apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you are going to have a bathtub in the kitchen then, well, this is probably the best way to do it. It looks sharp (in a good way). Also, the bedroom looks very, very restful and calming - perfect place for an afternoon nap, too.

I lived in a railroad flat like this for 17 years in the east village and wish i'd had the energy, insight and know how to make mine as wonderful as this one! As is often said, youth is wasted on the young...My bathtub, also in the kitchen, did double duty as a buffet table - i used an old door to cover it and then put pretty tablecloths over it when i had parties. I'm surprised at how beautifully Simon was able to renovate this space -- my east village flat was also over one hundred years old and was such a wreck that i thought i was doing a good job by just keeping the dirt off the windowsills. This is a great apartment...makes me homesick for a now vanished New York.

Thank you! I am redecorating my house and this has brought me back to focus. Nice and simple is what I want, but I keep getting distracted by "stuff".

Thank you for sharing!

I love this tour its great to see a real NY apartment. I have always wanted to see a railroad flat. Thanks for sharing you have carved a lovely spot for the two of you. Wow 25 years living there the rent must be great! I love the kitchen.

love it, I live in a railroad too-- lots of inspiration here!

Thanks for sharing your wonderful space! your landlord is very lucky to have you as a tenant. I have always wanted to see an apt. with the bathtub in the kitchen, after hearing about it , and you have made it seem like a natural thing. you have implemented some great ideas.

It's obvious you love your apartment; thanks for the tour.The storage you created is great - gives me ideas for my small apartment.

GREAT apartment! I love the New Yorkishness of it all. That Simon has lived here for 25 years is a testament to the love that he has for this space, and it shows.

Just wonderful. Thank you.

Just my style: Tenement Modern!

I have a railroad flat, too (30 years) with the sloping floors and the tilting window frames. Loved your workarounds.

This is beautiful. It is great to see a small space that has been lived in a loved for a good long while.

I have to agree I love this place! It took be me back to when I actually visited these type apartments once upon a time! And to think 155 year old tenement!
I love that this place wasn't completely gutted and redone! you've kept the character, the tin ceilings were they original to the apartment? And your choice of flooring was right on! The linoleum although less expensive simply works and adds nostalgia. Awesome!

Beautiful! I love the way ya'll incorporated everything original into your design and made it modern. Where are the bottles in the kitchen from??

What an inspirational tour for us New Yorkers living in tiny old apartments!

"This railroad flat is one of the better illustrations that a lot of money and high-end products have absolutely nothing to do with guaranteeing a successfully beautiful home."

Hear, hear! I love your creative, resourceful use of space... thanks for sharing!

Yay! Awesome tour. What AT is all about; feel like I have not seen something quite so lovely, small, and full of ingenuity in a long time.

i love it, does not look cluttered at all. this is how small space living should be done.
i think it is such a great idea to put all the storage in one place, instead of trying to fit stuff into every nook and cranny.

This is fabulous. I love the kitchen windows and floor - brings back memories.

This place is the type of place that brought me to AT in the beginning.

As several have said, a return to AT's core values. Good work, great results! Thanks for sharing.

What a fantastic home. I love how casually coordiated absolutely everything is - from the piece of raw driftwood in the kitchen window to the chair in the living room, your home has harmony.

Posts like this one, of homes cleverly decorated by the people who actually live in them, are why I visit the AT site.

love! i absolutely love the pine floors and the hand-built furniture and i love how the floors slope and the table works so well. i can imagine life before that table arrived :)

however, living like this DOES take a lot of money - not just willpower and hard work. i work very hard but do not know how to do any handyman building type things. I'd have to hire someone. so therefore it would cost tons of money.

where's the rest of it?

This apartment is incredible. Knowing what these railroad flats look like in person, it is amazing to see the genius that went into refining this space into a livable and beautiful home. More like this Apartment Therapy!!!

dig that coffee table -- anyone identify?

More home tours like this one, please! Long on ingenuity, short on trendy posturing, timeless and lovely.

It's so comforting to know that someone has lived in the same home for 25 years. You don't hear that too often these days.

Your home is obviously well loved---light, bright and beautiful.

I AGREE WITH ROSENATTI! MORE HOME TOURS LIKES THESE!


HTTP://WWW.DUSKIN-NY.BLOGSPOT.COM

it's romantic, isn't - a place from the victorian period?

reminds me of mews flats in london...

Beautiful! This really looks lived in and loved. No trend following, or things without personal meaning... I love love love it.
As others have said above, places like this are why I started reading this site in the first place, and it feels like AT has strayed quite far from that in recent months.
Welcome back!

This is great, and I agree that house tours like these are what AT is all about. They really did a great job with this apartment!

What a fantastic beautiful home you created.
Every detail looks lovingly collected, not a bunch of objects as a means of "accessorizing".

Only someone who truly loves NYC would tolerate living with a bathtub in the kitchen. You've exploited that tub in the kitchen for all the beauty you can squeeze out of it, and it looks great.

The ceiling hospital rod makes a big difference to how nice the tub area is preceived. Since the legs of the tub stick out, either sew a panel of beauriful fabric on the bottom to make it longer, or I would gold leaf the legs or some bright red paint.

AT can you give us an edit feature!
Typo correction:
perceived

enjoyed the tour - lovely space.

i don't think i could live in a place with a bathtub in the kitchen, but it would be nice to bathe while watching someone cook me dinner...it seems strangely decadent somehow...?

Great place! A good reminder to think outside the box. If a bath can go in the kitchen...

This apartment really is amazing. The old tenement floor throughs are a real lesson for the "rip it out and modify" school of thought that is so popular now. There's nothing wrong with the plumbing being stacked in one room, and there's nothing wrong with a railroad flat. Aside from this being an amazing history lesson, they did an amazing job keeping the clutter to a minimum and infusing their home with light and love. Bravo.

Forgot to ask earlier -- your calm, neutral bedding is quietly making my toes curl with WANT. Source?

What a wonderful, personal space. Well-loved and unpretentious. And so many good solutions to the problems of settling walls and floors--a problem many old-house (or -flat) lovers share.

This is very impressive; GREAT use of space! The bedroom looks super cosy.

I love the floors. Very beautiful. I feel the pain of having a bath tub in your kitchen. We have a shower stall in our hall way that is no where near the rest of the bathroom.

your bedroom is dreamy and restful... i love the softness of it. i LOVE the tub in the kitchen!!!! kinda quirky, you know? thanks for sharing your home with us

PLEASE: Tell me about the COFFEE TABLE! Love it ...... looks like a Herman Miller base w/ glass top. I have been looking for this design for almost 2 years. Please let us know your source. Your home is WONDERFUL! Thanks for letting us in!

Michele in Philly.

Fantastic use of space! The renovations are wonderful and clever. Even the bathtub in the kitchen looks elegant! Well done!

This is the type of house tour I would like to see more of on AT.

Stunning! Such wonderful, smart solutions. Makes a great case for decorating with restraint.

Please, as others have asked, more tours like this one!!

Waouh!! Such a nice and beautiful appartment! Exactly the kind of flat I would like to live if I were in NYC. Congratulations!

Lovely place ... I admire the restraint and respect.

I love this apt. These guys have made something special for themselves. I want that in my life. Congrats

I love it also. Simon, you do wonderful work. I wonder what your "hall" closets look like. I would make sure no visiting kids mess with the windowsill with peeling paint.

I like it!... I would fill the tub with I ice and use it as a drink server!!

LOL

The Rhinestone Contessa
Http://vjohanning.blogspot.com

Very successful and most pleasing. Now this is real design and problem solving at its best. Thanks for the tour.

Oh forgot, I am amazed how you laid out the kitchen floor at a diagonal. Wash that hard in terms of cutting the edge tiles? Remarkable work.

Well. I guess it's my own fault that my studio apartment has gone totally unloved and largely undecorated: I don't have the issues as this place, and it looks fab.

Bravo!
Who knew anyone could rock a tub in the kitchen with grace and style?

This is incredibly clever and such a great use of space. I'm bookmarking this tour for inspiration, thanks for sharing.

I LOVE those scraped wood floors!


thebluepearlgirl.wordpress.com

Brilliant. I love everything about this place!

I, so very jealous of your large windows...really make the rooms larger...wonderful use of small space..Thanks for sharing...