apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Name: Paul
Location: West Village, Manhattan
Size: 1,700 square feet, 1-bedroom rental
Years lived in: 4 years

While it may seem hard to believe, Paul gut renovated his spacious rental apartment. Clearly, it was in his interest as well as that of his landlord. And neither will regret it. Paul and his partner have an amazing home that fits their needs and aesthetic, while the landlord gets a valuable and eminently more rentable property.

Name: Pierre
Location: Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Size: 850 square feet, 1-bedroom rental
Years lived in: less than 6 months

"At least I allow some mess," explains Pierre when trying to distinguish himself from Maxime, his muse and host of a recent housetour. Pierre admires Maxime's style and asked him to help him set up his first solo apt in NYC.

Name: Nurse Jackie, Californication
Location: Tribeca, Manhattan
Size: 2,500 square feet
Years lived in: 2 weeks

This is the second and final installment of Showtime and Metropolitan Home's collaboration in a Tribeca penthouse. This week's tour peeks inside the design interpreted rooms of Nurse Jackie and Californication. The open house of this TV series inspired interior design will be running through October 18th.

Name: Weeds, The Tudors, United States of Tara
Location: Tribeca, Manhattan
Size: 2,500 square feet
Years lived in: 2 weeks

While today's tour may not be something to try at home, there are a ton of incredible ideas to emulate as well as the chance to smile at how far a designer will go to carry out a theme. Showtime and Metropolitan Home got together with a Tribeca real estate developer to host the second open house of TV series inspired interior design.

Name: Justin
Location: Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn
Size: 1500 square feet | 3 bedrooms
Years lived in: 2 years

Justin, owner of a music promotion company, Pigeon vs Statue, has a similar penchant for collecting as last week’s house tour owner, but Justin does it on a much smaller and more modest scale. He’s on the lookout for relics of an age when design was much more straightforward and built to last.

Name: Richard
Location: Downtown, Toronto, Canada
Size: 790 square feet | 1 bedroom loft
Years lived in: owned for 6, though rented it while living abroad for 3 years

Richard knows what he likes which is a great trait when designing a home. He focuses almost exclusively on "curiosities" and 1960's office interiors. He is slow, methodical, and patient when it comes to acquiring. Specifically, 10 to 15 years worth of searching is not a daunting concept for Richard.

Name: Lorin
Location: Greenwich Village, Manhattan
Size: 400 square feet — Studio
Years lived in: 9 years

"Just because you have to live in a small space, doesn't mean you have to forgo convenience, organization, OR luxury." After nine years in a studio in the West Village, this is Lorin's modus operandi.

Name: Maxime
Location: Gramercy, Manhattan
Size: 650 square feet — 1 bedroom
Years lived in: 9 months

When Maxime (of house call fame) takes something out of a drawer to use, he puts it back immediately upon finishing the task. After a few minutes in Maxime’s incredibly sun-drenched apartment, I noticed this pattern and knew that as perfect as the apartment looked for my arrival, it was likely the normal state of affairs.

Name: Caroline
Location: Upper West Side, NYC
Size: 1,500 square feet
Years lived in: 21 years

Trying to sum up Caroline’s home in a few short paragraphs is akin to putting on a straightjacket before taking a ballet class. Caroline is a native New Yorker. She’s always lived within a 10-block area on the Upper West Side. She is a dentist who inherited her father’s patients — including many well-known artists with whom she barters her trade. She likes to travel and she is a self-identified collector.

Name: Leenda & Anthony
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Size: 1,100 square feet
Years lived in: owned 3 years

Anthony and Leenda seem to live in an apartment that seconds as a rotating retrospective of mid-century icons. Anthony, a photographer who works in the TV industry, and Leenda, who works in the film industry, live in Brussels, and do a lot of acquiring. But not everything sticks around very long.

Name: Mike
Location: West Village
Size: 500 square feet — 1 bedroom
Years lived in: 15 years total (this was my college apt that I shared with roommates). I have had the apartment to myself for the last 7 years

Mike’s home may look familiar. He first made our acquaintance in a recent house call. Mike is lucky enough to live in an amazing neighborhood in a great sized one-bedroom apartment. Luckily, he had the forethought to move in during college!

Name: Jeff and Martha
Location: St. George, Staten Island, New York City
Size: 3,000 square feet — 8.5 bedrooms
Years lived in: 3.5 years

>> Enter Martha and Jeff's Gallery!

We all know people who enjoy renovating their home and who take particular pride in respecting the original detailing or who wish to pay homage to the history of their dwelling place. Martha and Jeff, one can say without a doubt, have taken this approach to a whole new level…

Iceland is nothing if not a tremendous amount of outdoors and is certainly an escape from New York City. Thanks to incredibly aberrational good weather, my husband and I were able to celebrate our honeymoon in the fresh air. We ate, cooked, slept, and lived outside continuously for 10 straight days...
   

Name: Kelly and family, Patrizia and family
Location: Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York City
Size: 1500 square feet — 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathrooms
Years lived in: 2-5 years

>> Enter Kelly and Patrizia's Gallery!

Maybe I am taking the adventure theme a bit too far this week, but getting to these homes was, for me, a thrill. I took the Staten Island ferry on a rare but gorgeous spring day, biked up a hill over to Tompkinsville, and was then shuttled all over the neighborhood in a mini-van. It was all worth it. Staten Island is wonderful. This neighborhood is full of stately Victorian and Queen Elizabeth era homes. The streets are lined with trees and the front yards spill onto the sidewalk with their fragrance and foliage...