apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Helll-lllo, Mister Schneider! Yowza.

Awesome :D

$70,000 - yikes! I wonder if he would have bought a larger apartment if he had known the cost...

Great use of space, great apartment. I hate the article though -- the writer's constant tone that it's insufferable to live in 450 square feet but somehow, just somehow, Eric manages to do so, and still remain happy.

Do the Times editors forget that most of the people who read the Times live in tiny apartments in New York?

Ugh.

A total price in the low $300,000s would be right on target for that square footage in a sketchy neighborhood in San Francisco, so it was probably also a decent deal in Manhattan. That extra $70k wouldn't necessarily have gotten him out of a studio.

...inexpensive materials. $70,000?

Whatever!

I think we saw it in Dwell's small spaces issue sometime last summer/fall?

ps: can anyone find a website for Normal Projects, the architects?

Ditto on the query b ScottB. I looked & couldn't find them.

And he did it all on a teacher's salary?

That *is* incredible.

I agree - the line about how, by using inexpensive materials, they were able to keep it at *only* $70k actually made me laugh out loud. I cannot imagine putting $70k into a space that size (and I have bought, lived in and renovated something very similar). To each their own, but I don't think such articles are that interesting or helpful. It's right up there with the $500 earrings one can buy to go with your H&M dress...

I've always had the impression that when it comes to financial matters, the NY Times writes mainly to the bankers and lawyers of NY, and tends to refer to what is "expensive" or "inexpensive" in absolute terms when they are really relative concepts.

Wow, my studio is 466 SF. I realize that is 16 SF larger than the one in this article, but my place isn't that small. It just isn't. For one person, it is MORE than ample. I don't understand why the author of the article was so incredulous that someone could live in 450 SF. And yeah, $70,000 is not "inexpensive" in my book either.

I agree with JennyinDC that 450 sq ft isn't really as small as it sounds. I once lived in 325 sq ft and it wasn't that bad. Right now, I live in 589 sq ft, which is almost decadent by comparison.

That works out at 165/sq ft. which is cheap in New York. I know some designers who have been able to do their own spaces for less but you're pretty much calling in favors and getting all the trade discounts that you can.

The NYT is constantly publishing articles about people who make next to nothing and yet are able to do things like sink $70,000 into custom cabinetry and whatnot. It's confusing and demoralizing to the rest of us (or at least to me).

He lived with his mom for two years to save money - not paying rent for two years can add up to a big chunk of change!

The $70,000 included a new kitchen, right? And the architects' fees, and the labor. If he got into a nice liveable place on the Upper West Side for around $400,000... that sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I've seen run-down little one-bedrooms going for over a million.

It's also commendable that he moved in with his parents to save money to buy a place (unlike so many NY youngsters who have Daddy buy them a Greenwich Village condo while they're in *college*)

I know this sounds like a lot of money to people living in other, more sane, parts of the country, but at the same time it's a refreshing change to the Times' usual breazy attitude about wealth, treating the purchase of a $1.5-million one-bedroom condos as a reasonable, everyday event.

Makes me feel not so bad about the smallness of my apartment. Even though mine's way out in Astoria.

I'd like to have him over for tea...

I agree with Scott B...this place was definitely in a Dwell issue a couple months ago.

mangosteen--

I don't know, my husband used to be a teacher, and there was NO WAY we could have afforded something like this, even if we had lived with his mom for two years (thanking God as I type that we didn't). Maybe he teaches at a private school that pays a lot of money? How much could teaching third-graders possibly pay? Seriously, if anyone knows, I am very interested: What is the most that that a relatively new (judging by the owner's apparent youth) third-grade teacher could make in Manhattan?

Wow, it is nice to finally see the price of an "affordable" makeover. I am sure most AT readers watched the Oprah Small Space episode which featured Max and Sarah Kate's home. Can anyone estimate what Nate spent on Martha's makeover? Or his place?

I agree with Diane that the numbers just don't make sense. I would guess that a crucial source of funds is not being mentioned in the article.

I do not expect full financial disclosure in an article about interior design, but they are harping on how much of a sacrifice someone is making to live on a teacher's salary when it is doubtful they really are, which is not particularly honest.

Michael--

Exactly. I don't begrudge anyone their outside sources of income (or I try not to!), but it's just wrong to imply that they are doing it on a teacher's salary, which is clearly what this article is doing. It's completely possible that this guy had some kind of lucrative gig before going into teaching, or whatever--it's none of my business--but the article shouldn't imply that he's somehow able to take the miserable salary that most teachers barely subsist on, and somehow make it stretch to cover all this.

I wish the standard was, if they tell you anything about people's finances, then they tell all! Wouldn't that be interesting reading? But it'll never happen. Money is the last bastion of prudery in this country.

It says he *paid* $70,000.

It didn't say he has yet *paid off* the $70,000... people carry a huge amount of debt in NYC, and that may be the case here.

Regardless, he can stay with me the next time he's saving up for another reno.

The article says that Eric bought the apartment for only $235,000 in an area that usually costs $1000 per square foot. If you add on the additional $70,000 for the renovation, that is only $305,000 total with a mortgage that would be around $1500 per month. (Keep in mind that you do not have to pay for the renovation all at once -- you can borrow.)

Plus, $1500 per month does not include the mortgage interest deduction. This place is very affordable. As a person who lives in this city, I think that's a pretty good deal and a very smart move on Eric's part.

"It's confusing and demoralizing to the rest of us (or at least to me)."

I'll second that Diane

Separate and apart from the cost, I personally wonder whether it is in any way justifiable to spend close to a third of the purchase price of the apartment on a renovation. If he ends up staying in that apartment for 20 years it may be worth it, but someone this age is likely to have lots of changes in his life, making it unlikely.

Do also note that he had to pay the mortgage on an empty apartment for two years, so this place has really cost him quite a lot. That being said, it certainly is a great design solution, and one people can learn from even if they can't afford a $70K reno.

Eeeeck -- The original purchase price was so low for NYC that I suspect the place needed a gut rehab anyway.

Again, when we were looking in SF in a building where 500 sq ft studios were going in the low $300's in 2004, anything lower than that price/sq ft had serious problems, stuff like not having kitchen cabinets. Putting in an entirely new kitchen will knock you back $20,000 right there, without getting excited about snazzy appliances.

Like p(too), I think it very likely that the project was heavily financed back when interest rates were at their bottom. It would not surprise me at all if the apartment had been bought with a 3-year option ARM, which provides very low initial payments (so, low carrying costs), and if it now went on the market for an amount that would yield a nice profit for the owner.

I looked in the AVERY INDEX TO ARCHITECTURAL PERIODICALS and found nothing on Normal Projects, Michael Chen or Kari Anderson. They're probably new, young and unknown. Three great qualities.

Tony G.

Well, you have to remember that if you decide to be a teacher you are taking on a lifestyle choice - you only work 2/3 of the year, and the other 4 months for other work or vacation. Hence, if you multiply a teacher's salary by 1.5, it really isnt too bad. I don't think you can complain.

If you totalled all the functionality that Normal's solution encapsulates (table, screen, bed etc) and spent it all at Design Within Reach, it would be way less than 70K. And the materials and detailing would be nicer, imho