Dream Apartment

Wow, this place is a palace. You could pretend you are on
the set of "Parasite". Haha.






https://seoul.craigslist.org/apa/d/two-bedrooms-villa-for-rent/7444854869.html

Looks like the home of one of those hikkamori guys

Wow, this place is a palace. You could pretend you are on
the set of "Parasite". Haha.

Only if your family of 4 are all living there.

Yeah, that's just one person with no organization, interior decorating and cleaning skills. Someone with half an ounce of skill could make that place look a lot different.

How could anyone live like that???

The number one thing every Korean said who entered any of the apartments I lived in was "So clean!"

It takes practically  zero  effort to be clean. Cleaning that place would be  a full weekend job.

Gawd. That apartment is the size of my last bathroom.

I agree with Martino. While the place obviously isn't that great, with a little effort it could be much more livable.
I lived in a similar place that was even smaller than this. I could've afforded a better one but putting away the difference seemed more important.

Gawd. That apartment is the size of my last bathroom.

A 33 square meter bathroom? Wow

33 square meters is pretty big, but not entirely unusual for the primary bathroom of a newer North American house. Here in Korea? Only if you're super wealthy.
Or if you're super weird and renovate your apartment to be 50% (ish) bathroom...   

This place is big enough to have a whole stove and oven. 

For real, though, this actually looks like a fairly decent apartment in Korea, it's just that all of the junk kills it. It's a little old, too, but imagine the space without all of the clutter. If you're single or married/no children, a little bit of elbow grease and planning could make it super cute and efficient. Just whoever lives there now doesn't know how to, lol.

This place is big enough to have a whole stove and oven. 

For real, though, this actually looks like a fairly decent apartment in Korea, it's just that all of the junk kills it. It's a little old, too, but imagine the space without all of the clutter. If you're single or married/no children, a little bit of elbow grease and planning could make it super cute and efficient. Just whoever lives there now doesn't know how to, lol.

Take a closer look. That is not a stove or an oven. It is a
kimchi refrigerator. The gas range is in the corner behind
the kimchi refrigerator.

Take a closer look. That is not a stove or an oven. It is a
kimchi refrigerator. The gas range is in the corner behind
the kimchi refrigerator.

Oops.

But that's space enough for an electric stove/oven, lol. I'd just cover the old range up with something to turn it into extra counter space.

But that's space enough for an electric stove/oven, lol. I'd just cover the old range up with something to turn it into extra counter space.

I dunno. I think I would use that space on the right (where there's currently a... ... rubbish pile?) to jam in the oven/stove (you can get really narrow ones, especially if you look online in Japanese sites).
I'd want the space where the kimchi fridge is for walking, and so that I could access the cupboards. Where the old range is, I'd yank it out, and put a small cupboard and have my dish drying area on top of it.
   The extra counter space would be nice, but getting something that would make it flush with the rest would be really hard, and things would inevitably fall between the cracks and make me sad to have lost it forever and ever.

Liechtenstein is right ( ), though: the issue is all the junk. The place would be pretty livable if you tossed most of that crap out the window. I mean, why does that dude (it's gotta be a dude) have like 5 monitors lined up in the spare bedroom/walk-in closet/storage room? These are like audition photos for the Korean version of "Hoarders". 

I would, too, but I wasn't sure if there was an outlet in that area where the cord could reach, and I wouldn't want to plug my stove/oven into a surge protector.

So I'd purchase an extra cupboard for that space, to use as both a pantry and a space for my microwave and other appliances. Everything off the floor, and everything in its place.

That was bigger than the first one room I was given when I first got here years ago.  I would have been happy  to have this so long as no mold issues.  Some buildings here suck for that.  But I have lived in a couple of places that never had that issues.  My first place had thick walls and great soundproofing though.  Some other places really sucked.  Some decent too. 

I currently have a 2 bedroom apartment with a large bathroom and large front veranda.  Small for a family but large for me.  Almost 60 meters squared,  Older building with renovation inside.  I had to use my own fixes in the outer veranda walls and over my bedroom window to muffle building sounds however.  Works well over this past winter though compared to the last couple. 

These are like audition photos for the Korean version of "Hoarders". 

my husband would be featured on that show if it aired here.......and it drives me crazy and is quite overwhelming

I've noticed interior design and furnishings are still very primitive
in Korea. Koreans still seem to be very utilitarian. Kitchens have
appliances and utensils, but they are jammed onto the counter with
no thought to make the room look attractive. Walls are rarely adorned
with pictures. Windows are never cleaned and many times covered
with ugly plastic film or bubble wrap.

Even in Korean dramas. The interior decoration is gaudy, plastic
and lacks personality.

IKEA is probably the best thing to ever happen to Korean interiors.

my husband would be featured on that show if it aired here.......and it drives me crazy and is quite overwhelming

Incrementally make stuff mysteriously vanish.
Got a pile of stuff sitting around for a week? The bottom 50% is fair game. Poof. Gone. If its absence is ever noticed, well, maybe it's in that pile over there. Or maybe the gremlins took it. 

I had a friend who left us, along with all her crap, some really good advice: for each new thing you buy, give away 2 old things.
I've tried to follow this as much as is situationally possible (babies make things complicated), and while it sounds pretty simple, it's actually both really difficult and also really thought provoking. It forces one consider what one actually needs as opposed to just what would be nice to have.

Koreans still seem to be very utilitarian...
Windows are never cleaned and many times covered
with ugly plastic film or bubble wrap.

This particular bit drives me crazy.
When we bought our apartment, one of the biggest draws was the view: huge floor-to-ceiling south-facing windows that overlook the river, a bit of forest, farmland, a distant hamlet, and the mountains. Amazing lighting for a sunroom, fantastic sunrises/sunsets etc etc etc. The previous owners? When we first viewed the place, they were using the sunroom as a storage area, boxes and random crap packing the whole thing so that the windows were almost entirely hidden from view. Such a hideous, mind-boggling waste. 

This particular bit drives me crazy.
When we bought our apartment, one of the biggest draws was the view: huge floor-to-ceiling south-facing windows that overlook the river, a bit of forest, farmland, a distant hamlet, and the mountains. Amazing lighting for a sunroom, fantastic sunrises/sunsets etc etc etc. The previous owners? When we first viewed the place, they were using the sunroom as a storage area, boxes and random crap packing the whole thing so that the windows were almost entirely hidden from view. Such a hideous, mind-boggling waste.

Yes, but very utilitarian. I think it boils down to this country being
invaded, occupied, war torn and then impoverished. People thought
of survival only. Remnants of that thinking obviously still exist.

Okay, just noticed whom OP was. What exactly was their point in posting this? OP allegedly lives in a nice "million dollar apartment". Why would he be checking the Seoul apartment rentals? Was the only reason to go there to find some shoebox so he could what, laugh at the person living there? Post this so eventually it would lead to a brag post? Recent housing dip has him antsy so needed an ego boost?

No one called it a dream apartment. Neither posting here nor in the ad. So I don't get where OP is coming from (Well I do get where OP is coming from- a place of massive insecurity).

Also, there's an odd subset of married expat that likes to brag about their apartment...which was enabled thanks to their Korean spouse being able to take out a loan+financial assistance from said spouse's family. Not to mention NOT getting fleeced by some landlord, again thanks to said Korean spouse. Just odd.