Millennials live in a 9.7-square-meter micro-apartment in Paris. It's not their forever home, but it's cozy enough.

Thomas Lonque, 35, and Chimika Masago, 34, returned to Paris in 2023 after living together in Japan for two years, and they needed to find a place to stay. "After returning to France, we urgently needed to find housing, but we were unemployed, and renting a place seemed challenging," Masago told Business Insider reporters.

For the couple with their education in architecture, it made sense to first move into the micro-apartment that Longue already owned when they settled into their new life in the city. Thomas Longue and Chemika Masago live in a 9-square-meter micro-apartment in Paris. The apartment is located in a building constructed in the 1930s and was originally a "chambre de bonne," or maid's room. These micro-homes, tucked under the roofs of Parisian apartments, were initially intended for the private quarters of service staff. The couple's micro-apartment is in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, where the average apartment price is 9,637 euros per square meter, according to the latest data from March from the French real estate site Seloger.com. Apartments of similar size in this area range from $53,000 to $132,000, according to active listings on the real estate platform Properstar.

“There are no tourist spots here. This area is not an elite residential neighborhood, but it is called the center of Paris and has the highest population density among the 20 districts of Paris, so it’s easy to live here,” said Masago.

The 97-square-meter micro-apartment has enough space for a futon, a mini-studio, a mini-kitchen, and a separate shower. The toilet is shared with other residents on the same floor, Lonky said. Fortunately, the couple did not have to face difficulties in reducing unnecessary items. In preparation for Lonky's move to Japan, he has already sold most of his belongings. Similarly, Masago got rid of many things before moving to Paris.

Needing additional storage space, the couple decided to build a raised floor that covers most of their room, inspired by Japanese interior design. This way, the area under the floor can be used for storage. The only part of the floor that is not raised is at the entrance. By creating a height difference between the entrance and the rest of the house, they feel a separation of space. "It removes the psychological barrier of sitting on the floor," she said, adding, "It feels like a living room, so there’s no resistance to sleeping or sitting on the floor with a spread-out futon."

Moreover, the shower floor is significantly elevated above the rest of the house due to the slope of the drainage pipe running underneath it, Masago explained. If they hadn't created a raised floor, the height difference between the shower floor and the rest of the room would have exceeded 30 centimeters, she added.

Living in a micro-apartment also has its advantages. "I like living here because, since the space is small, sunlight reaches every corner of the room," said Masago. Keeping their apartment clean is also easy, as there aren't many things to clean.

Living in a micro-apartment was meant to be a temporary measure, and the couple hopes to move out of it this year, said Lonky. "We've stayed here longer than I expected because we feel quite comfortable here," he said. "Now we're used to this place, so if we get a 20-square-meter apartment, we'll feel like it's a palace. How are we supposed to thrive in all this space?"