Name: Andrew, Eric, and Graycie the cat
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Size: 680 square foot one-bedroom condo
Years lived in: 1
Eric "appreciates the end result" of having a hyper organized home, but he hates the process of getting there. Finding a place for everything, and then labeling the vessels that hold all these things is Andrew's talent and passion.
Andrew and Eric were one of the first people to buy a condo in this brand new building. They loved the idea of a completely clean slate and they really appreciated the lower closing costs, discounted buying price, and the great location.
To put the place together, Andrew did most of the scheming and designing, while Eric pounded the pavement in search of the perfect pieces to fulfill Andrew's vision and keep within their budget.
The apartment came with limited storage, so Andrew and Eric made up for the lack with wall units, credenzas and an impeccably efficient use of the space at hand. When all the drawers are shut and the closet doors are closed, their colorful accessories are what remains visible — no clutter nor the impression of being pressed for space. The result is a very bright, very open, very relaxing experience — a stress-free home.
Apartment Therapy Survey
Style: We like clean spaces, but we don’t want it to be too cold or austere. A modern frame with comfortable furnishings.
Inspiration: We really liked how white the apartment was. From there, we simply aimed to add pops of color without painting the walls.
Favorite Element: We love our multi-functional media space. We wanted to keep the television out of view, but we also needed to accommodate thousands of books, CDs, and office supplies. We wanted to showcase the things we wanted and to hide everything else!
Biggest Challenge: The most difficult thing is keeping the space clutter-free given the amount of “stuff” two people accumulate.
What Friends Say: “Can Andrew come to my place?”
Biggest Embarrassment: We absolutely hate our air conditioning units.
Proudest DIY: We really like the painted canvases that we did. This choice is somewhat tempered by the lengthy process involved — while painting them on the roof, one fell six stories to the roof of the warehouse next door. The wooden picture frames on the wall contain the first pages of our favorite books; it was a good way to incorporate our personalities in subtle ways. We also like the floating desk in the corner.
Biggest Indulgence: Our Rolly Table by the entryway. It was a bit expensive for its size and function but looks great.
Best Advice: If you hire out work, get a good contractor! Do your research and get references. “Two weeks” never means it will be done in two weeks.
Dream Source: Ikea (of course) simply because of its cost and its repurpose-ability, Jonathan Adler, Moss, Velocity Art and Design, Wonk (Williamsburg), Mood Fabrics in NYC
Resources:
Living Room
- • Petrie leather armchair from Crate and Barrel
• Jasper sofa from Room & Board
• Credenza from Wonk (Williamsburg)
• Jake chairs from Room & Board
• Stockholm console table from Ikea
• Vapor Barstools from CB2
• Floating high shelves from Pottery Barn
• Picture Frames from Adorama
• “Boris” the green bird from A&G Merch (Williamsburg)
• Candlesticks from Rosanna Dauphine
• Metal #2 from Chelsea Market
• Metal Ampersand from Anthropologie
• Orange Lamp from Crate & Barrel
• Angle Lamp from Pier 1
• Wallpaper from Tempaper
• Rug from Crate & Barrel
• Floating Desk — DIY from Ikea shelf
• Entrance table from Rolly
Bedroom
- • Parsons bed from Room and Board
• Chest of Drawers from Wonk (Williamsburg)
• Elfa closet from Container Store
• Chair from Door Store
• Fabric from Mood
• Barbara Hulanicki’s “Hulu” Wallpaper from Graham & Brown
• Floating high shelves from Pottery Barn
• Camera from Ugly Luggage (Williamsburg)
• Tall Giraffe from Jonathan Adler
To see even more of their home, check out Andrew and Eric Start Anew on the theKitchn.com
Images: Jill Slater
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I like how orderly all their things are. I've lived in New York, and 680 sq. ft. is not much space to be a packrat in. It's a great example of stripping things down to the bare essentials, and then organizing the storage space you use to keep what you need.
This is so very nicely done. I'll be using a lot of your ideas. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home.
I think I'm like Eric in that I'd like for Andrew to come in and organize for me - as he's done an amazing job with that...
...but I just want to scoot their entry table away from the corner and the seating area away from the column - The chair especially looks squashed between the column and the sofa - it just needs a bit of breathing room! (and a coffee table)
Beautiful space. Love the kitchen. I think the sofa and chair look crammed together. I would but the sofa up against the pillar and put the sofa table behind it. Move the chair across from it (basically flipping everything to face the other direction.) A coffee table would help ground it all a little more as well. Not to be petty, but that's a studio with an alcove, not a one bedroom (at least it looks that way from the photos)
Agree with Jmack1 re sofa/chair placement -- it's a bit "lobby-ish" as it is now. (also agree that it's a studio/alcove)
Big BIG kudos for hiding the TV when not in use! And I love what you/they call a Rolly table -- the door style is called tambour.
Hi everyone.
Thanks, as always for the comments. This is Andrew from the House Tour.
Just to clarify, we don't live in a studio or alcove, this is a full one bedroom. The bedroom has it's own windows and walk-in closet. It's a totally separate space from the living area, as you can see from the very large (approx. 11 ft x 10 ft) media area and glass paneling.
The entrance table is indeed a Rolly table. The actual name is Rolly by Matt Carr.
http://www.unicahome.com/p43748/umbra/rolly-table-by-matt-carr-for-umbra.html
Thanks again for the comments.
I remember this from small cool. I liked it then too, but I didn't like it more than some of its competitors. The living area with the chair crammed against the column, the lack of a coffee table, and for all the things that have been cleverly tucked away, not enough things visible.
Very neat and tidy, but in my opinion, it doesn't scream personality. Great use of space.
i loved this place during the contest & still do, namely for its clutter-control & the nicely edited bits of personality (book pages, the green bird, wallpaper).
Very clean and organized but a tad dull.
I'd like to echo what your friends usually say: "can Andrew come to my place?" I'm also a big fan of your bedroom colour scheme. Nice place!
http://lavalotti.wordpress.com/
I think the couch/chair placement is fine.
This is such a lovely home. I'm not usually a big fan of a lot of white but I love the way it works here with the touches of colour. The organization is quite impressive!
I really like the idea of framing the first page of your favourite book. So what books did you pick?
Can Andrew come organize my home. I desperately need him 8-) Great job.
I think it actually does scream personality! A very organized personality that I wish I had something in common with. Especially now that I'm unpacking the many cubic feet of boxes from my garage....and trying to figure out how that many cu ft are going to fit in the cu ft available to me in my living space.
I need Andrew to HELP!!!
Oh, "Boris" and the apple green Kitchen Aid orgasmatron. SO cute!
The green mixer in the kitchen=LOVE.
The organizing in every nook and cranny=LOVELOVE.
The colors in the bedroom=LOVE (because we have the same color scheme).
I don't see a need for an actual coffee table. Maybe one day an ottoman to kick your feet up on, sure, but I don't see a need for a coffee table. I do see what people are saying about how the chair looks cramped next to the column, but I don't know what else you could do. I wouldn't want to flip it because when you walk in, you'd see the back of furniture.
All in all, you both get gold stars!
Except for the chair/couch thing, sheer perfection! I would just back the couch up about 10", I mean they have all the space in the world!
Great organization. I've never seen the mesh wire magazine holders - I'll be looking for those!
I work from home, and my experience is that being cluttered in my home office uses up less of my time than being a neatnik and having to put everything back at the end of each day. Trying to keep it neat drove me crazy, so now my home office stays cluttered, and I'm much more efficient. :)
I do like the dishes organized in the drawer. You really can't own a lot of stuff in a space this size, but that's a good thing. :)
I absolutely adore this apartment. I wish I had something so nice when I lived in NYC. It definitely makes me smile and feel calm when I see so much organization in a space. There's just an order to the whole place which I love.
Amazing job.
omg, finally, the tour of their place! much anticipated. thanks for sharing!! i'm grateful for the indspiration;-)
Can they come to my place too? I'm in love with their space. It's simply gorgeous. Like the credenza in the living room and how it's being used.
I'm a bit bothered by how short the shower curtain looks. Looking at the Small&Cool and their kitchen, I expected more of a wow in the bathroom as well. I guess too much expectation is never good.
Thanks again for sharing! Amazing job!
This place is so beautiful, bright an airy! You are my organizational inspirations!!
I really loved this apartment when it was up for small cool, and I still do. Yes, it's very clean and tidy and that might not appeal to everyone (it's not really my style either) but I think it's very appropriate for the space it's in, and the people to live there, which is rather the point... The organisation is clever and inspired and is what made me keep voting for it.
Living in a small cottage in england, as I do, this level of organisation and 'a place for everything' something I'm aiming towards - I just hope I can do it as well.
(http://mastandmoorland.wordpress.com/)
Great job with the organization, fellas. Looks like you both have made some well-edited choices. My only gripe—and I am likely wrong—is it may be too *curated*; I'm feeling a showroom-like vibe here. Perhaps it needs some more personality, needs to have a more comfortable, lived-in feel.
Liked this place in small cool, but I still don't like the chair and sofa squished together like that.
why is the artwork in the living room hung so high? I would take the shelves and hang them below the pictures and also hang the green artwork about a foot and a half lower.
Beautiful home that is incredibly well organized, but that chair looks awfully tight squeezed in between the sofa and the column.
Sitting on that red chair feels like being cornered and forced to stay. And if you happen to look up, you might get a glimpse of some art suspended in the heavens :)
This place is generally nice except for
(1) the bad furniture arrangement in the living room
(2) the art hung to high
(3) lack of 'coffee' table
(4) the waste of precious space between the console table and credenza at the back of the sofa
(4) lack of dining set (who doesn't want to eat comfortably?)
(5) bedside table/storage (everyone hates to stand up to grab or put away something while in bed)
This home doesn't work for other people. But for the owners, it's a dream home. And that's what's important here.
BTW, did anyone notice how the green boxes inside the drawer are even arranged like that? Incredible obsession {in a good way} :)
We are your Los Angeles counterparts (insert a 15 month old baby girl where your cat goes)!
I LOOOOVE my label maker like nobodies business!
Thank you for the wonderful home tour. It proves to my husband OTHERS live like us! YEAHE!
I still am looking for ways to organize baby, she won’t stand still long enough for the label maker ;)
I love this. Nicely organized, clean and airy.
I saw food & water bowls and a very tidy litter box, but no kitty. I was waiting for a picture with a kitty init!
beautiful. nothing matches yet it all looks great together. that's the sign of a great designer.
ITS CALLED INTERVENTION ON A&E OMG!
Love everything, but the couch & chair look uncomfortably squished against that pole. This is one of the few spaces that I think things would look better diagonal.
Love the built-ins. Who did them for you?
I love the color scheme in the living room and the dramatic artwork!
Nice and neat apt. Great use of a "small" space.
LOVE the amazing closet organization!!
It just looks a bit too much like CB2 catalog for me.
More diversity in patterns, layout and shape will bring more caracter to the space.
Thank you for sharing!!