Unrealistic TV Apartments
If you have ever watched a tv show about young to mid 20 somethings, you have probably looked at their apartment and lusted over it. Lusted over the loft style of it, the perfect furniture and decoration combination, and the fact that even though all the characters comment on how small it is, there seems to be plenty of room with little to no issues surrounding it. It’s charmingly small and they manage to have no space issues and the closets are always amazing. After I have now lived in my fair share of tiny, sad, early twenty-something apartments, I am here to tell you how incorrect that is. Most regular people know this fact, yet every time a new tv show comes out, there are cute people in one friend group who each have their own adorable apartments and even though they claim to have no money, they seem to be able to afford the best apartments ever. Below, I have outlined some of my favorite and most unrealized television apartments!
Jane and Sutton’s apartment in The Bold Type
I apologize for the less than desirable photos here, I promise the next ones are much better, this is just a much newer show than the rest so getting good photos is tricky. However, this does what I need it to. I am listing this one first because by all accounts it is the most reasonable and realistic tv apartment on this list. While many New Yorkers have chimed in about how they wish they had the space that these two have, most people can agree that the funky layout, the one-bedroom design that they make into a two-bedroom design, and the sadly tiny bathroom are all pretty accurate. Things like the actual entryway that leads directly into their apartment and the full-size kitchen that has a small dining nook for a table, are what most New Yorkers are envious of in this setup. Most have mentioned that if you are lucky enough to have a full-size kitchen then there is no dining nook. Not unless you want to be paying far more than these two are certainly paying (Apartment Therapy). Both women work for a women’s magazine; Jane is a writer and Sutton is a fashion assistant. Jane is most likely making something around $40,00 per year, while Sutton is making a little less. She tells us in an episode in season 3 that she is living off of $750 a week, which makes her salary roughly $39,000. Now, while that woudln’t be horrible in certain places in the US, that definitely wouldn’t get you quite as spacious of an apartment as these two share. But, considering it is a one-bedroom in Brooklyn that they spilt, they may be able to swing it by scrimping in other areas. As the show goes on, they both get promotions and it makes more sense how they can afford such a cute space.
Monica and Rachel’s apartment in Friends
This is another one that isn’t super realistic, but also not awful. Taking into account what the women do for a living, though, it does get a little more unbelievable that they could afford a place like this in The Village. For starters, they do have a pretty spacious and open floor plan. Unless you are paying out the nose, these kinds of places are hard to come by in New York. It has a full kitchen with a small dining area, an extremely open and roomy living room, and has two bedrooms that aren’t super small. The bathroom is once again very small which most New Yorkers are the only thing that this apartment got totally right. While this is set in the late ’90s and early 2000s, there is still a very little possibility that these women could have afforded a place like this. Especially at the beginning of the show. Monica is a chef at a restaurant, which even in New York doesn’t pay super well. At least not until she becomes the head chef at a very prestigious restaurant which makes a little more sense how she could actually afford her place. Rachel is a waitress at a coffee shop and then a fashion assistant, which as we know from above doesn’t make a whole lot, and a waitress would definitely not be able to even come close to being able to afford a place like that. It also gets mentioned later on in the show that the place is rent-controlled because Monica’s grandmother lived there and then was never taken off the list when the women moved in. But rent-controlled or not, an apartment this spacious with that much closet space would not be affordable for two people making that little money. Metro UK even estimates that in today’s market that apartment in that location would cost around $2.2 million. As a former server, I can attest that even with 40 roommates I woudln’t be even close to being able to afford that.
Ted and Marshall’s apartment in How I Met Your Mother
This apartment is agreed upon by many New Yorkers to not actually be a terrible representation of New York apartments, but it is not without its faults. While the fact that when Ted and Marshall move in they are both working crummy jobs with a horrible salary doesn’t exactly make sense, you do see in several flashbacks that they do not have any furniture in the beginning and just sit on the floor with pillows. As someone who did this for about 3 weeks until my couch got here, I can fully empathize with this. They also move up in jobs several times throughout the duration of the show, and when Lily moves in with them they are splitting rent an extra way which always makes things more affordable. Ted is an architect which gives him a pretty big salary range. Glassdoor speculates that he could have been making anywhere from $54k-$100k depending on his duties and the firm he was working for. Marshall also goes through some job changes but we find out that while he is in law school he was working a retail job as a manager which means he was probably only making slightly above minimum wage. Now once he becomes a corporate lawyer and is making six figures easily, this makes a lot more sense. Now there seems to be a little back and forth on whether or not they could have afforded this apartment the whole time they have it. Now, most seem to think that this kind of apartment in this location would probably cost around $3,000 a month, and with a roommate who also has a good job, this wouldn’t be so bad. Since they do change jobs and get promoted, it is safe to say that this apartment wouldn’t have been in reach for at least half the time they were living in it.
Carrie’s apartment in Sex and the City
This one is probably the most outrageous of all the apartments on this list, factoring in everything we have been talking about above. Carrie Bradshaw writes a column once a week for most of the show and then begins to freelance at Vogue now and then only making a few cents per word. Even factoring in the advance she makes from her book, there is no way she would have come anywhere close to being able to afford her apartment. Carrie mentions once in the show that she only pays $750 a month for her place and that she is also lucky enough to be in a rent-controlled apartment. Considering the fact that she blows money every episode on insanely expensive shoes, clothes, tons of cocktails, and never eats anything in her apartment or cooks at all. She barely has a budget and she always seems to be struggling to do the bare minimum financially. Now as someone who also has financial stress, I can understand her predicament. But not buying couture and designer clothes once a week and maybe grocery shopping instead of eating all meals out, she would certainly improve her finances. There is also a point in the show where her building goes co-op which would have a certain amount of fees she would have to pay on top of her rent. Cheat Sheet estimates that the apartment today would cost around $3,000 a month which she wouldn’t have been able to afford either if she was in her same job with the same expensive clothing addiction. Bottom line: even with rent control, Carried would have been SOL.
The Humphrey Family’s loft in Gossip Girl
There isn’t much about Gossip Girl that truly feels all that realistic if you are regular human who is watching the show, but the Humphrey family is supposed to be the tie that audience has to the show. I would be willing to bet most people who have watched it are not Upper East Side royalty living in penthouse apartments with maids and closets most people could live in, so the Humphrey family helps those us normal people have a way to see ourselves in the show and to tie it back to us somehow. But, the Humphrey’s living situation is honestly just as glam and unrealistic as the others in this show. While the style is much more Brooklyn hipster and not so high end, the fact that this single father of two who is opening an art gallery can afford a three bedroom loft at a prime location in Brooklyn is absolutely absurd. Not only is he a single father without a steady income, he is also paying for his two children to go to an elite and prestigious private school in Manhattan. Now I am sure he had some savings or money from when he was a musician in the 90s, but he definitely doesn’t have owning a three bedroom loft in Brooklyn kind of money. The loft was estimated to sell for about $2 million in 2018 so I can only imagine it will have gone up a little since then. And a single dad with no massive financial success could certainly not afford that.
While there are surely other tv apartments I am missing that are equally or more unrealistic than these ones, these are just some of my favorites to peruse when I am beating myself up for not being more financially stable or having a more perfectly decorated place. The truth of the matter is, most twenty-somethings can’t afford nice places and really great decor. Usually, it’s just one or the other or neither in a lot of cases. Especially with our current economic situation, it is likely the fancy living situation timeline for many people has been extremely extended. Yay global pandemic. So, just take your time in your crappy apartment with your thrifted art, and know one day you’ll be living your dream!
Madey
Cover art by Avery Lynch
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