Name: CJ & Renee Follini
Location: SoHo — NYC
Years lived in: 3

CJ Follini and his wife, Renee, graciously invited us to tour their bright, Soho apartment shortly before moving uptown. CJ and Renee took a leap of faith in the purchase of the apartment three years ago: it was bought as part of a user deal from a developer who put a consortium of artists and filmmakers together to purchase the building. The catch? While the building had basic infrastructure, each space was essentially sold "as is". CJ and Renee’s space had a large hole in the floor where an internal stair once connected it to the floor below and the space was dark and gloomy due to the single exposure on a long, narrow space.

Name: Jay Roberts
Location: Chelsea, New York
Size: Studio apartment, 400 square feet
Years lived in: Rented until 2005, then bought

>> See Jay's Gallery!

We recently toured Jay Robert’s Chelsea, NYC studio apartment, and boy were we impressed! What the apartment lacks in space (it is 400 square feet), it more than makes up for in efficiency, smarts, style and personality. Jay’s affair with the apartment has been a long one: he rented the space for nearly eight years before the opportunity to purchase arose in 2005. When it did, he jumped on it. Although a ground floor apartment in an 1860 brownstone without much natural light or space, Jay loves the neighborhood and saw the possibilities that a thoughtful renovation would provide.