ton of storage and our *drum roll* full-sized washer/dryer.

Who lives there?

We live here with our three young kids. Peterson grew up here, Sarah moved in 10 years ago when we got married, and all 3 of our babies were born in this very apartment!

Tell me about your choice to live small. Was it a conscious decision or did it just evolve?

I (Sarah) was actually quite resistant to the idea of us living here when we got married. It was neglected, old, in poor shape. And a fifth floor walk up, haha! No thanks! But Peterson really thought it would be a shame to pass up a rent controlled apartment in NYC, and he figured we'd have some leverage with the landlord to do renovations. Turns out he was right, and it was the best decision we could've made.

We always have the opportunity to leave the city and live near family (they live a few hours away in a rural town), but we care deeply about raising our kids in a city so it would take a lot for us to leave! Our rent controlled apartment is the reason we can afford to live in NYC. If not for that, we'd have to leave.

How would you describe your home style? ex) modern, minimal, bohemian, vintage?

We have a kind of eclectic minimalist vibe. I hate when furniture matches too much, but I also want things to be cohesive. We're constantly reevaluating our space in terms of form and function.

Is there a piece of furniture or accessory (or a few) that you couldn't live without that makes living in your space easier?

Probably our IKEA Kivik couch! It's big enough for us all to sit comfortably, the arms serve as side tables or seats, and it's deep and comfy enough for guests to spend a few nights. It also fits the space really well in the corner of our living room and makes the whole area feel open, warm, and welcoming.

Can you share some of your favourite city spots that support living small? For me it's nearby parks, community gardens, coffee shops, science world.. love to hear from others in their cities.

Our go to's are the public library, playground, and various museums (art museums, children's museums, natural history, etc.). New York City has a great program through the public library where you can get free tickets 1x/year to a bunch of different museums. We use this a lot and have gone to a lot of interesting places we wouldn't have otherwise known about (ex The AKC Museum of the Dog, Japan Society, and so much more). There is never a shortage of things to do around here, and many things are free or low cost.

What is something you love about living small?

We love the togetherness it provides, and (this may sound strange...) the fact that we can't avoid tension when it arises. We're all going to be in each other's space, so we have to work things out. Whether that means talking through conflict or establishing boundaries and rhythms, I think it helps us all grow as people.

Our apartment has been a great creative outlet for us, too. We've collected a lot from Facebook Marketplace to bring our home style together, and we've DIY'ed a ton (phone booth fish tank, kids' balance board, triple bunks, exposed brick wall, kids' closet and our closet, custom-fit toy shelf under an IKEA cabinet in the living room, kitchen drawers, wood slat wall, floating nightstands, IKEA hacked headboard, 17' long hallway rug, hallway mural and canvases, custom closet doors, entryway bench, etc).

What is something you hate?

What we would give for a parking space! And a home gym! And the ability to tell our kids, "Go play outside!"

I think Small Space-ers need to stick together and share all their best tricks. Do you have any storage or organizational tips you want to share?

Be ruthless when it comes to getting rid of stuff. Think: has this item served its purpose? If so, let it go. Two great examples I can give here are kids' artwork and gifts people have given us. For artwork, my kids got to enjoy the process of creating it. Sure, looking at it afterwards is part of its purpose too, but really–how long am I gonna keep it for? It's fine to just let it go. For gifts, the gift giver got the satisfaction of gifting us something. Mission accomplished. I am not obligated to continue keeping the gift. If I'm using it and enjoy it, great. If not, let it go.

Tell us more about the triple bunks!

When we were expecting our third kid, we knew we'd need to figure something out for the kids' room. We have pretty high ceilings (9') so I figured we could fit a triple bunk. They're a little tighter than the standard recommendation between each bunk, but they still feel spacious and comfortable. We looked at all different sorts of pre-made bunk beds online: triple bunks, double bunks with a trundle, etc. Unfortunately I thought they all were ugly and also knew it wasn't the best way to make the most of our space. So, DIY it was! Peterson learned a lot from youtube and from talking to my dad (a retired engineer who's done all types of DIY over the years), made a million trips to Home Depot, and built the whole thing from scratch. Ed note. Sharing a reel about the bunks here!

When we first built the triple bunks, our two kids at the time were almost 3 and 18 months. They were so excited about them, they immediately wanted to sleep in them. (Previously, they had each been in 3-sided cribs.) Our 3-year-old slept in the middle bunk, and he fell out two or three times, which was very sad, but he was okay. It's never happened to him or the others since. (We realized part of the problem is that we would pick him up from the bunk in the middle of the night to take him to the bathroom, so then sometimes he would be dreaming that the same thing was happening and just fall, instead of taking the ladder. We learned when we went to get him we had to tell him to go down the ladder.) Now, all three kids are in the bunks and they love them. It gives them a great sense of ownership and personal space.

I'm not sure I have any current pictures of the room without a crib, but the kids are currently enjoying a big open play space in their room now that the youngest doesn't need a crib.

Thank you so much again Sarah + Peterson for sharing your beautiful home with us. Love all the affordable and DIY updates you’ve made. Also homeschooling in a small space amazes me! Follow along with them HERE.

Small Home Tour: Sarah + Peterson @Lacasaalmodovar family of 5 in NYC in 750 square feet