Nesting: Mary Richards' Studio Apartment (The Mary Tyler Moore Show)

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of studio apartments? Is it small, dreary and cramped and that's probably true for some studio apartments. However, I've seen a lot that are spacious and well-lit like Mary Richards' apartment on The Mary Tyler Moore show. It's considered to be one of the most famous and iconic apartments and that's definitely saying something.

One of the highlights about her apartment, which was in a Victorian house, was the sunken living area. The multi-purpose room was used as her living room, dining room and bedroom (she had a sofa bed). The rest of the space includes large windows, a small kitchen, two closets and a bathroom.


Living Room

Her living room stood out to me because of the full sized furniture which was an eclectic mix of high and low end pieces that somehow worked. Mary's apartment could have easily resembled a doll's house if the set designer had used smaller furniture. Something else that stood out to me was the built-in bookcases along the floor which she used to store her books.

Dining Room

Mary made good use of her small space by including a dining table. She could have easily opted not to have one and just used the kitchen counter to eat her meals or used trays while in the living room. But the table was a great addition especially since she often had dinner parties or unexpected guests stopping by joining her for a meal.

Kitchen

Mary's kitchen may have been small but it had plenty of storage from all the cabinets to the shelves and hanging pot rack. A cool thing about her kitchen is the stained glass divider that once pulled up really opened up the space.

Bedroom

I guess the downside to living here was not actually having a bedroom. She would have to move some of her furniture (coffee table, chairs, etc.) to pull out her bed every time she was ready to go to sleep. Not to mention having to put everything back in the morning.

For the first five seasons, Mary enjoyed living in this wonderful studio apartment until she moved to a new one bedroom apartment in the sixth season. What I love is that Mary Richards showed that you can have a fabulous home no matter the size.