"But it's not the same as a house! I want to do gardening for a few days, then never use my garden plots again and I want the extra space a house gives me to leave it essentially empty, waaah"

There. Most of the crying done early. You're welcome.

Honestly, people really need to see apartments for the benefit they are. An apartment room is better than no housing at all, so give it a try. You'll get experience in the building system, be forced to get creative to make the apartment rooms look the way you want, thanks to the low item count. Trust me, you can do wonders with them.