I work 100% from home.
My girlfriend also works from home but has to go to the office in Tokyo every other day.
We are thinking about moving into a 40~ square meters 1LDK apartment in Tokyo, where the living room and bedroom aren’t too close together (example image: [imgur](https://imgur.com/b7uMl81)).
Basically the plan I’m thinking is: I’ll be working in the living room while she works in the bedroom but I’m not sure of the difficulty of trying it.
Advice or success/failure stories would also be appreciated.
36 comments
Dont do it
If you have any architect friend, that friend can give recommended furniture measurements based on floor plan easily. If not, do not buy furniture all together and spread it to time. Be careful with the size. Avoid big furnitures.
Working in the same room does wonders for executive function. Maybe you can have a setting where both of you work in the same room, and whoever has a meeting goes to the other room. If one has meetings all the time then it is a different story.
Depending on the work type, instead of putting the money into rent, can you find somewhere near a co-working space instead? That will also give the benefit of a physical distinction between your work and living spaces.
You could also ask a real estate agent to prioritise buildings with co-working spaces in then. Those tend to be newer and more expensive, but you didn’t list a budget.
4 words: DO NOT DO IT
Depends on the size of your bed room. If you put a double bed, it’d take up most of the space already. Trying to put in a desk will be difficult (although not impossible).
I moved from a 1LDK to a 3LDK specifically because a ~43 square meters 1LDK mansion was not big enough for 2 remote working people. (I’m looking to move to a bigger place again now)
Will you be fine? Likely yes for a few years if you were already used to a smaller space. But like someone said, be careful of what you buy, smaller furniture likely means more room to walk, less frustrations. But whatever it is now, note that you two will end up having reduced privacy.
Also as someone said, newer buildings have co-working spaces, mine does. But given the space I have now, I have never used it but I know the people who have much smaller mansions in my building use the free co-working space happily.
One thing to consider if you are thinking of working in the same room: what are your company rules for working at home? My company doesn’t allow me to work in the same room as even my family members as some of the information can be sensitive.
Naw mate, a 40sqm2 1LDK is not going to be a comfy experience for 2 people wfh. Move further out or up the budget for a small 2nd room and your quality of life will be much improved.
Also, don’t forget storage..
No
You’ll be at each others throat in no time. Probably worse for your girlfriend, having to work out of her bedroom. The sample is roughly 10m2 for the bedroom. She’ll be cramped between the bed and a wall with a tiny desk. Psychologically it’s also not great to work out of your bedroom. Since you are both (mostly remote) why not move a bit further out of town and get a 2-3LDK for probably a similar price. Everyone gets their own private/work room. (In case of a 2 LDK you can split off half of the living room)Bedroom is only for bedroom things
It’s doable. I live in a 33sqm room (1K) with my partner who also works from home. We managed to fit 2 desks, a double bed, tv, center table in our small space. We even have a small fish tank lol. It doesn’t feel cramped because we don’t own a lot of useless shit and the furniture match each other. We also took advantage of a huge pillar in our room to separate our working areas and I’d say the clear separation between our areas makes a big difference. My partner doesn’t have a lot of meetings so we don’t have any problem with noise.
My girlfriend and I lived together even before she started working form home. I’ve worked from home since forever.
During the first and second year of corona, my girlfriend was able to work from home for a few months. It worked well for us. We live in a house with a few rooms, so initially our plan was for me to work in one of the rooms, and she would work in the living room so we won’t be distracted by each other. Didn’t happen, we ended up working together in the living room, just a meter apart. She’s on her desk as I’m typing this from mine.
She went working from home full time last year August, and it’s worked well for us, no problems at all. When it’s time to work, we just work. Having someone next to me typing and clicking away was a good background noise, like I’m in an office. She often has meetings via Teams but that doesn’t bother me, but I wear my airpods sometimes if I have to be laser-focused.
I even bought a divider for the living room which we ended up not using.
I guess it boils down to two things why it worked so well for us:
– We lived together for a few months before she started working from home with me, and our living condition has been harmonious, really can’t complain about anything. My point is, we’re no longer in our honeymoon phase of living together, so there are no distractions
– I don’t get into meetings much so there’s no conflict when I have to be on one while she’s also on one, but if I need to, I just go to the other room.
My advice:
Live together before deciding to live AND work together. If you still like each other after you start living together for a few months, start working together to test the waters. I am giving this advice even though my girlfriend and I skipped this part, but thinking back, this is how we would have done it if we did not live together before she started working from home.
I hope that makes sense!
A 40-50sqM 1LDK is comfy if not small for one person, and if set up with two monitors and a laser printer, it will really be like living in your office and not working from home. I could not imagine having to be your girlfriend and be forced to work and sleep in a 5-6 mat room all day. Find a bigger place or a co-workspace as others have said.
It’s doable but you’ll probably hate it. Either rent a 3 ldk so everyone has enough space or don’t.
That looks like a fast track to becoming tired of seeing your partner’s face. Anything less than 60 m2 is a deal breaker for 2 people WFH IMO.
like every one says, 1LDK is bad idea for work from home.
Where exact in Tokyo.
Move to Saitama, Chiba for same price but 2LDK
You should have minimum 25 square meters per person living in the space, according to the Japanese government (so 50 for two people). That’s going to be tight for two people.
Bad idea
People are commenting on the size of the apartment. It’s more about how well these people match together. Apartment size can be 10m2 if match well
Do it. Not only you should do it to save money, but also you can see whether you two are compatible or not in the long run.
I say do it and get access to a coworking space. 40m is fine as long as you don’t have kids or a pet.
you can rent space at many coworking spaces in tokyo for as little as 7k/mo. on a flexible plan, and depending on how nosy the front staff are both of you could get away with using it depending on your various needs.
don’t move far out of city centre unless you’ve done your research and are cool with some of the negative aspects of japanese suburban life.
People here are crazy.
I live in a 50m2 LDK
Worked all covid with gf in L and we were fine.
Not everybody hates their SO
Terrible idea but everyone needs a life lesson
Doesn’t sound comfortable to be honest. You wouldn’t be able to move around freely during breaks and if you both when meetings you’d be trodding around each other. Then outside work you’re both still occupying the same small space which could be stressful.
It depends on the kind of work. Like do you have to do a lot of video calls, is it stressful or is it basically just working on specific tasks like translation etc.
In my experience, if it’s mainly task focused, without meetings and a lot of communication, then you’ll be fine.
Of course, it also depends on the dynamic you have with your so.
Personally, I spent the first 2 years in Japan in a similar situation as you, but with no living room, just a bedroom. Me working on the bed with my headphones and my wife working on the desk next to me. I miss these days where I could just see her by looking up or hug whenever one of us looked a bit stressed or overwhelm.
You can always move in 2 years, if you have the standard contract renewal after 2 years thing.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
My S.O. and I are sharing a 60 sqm condo in Fukuoka. It’s very tight. We soundproofed it from outside noise, but internally that didn’t work as well. Sometimes I have to work overnight with clients in the US, via Skype, and she can’t get any sleep, even while I’m in the living room and she’s in the bedroom, my quiet voice will carry.
We are building a house right now, just outside the city that will solve this problem (2 floors with office downstairs and bedroom upstairs and more soundproofing between the floors). Our condo will eventually become our pied-a-terre for weekend visits.
40 sqm is barely comfortable for one. It’s ridiculous that Japan, in recent years, has decided that 40-45 sqm is considered a luxury size 1 bed (or 2dk). I’ve see new apartments promoting “family style living” with 35-45 sqm apartments. Having come from LA, I thought 60sqm was very small, but tolerable. When I lived in Shanghai from 06-13, I rented an entire 3 story lane house for about $800/mo (now it goes for $5K a month). Housing prices are crazy.
No. Far too small
I want to share a more positive experience, since many of the comments so far are negative.
My partner and I did something similar for the first year of COVID because both of our jobs became remote-only. We ended up setting up our work areas in the same room because the bedroom had a tatami floor which made setting up a desk troublesome. I actually really enjoyed having my partner’s company throughout the “work day” and we work like this even now after we’ve moved to a bigger place.
Hope you like hell
40sqm is fine for two people who don’t really need their own space. However, when my wife and I were both working from home in a place this size, we got on each other’s nerves. We agreed we would have got somewhere bigger had we known we’d be working from home.
If your girlfriend only has to go in a couple of times a week, I think you’d be best off finding a larger place for your money further out of the city. Definitely don’t work in your living room either. It ruins the space.
The OP has already relegated his GF to the tiny bedroom. With this on mind she’ll probably dump him sooner rather than later so the apartment will be just the right size for one person.
Pro-tip: OP make sure the lease in is your name so you don’t have to move when the GF starts kicking off.
Can you do it? Sure, I guess so. Is it going to be a comfortable experience to have two work spaces set up in what is already a very small apartment? Nope.
I did it for about 2 years in a ~50sqm maisonette-type apartment. It really tested us as a couple.
The worst part of it is having no separation between work and relaxation. Working alone, that’s not so bad, but when it’s the two of you it really changes the dynamic of the relationship. We put up with it, but I do think it had some negative consequences for the relationship due to spending 24/7 together with a lot of that being in work mode.
Now we have a house with a dedicated office (5~6 jou, but you could make do with much less) which helps a lot with the work/relaxation, but my partner has started a new job which doesn’t allow for WFH, so we didn’t really have a chance to see how it affects the relationship generally. We do both work from that room simultaneously on occasion though, for example if we both have to work on something in the evening.
If you can’t avoid working from the same room or apartment I’d at least recommend a dedicated room with a closable door for work mode.
What is your current workspace like? Do you only require a laptop to work, or do you also need a printer and other equipment that takes up space?
If neither of you need much more than a laptop then you might be able to make it work.
40~ square meters 1LDK can be small to some and totally fine to others, to me it was a non-issue.
Ultimately, how well things roll depends mostly on one’s own attitude and tolerance. Does she think she can pull it off? And what about you?
40sqm is a totally comfortable living situation for two people, but not if you’re both WFH in my opinion. You’ll have room for a desk so one person could be working from home, but you’ll need more space for both.
This is based on my experience of living in a similar situation with my gf (38sqm for 3 years).
This is a terrible idea. Get more space. You both have WFH arrangements so I assume you can afford to do so.
More so if you’re both WFH, what is the benefit of paying Tokyo premiums for a shoebox?
The main variable is your personalities and relationship. This space is close quarters. Some couples will do this fine and others won’t. Most people will find this too close but not everyone will, and you might be in the latter group. If you’re asking on reddit my guess though is you’re already concerned it may be too little space and if you’re concerned about it you are probably among the majority that will indeed find it to be too little space.