Krrbside Questions — Reconfiguring Small Apartments and Winter Meals

Welcome to Krrbside Questions, a column created solely to answer your queries about living local and being the good neighbor we know you all are. First up with some super helpful advice is Jett Superior, recently featured in our Member Spotlight. This Southern lover of all things secondhand, vintage and handmade has what she calls “crackerjack ingenuity” and a knack for redoing roadside furniture. Have a burning question? Email us at blog@krrb.com and we’ll make sure to get it in the right hands.

Q: What should I add to my winter weekday dinner repertoire?

A: Because there is less daylight in the winter, the days naturally seem shorter and most of us tend to turn in earlier. I don’t know about you, but when I think of winter meals, I think of getting in and out of the kitchen quickly because of that reason. Because I am Southern, I have a natural inclination toward the custom of ‘Breakfast For Dinner’. A good, hearty breakfast meal is typically warm, filling, and cooks up pretty fast.

One of our household meal staples year-long, not just in winter, is the omelet. It’s a great source of protein, is very filling, and the variations are plenty. One of my favorite things about an omelet dinner, too, is the customization factor. While one member of my family might opt for mushrooms, cheddar, and bacon, another might want goat cheese and sundried tomatoes. An omelet’s a good standalone dish, or you can pair it with home fries or crash potatoes, which are also highly customizable (we tend to like ours with fresh dill and a smidge of sour cream).

This week I’ve been cruising around the internet looking at recipes for savory oatmeals, too. These are also fast prep, warm and filling, and the portions are easily adjusted to one person or half a dozen. Two recipes to check out are this very simple, flavorful oatmeal and this more ingredient-heavy one featuring avocado. I think that either of them would be great served on a bed of spinach, if you wanted to kick the protein and color up a bit.

Q: I’d like my studio apartment to feel like it’s more than just a bedroom. How can I divide the room so that everyone that comes over doesn’t feel like an overnight guest?

A: Ah, the studio apartment. I remember my first studio, which overlooked Waikiki, cost about a million dollars a month in rent, and barely afforded me room to turn around, much less entertain. What I’m saying here is, “I get it.”

Which is why I think you should forgo the thought of dividing the room and trick your space and your guests by having a bed that has a daytime look and a then magically becomes your sleep space at night. These days there are a wealth of daybeds that, styled properly, can have every appearance of being a sofa and double as a functional part of your daytime space. I suggest a thin coverlet tucked tightly below your mattress (square those corners!) and a long bolster pillow or several throw pillows across the back.

Daybeds have the additional benefit of being equipped with a trundle drawer for extra, hidden storage or another mattress to accommodate sleepover guests. With a quick, cursory search on Krrb I found a few that I wouldn’t mind having in my space. There are so many more options out there, too! I hope I’ve shown you enough of them to convince you that you don’t have to parcel out your precious little space, you can take full advantage of it, company or no.