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Who Lives Here: Lauren Zaner
Location: Burlington, Vermont
Size: 650 square feet
What is your one favorite element in your small, cool home? The turret — my apartment is the top floor of an old building and my living room is in the turret. Not only does it provide 180 degree view of the lake and tons of light through the windows, but the peaked roof gives the living room an almost tent like feel...it's such a unique element for the room, and an unexpected one at that as you don't notice it's peaked until you are in the living room!
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What was one of the biggest challenges you faced in furnishing your small home? The layout of the apartment made it very tricky to get the right elements in to make it liveable and cater to my lifestyle which involves a lot of entertaining and dinner parties. The dining area is a small walkway space between the entry door and living room so I had to make sure to keep that area minimal and not cram the space. Additionally, the living room is a sort of hexagonal shape which lessens the amount of space you have to squeeze furniture in the already tiny area so finding the perfect layout to maximize the space was no easy task. The little cut-out nook near the couch ended up being the perfect area to tuck my overflowing bookcase and also showcase my antique bar, another staple for the very dinner-party heavy apartment. Things had to have multiple purposes — the trunk in the living room also serves as additional seating and houses guest linens. The cabinet under the bar holds all my trays and party platters as well as a back-stock of wine for emergencies. The dining table can be pulled out from the wall to accommodate more people, and when not in use, the other 2 chairs serve as great extra seating in the living room, and a dressing chair in my bedroom.
To work through these challenges, I had to go through many furniture rearrangements until it all fit and flowed well. I consulted many websites, magazines, took notes in other friends apartments, and talked to friends who live in even tinier spaces in New York to find ways to maximize my space.
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I love the triangular side table next to your couch. Where did you get it?
view moniquejoyce's profile
It's sunny and warm and absolutely lovely. I would have liked to have seen a photo of the bedroom and a better pic of the kitchen area.
view Mlle Kate's profile
where's the peak?
view sunan's profile
Very nice. I like the furniture arrangement, but I would have loved to see the bedroom and more of the kitchen area.
view suzy8track's profile
MoniqueJoyce - My sister gave me the triangular end table so I'm not sure where it's from...sorry!
The turret is hard to photograph and show anything other then just the peak...it's so tall that you can't fit furniture in the same picture.
I'm going to include a link w/a picture of the bedroom and kitchen tonight so stay tuned.
Thanks for the feedback!
view lalena24's profile
Another note: I should have mentioned my place is a rental so I was limited in what I could modify and paint...if I owned it I would have done more with paint and built a bigger breakfast bar off the kitchen counter top.
view lalena24's profile
Do the pyramids make you feel warmer on those cold Vermont nights?
view Elizabeth II's profile
Love it!
view bigjohnhenry's profile
so weird...when I saw the first picture, I thought that reminds me of VT...scroll down to see it is an entry from Burlington (my hometown)! Great use of space, I had a similar apartment once upon a time and could never get it to work. Lovely and sunny!
view caskull's profile
Where is the couch from? It looks so comfy. Its beautiful
view Trumystique's profile
Yes, where is the couch from?? love it!
view ironcupcake75's profile
Trumystique & Ironcupcake75: The couch is definitely very comfy!! It was actually my sisters' and she graciously gave it to me when she moved...a far nicer couch than I could have afforded! It's a Martha Stewart Signature collection couch. Not sure if you can buy it in a regular furniture store, but for sure online. Cheers.
view lalena24's profile
For anyone interested, I found on HGTV's website a quick video on how to make that X table. Looks really simple to make. http://www.hgtv.com/videos/end-tables-with-an-xfactor/9495.html
view moniquejoyce's profile
Sigh. I live in Burlington, and I am always dreaming of turret apartment.
view TinySpaceJill's profile