Name: Michelle
Location: New York City
Size: 600 square feet
Years lived in: 6
As a longtime East Village resident, writer and web producer who craves a comfortable home/work environment, I'm always working to create a clean-lined, grown-up haven. The key elements are my small-but-growing mid-century modern furniture collection and enough closet and storage space to impart a bit of calm amid the neighborhood's colorful–and busy–street life.
I knew I wanted a floor-through; my last apartment convinced me of the benefits of having sun at both ends–and a "quiet side" (that would be the bedroom). The space resembles a traditional railroad apartment, but the entrance is in the middle–where my kitchen is–so you don't have to walk through one room to get to another.
The glazed brick along one wall makes a good backdrop for classic modern furniture, lighting and other items that I've been slowly collecting over the years–anything with look-great-anywhere brilliance–my favorite is an Eames Aluminum Group desk chair–and cool, functional items like a vintage '70s stereo that I've hooked up to my computer's iTunes. Vintage pottery and Japanese candy and toy packaging find their way into the mix occasionally, thwarting my attempts to make sure everything I collect is functional as well as fun to look at.
One big secret to living in a small space is to have more than enough storage to keep everything out of sight. For a small (but cool!) apartment resident, I'm not as closet-challenged as some of my fellow New Yorkers. I've made sure my kitchen has enough room for me to roll up my sleeves and cook (and make a mess)–a rolled-steel table and a pair of bar stools does double duty as counter space extension and casual seating, and a huge dining table is big enough for an apartment-sized crowd.
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: Fun, functional vintage and modern.
Inspiration: Apartment Therapy! Also: stacks of British Elle Deco magazines and the great mid-century stuff I grew up with–my mom has a great eye for design. Also, plenty of home design and architecture resource books. My boyfriend sells and restores antique lighting, so he has an inside track on all the best auctions and antiques resources.
Favorite Element: The glazed brick wall makes a great backdrop–I'd love to paint the brick in the bedroom white at some point. And northern and southern exposures.
Biggest Challenge: Creating enough closet space. In addition to the existing closets, I use two big wardrobes from IKEA (they're the same color as the walls so they almost look built-in) and a huge industrial rack system to hang so many coats that friends suggest I hold a coat sale. Also, the original light fixture in the kitchen was one of those huge brass things that I hated; Since I couldn't rip up the ceilings as would be required for recessed lighting, I bought a few packs of track lights at Home Depot and had the building's handyman install them.
What friends say: I'm lucky to have so much closet space. And I should hold a coat sale.
Biggest embarrassment: My (small) bicycle collection lives with me at the moment. I've been a bit obsessed with vintage bicycles recently, though I can't justify growing my collection much beyond the current two.
Proudest DIY: Installing the bookshelf (shelving from IKEA) in the living room; it fits perfectly into a recessed area in the brick wall.
Biggest indulgence: I had venetian blinds custom made to fit my windows, which are odd-sized. Another moving-in indulgence was the Le Klint lamp that hangs my living room. It totally serves as the focal point of the room and gets tons of compliments.
Best advice: You can really customize your apartment in ways that don't require too much work or expense. I replaced most of my existing drawer, closet and cabinet-pulls (IKEA and the local hardware store are great places to find new ones). Sleek metal handles on my closet doors make it look custom-built. Important: If you do any work yourself, never underestimate the importance of having the right tools for the job.
Dream Source: Local vintage furniture shops have a never-ending supply–literally. My favorites are Ciglo, Las Venus and a shop on East Fifth Street called White Trash. Lancelotti Housewares carries all sorts of extremely useful, well-designed little objects and it's right around the corner. eBay and Craigslist are just as great as ever. Auctions can be great if you keep up with when they're happening. And IKEA, of course. Michele Varian in Soho carries my favorite Neisha Crosland wallpaper and lots of other home items. And classic modern design stores like the Conran Shop, Design Within Reach, Hive Modern and Knoll are definitely the source of many dreams.
Resources:
Living room:
Sofa – C & C Auction Gallery, Larchmont, NY'60s Overman Loveseat - Craigslist
Le Klint pendant lamp, coffee table - The Conran Shop
Metal "locker" Sideboards - IKEA
Vintage Poster - Annual WFMU Record Fair
Pillows - Urban Outfitters, IKEA, Knoll
Office area:
Laurel desk lamp - eBayBoxes - IKEA
Eames Aluminum Group desk chair with Knoll custom fabric - Ciglo vintage modern
'70s Radio Shack stereo - Ciglo vintage modern
Glass/chrome desk - Las Venus
Cabinet - White Trash NYC
Kitchen:
Hanging racks - IKEAVintage Danish pitcher - White Trash NYC
Dining table lamp - I found this at a flea market during a recent trip to Berlin; Its strange shape gave the customs people a bit of pause on my return trip.
Poster - Absinthe Depot, Berlin. It's this great old-fashioned Absinthe-tasting-bar-slash-pizzeria.
Bar Stools - IKEA
Bedroom, bath:
Bedside lamps - White Trash NYCCabinet - White Trash NYC
Shower Curtain - Lancelotti Housewares
