apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You're apartment is truly inspirational. I just moved into a small space (400 sq. ft.) myself and have been watching shows like "small space, big style" (hgtv) for inspiration. Your space is just a perfect source of inspiration because I have similar style taste. Thanks for sharing with us.

M + SK, you've shown us how editing one's things can rise to the level of art. looks beautiful...! congrats. xp

At last! Wonderful kitchen.Love your tiny place. Thanks for sharing
~carla
ps- Ursula is beatiful!

Great photos, Jill.

The apartment looks so streamlined, but also so cozy.(And, I love how it glows.)

Heart, heart, heart...

How did you construct the light box cabinets in the bedroom? What kind of lights? Was there a previous AT post on that?

Nice job. A floorplan would be very helpful. I'm amazed you put so much work into a rental, though. I hope your landlord appreciates what you've done for his wallet when you move out.

Thanks for the tour!

Great kitchen. Who made your bamboo cabinets? They look fantastic.

Bravo Bravo Bravissimo! For those of us living in a space under 300 sf -- A big Thank You for the daily inspiration I get from your site,and now from seeing your beautiful home and beautiful family.

the kitchen is truly gorgeous. love the rich wood and open shelving. everything in your home is a piece to be displayed. that's what i'm currently aiming for, and slowly i'm developing those "selective" skills.

i love what you've done in the bedroom for the baby's nook and changing table. i also really love the light behind the changing table. where did you find it?

back to the kitchen: that's a true galley, and i think you've done really well to make it feel spacious - i can easily see a cook makin' magic in that small space.

throughout the whole space, there's a nice balance in what you've chosen to display. beautiful dinnerware, design-drool baby tools, and even the towels in your very cool bathroom look like important and beautiful elements.

on the whole, i think you practice what you preach very well :)

Gorgeous!

This is the best photo display yet of your place and had this been what was on Oprah, both of you would have had to be on stage. It so incredibly beautiful and neat. Makes me want to throw out everything but the cat.

Besides this, I saw one other close up of your bathroom sink and I can't help but mention that in both photos I've only seen one toothbrush. Weird, on my part, perhaps, but thought that was funny.

Job well done, and Ursula is the best. How fast she's growing.

Thanks for the tour! Love it - so calming and serene, a change from the bustling Village outside. Questions - Ursula still fits into the moses basket? Should you keep sharp and expensive knives stacked in a drawer? Do the felt doors leading the bathroom really provide privacy (I'm thinking noisiness here)? Lastly, do you miss a backsplash for the stove/counter area?

love, love, love it! Can we have more info on your felt doors? I have a bathroom with one of those acordion doors and I hate it! More specs,if you please! thanks!

never mind! I found your post on your doors! thanks again!

It's just sensational. It looks amazingly comfortable and beautiful. And the kitchen is just delicious.

beautiful and inspiring!
where did you get the wooden bird for the baby? it's great!

What a beautiful family. I can feel the love in your place. Thank you for sharing.

nice for a limited amount of space, but wondering why they are fixing up a rental.

if really renting, why renovate?

how much is rent? i'm sure they're saving a lot, but eonough to justify renovating? why not just get a bigger place?

they're going to have to move in 2 or 3 years when the baby gets bigger.

but design of the space.

That's amazing! A really inspiring, warm, lovely home. And the family portrait at the end was so sweet.

Wow, I just adore this apartment more and more everytime I see it. And I think the use of felt as a headboard is totally ingenius; sturdy but also very soft. I may have to copy that. :)

Someone earlier asked for a floor plan and I remember Maxwell posting this at the start o' renovation:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/9-month-cure/the-nine-month-cure-the-floorplan-010299

Looks about right. The place looks completely functional-chic so you guys should be proud. I have two questions:

Do you have a dishwasher?
What colors are in your bathroom (tile & paint)?

And Ursula looks like a giant muffin, sitting on the counter like that. Eat her right up.

Just beautiful. I love it! Three questions: 1) what's a Moses basket? Is it just a basket that you put a baby in? Is there anything that makes it special? 2) How do you accomodate the inevitable grease and detritus of cooking in such a small space? We have a tiny kitchen as well, and I'm constantly battling smoke, grease spots, and other icky stickiness. (Oh, for my mother's large, many-windowed kitchen!) 3) Finally, how do you accomodate the baby's sleep schedule in such a small space? Are you amazingly silent, or can she sleep through the noise of normal living?

Gorgeous!

I was going to call you out on the moses basket and make you confess that you co-sleep until I went back and read that you've added a crib. She's a big girl now!

Do you have a storage locker somewhere? I just don't get how you keep all your stuff there. Is this really the beginning and end of all your earthly possessions? My husband's winter coats alone would fill up your closet.

Beautiful little place with lots of creative ideas.

How did you approach your landlord or management company when you first decided to make major changes to the apartment?

Also, do you plan on taking the kitchen with you? You have lived there 14 years already so maybe eventually moving is not an issue. But there is a lot of value in that kitchen furniture and appliances.

Just curious because I admire non-conventional methods like the ones you have used to make your space feel like your own. In Europe, many rentals come without any kitchen. I think it would be great to have that option in American cities, not only for the rental market but for condos as well.

Great job!

Lovely - new kitchen since you were featured in ...the NYT(?) Last pic is the best.

Julianna, why does your husband have so many coats?

I love the 2 b&w prints you have...the monkey is especially adorable! Who did them and where can I see more by the same artist? You mentioned Paulia Ray in on of your slides but when I Googled that name I didn't get any results...

Thanks!

Love it.
Does anyone know if Maxwell discussed the felt headboard earlier on AT anywhere? It's a great idea and I'm curious about sizing and how it's attached (if at all).

L

I am happy to see your pictures. I was so sad that I missed the Oprah episode due an error with my PVR. I am impressed with your small spaces. Your kitchen has a wow factor. Congrats!

Wonderful - pics and apartment. I also love the last picture (and the kitchen drawer is fab).

Love it! As others have said, the best photos are the ones of the three of you.

You've lived there 14 years?!? Wow!

Thanks for posting this. I've definitely been curious to see your place.

Cheers!

Maxwell,

I am MOST impressed by your and Sara Kate's space discipline. When I saw the picture indicating the main closet space in the living room of the apartment, I was flabbergasted. My fiancee requires 250 square feet (and growing...) of CLOSET space by herself. In our previous apartment in Berkeley, I had two(!) walk-in closets. When she moved in, I was reduced to sharing half of one for my clothes.

She justifies this by saying she works in the fashion industry and needs a sizable and sophisticated wardrobe (argh!).

Don't get me started on my husand's coats! I said that because those damn coats really do take up too much space. He has the kind of job that requires suits and ties, etc., so he has a couple of long winter wool/cashmere coats, a trench coat and a couple of shorter but still nice coats. Even those 5 would take up half M-SK's hanging space. He kind of has a coat "thing" so I can't even bring up thinning out the collection.

In his defense, he could say the same about my formal dresses. I wear them infrequently and they take up a lot of hanging space. But I do need them enough that I can't consider getting rid of them.

I am in awe of the one closet!

Oh! I also meant to mention that I think your shortie shelves are very unusual and very fun. I specifically love the one that 'hangs' from the ceiling in the bedroom - makes the room feel upsidedown and Alice in Wonderlandy. The perfect glass sized kitchen ones are nice though too.

wow, i am in AWE.

i seriously don't know how you new yorkers do it. i think your place is the size of my living- in my grad student apartment housing! i shall never complain again for lack of space.

i have a newfound respect for the new york version of apartment therapy. wowsa.

I think its Paulina Reyes. Try searching for that--she's the graphics designer for Kate Spade as said before on an AT post.

Ok, maybe this is an odd question, but in this quote"

"Paris for eclectic, beautiful vintage finds, BDDW for furniture and Troy for seating"

For the uninformed, what are BDDW and Troy exactly?

Also, absolutely amazing apartment. I dont think I could handle something that small, but your apartment is so crisp and refreshing. Do you mind if I ask what drew you to the apartment in the first place? Was it the outdoor space, the detailing- what was it that made you have to have it?

I'd love to know what color you used on the kitchen walls (the yellow).

A question:
What kind of compact crib did you get?
I'm looking for something tiny, too.
Thanks.

Do you guys only have the one comfy white chair to sit in? how do you survive without a sofa?

Where do you put all of the baby crapola people have - strollers, diaper bags, place to change her, etc? I've seen that stuff take over areas much bigger than this. Just baby stuff alone!

becky

That kitchen makes me drool. LOVE the cabinets!

Great job! And so smart of you to get a compact, apartment-sized child -- only in Manhattan!!!

I agree - best slide show of the apartment yet. I really like the thick felt piece behind the bed.

The felt doors are awesome and I love the door pulls.

Everything looks so nice, clean, warm, uncluttered.

I'm just curious why Apple was listed as a resource - because you have a laptop? Not exactly furniture or decor.

i love love love it!
personally, i perfer living in a small space. it's comfy. plus, i can hardly afford to furnish much more. :P

ok, i'm facinated by the use of felt. it's a fabric i never even considered. i like how you can still have a minimal clean look, but bring softness in. can you guys make a post about the felt doors & the headboard? also, how do you not damage a felt headboard? i sometimes lean on mine & my cat is always playing on it.

where did you get the wooden bird?

& please make a post about lighting the inside of the cabinets.

beautiful! the kitchen is just amazing...in all the years i've been reading this blog i never noticed the door to the garden! truly dreamy.

wow. where do you watch TV? how do you change the sheets? my life would not fit in that closet but I tip my hat to you two+!

In addition to the 12" Powerbook, they have consolidated all their music to an iPod and and iPod HiFi.

BTW, the apartment is wonderful. I like the door opening off the bedroom to a garden. I'm sure that makes the bedroom feel expansive.

I can see how they can be happy in such a simple, clean, bright environment for everything has its place and there is a comfortable space for all to be, together or be alone, even in a small environment, and to have a garden -- it's really quite special.

May - I think the color is called Nacho Cheese and I believe it is a Benjamin Moore color. It's a nice color with the bamboo cabinetry.

iPud - hilarious link!

So lovely, calm and warm. And now, forgive me for asking this "duh" question but -- you do know the baby is going to be growing, right? No matter how hard you work to pare life down to the essentials, kids just collect a lot of stuff. But you know that. I just had to ask!

this is so cool maxwell!!! its like not even two weeks after u banned all those guys who asked u all those awkward questions about how u really live, and you deleted their worst posts, and like everyone has forgotten!!! i was worried for u when you posted these pix. i was thinking poor max hes opening himself up for another storm...

but u were so right to float this trial balloon. nobody remembers. you have 51 glowing posts here. youve silenced all the lambs. you win!!!

Wow I can see why the kitchen is your favorite part! And I love the leather door handles.

I went into that store henry built after I saw your post. I can't afford that stuff, but it sure is beautiful!

I see Devachan products :)

Very nicely done, especially the beautiful kitchen, but I would be totally claustrophobic in such a small place. My apartment is about 400 sq. ft. and I like it here, but I know I could not go smaller or share this little space with another human being.

Ryan--
BDDW and Troy are stores here in NYC... Troy in SoHo. And BDDW was just mentioned in a recent post for the stuff they showed at the Architectrual Digest Show, so search for them on this site to find location/contact info.

for those of you who haven't read about maxwell's renovation and apartment before, a bunch of the questions you ask and concerns you mention were answered/addressed in previous posts. i'm not sure if this link will work, so if not, check the archives under "9 month cure":

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/9-month-cure/index

I will never complain about my 485 square foot California bungalow again. I don't know how you guys do it but congrats on your apartment! The kitchen area is very nice.


Tony G

I love the orange blanket throw on white chair. I would really appreciate if I can get the info to buy it.

precious home. precious baby.

beautiful!! I have been so eager to see a complete "after" house tour - thank you!

like others, I am curious about a few things that I don't think you've answered in the past (can't find them by searching, anyway).
- where is the bird mobile from?
- where do you put your coats in the winter? do they really fit in the closet?
- where do you store ursula's stroller, if she has one?
- what kind of compact crib did you buy?
- can you give details for your storage units in the bedroom? they are gorgeous - way better than the lame ikea PAX stuff I've been living with.

thank you again for sharing your lovely home!!

I'll add another question to klo's list: where do you keep your vacuum cleaner?

Where's the landing strip?

This is a terrific space, thanks to your creativity and taste! I love the way your bedroom is all snug and luminous.

Along with Jackie (too), I wondered about the single red toothbrush.... Will Ursula use it, too, when she has enough teeth?

And where did you find the adorable Valenki for Ursula's tiny feet? (I just ordered a pair--considerably larger--for myself from Russia. Is there a more convenient source?)

The one thing that worries me is how the space will seem to shrink when Ursula is 2 years old. Oh, boy.

Maxwell,

What sort of fixtures do you use to light the interior of closets? We are doing a closet reno and I am unsure what to use!

Brad

I hope you do a separate post to answer our questions and concerns.

Thanks.

Thanks for posting the house tour! I'm now loving my yellow bathroom walls again--and am strongly fighting the urge to repaint them gray... Thanks for the yellow inspiration! (Oh yeah, your place looks great. But you already knew that.)

i love everything about this place. the three of you look just as sweet as the apartment too.

This is to "anon" about renovating a rental space:

Does anyone remember about fixture fees? If you had made a raw space with a 25-year lease into a living space, you could "sell" the fixtures to the next person to take over the lease.

Although this ended badly for people if landlords wouldn't renew the lease ten years later, I wonder if M&SK could swing a similar deal????

this is so so fabulous! finally! and so so inspiring!

maxwell, you have to tell us about the felt headboard (and if you have already before, can someone send me the link?) I have to get rid of my headboard, and plan to put it up against the window and something like this would just be amazing

did I say so so inspiring?

and jill-
on a totally seperate note - amazing pictures. what camera/lens do you use?

Good job, looks great, but I would go insane in such a small place. How much is your rent?

Aislee,

the felt all comes from Sutherland, where we found the best prices. A good link to all of our felt adventures is here:

http://apartmenttherapy.com/ny/how-to/how-to-build-felt-sliding-doors-016848

Okay, Friday night and the first time it's been quiet, but I love this:

For Klo:

- where is the bird mobile from?

Sara Kate found it, I'll ask her....

- where do you put your coats in the winter? do they really fit in the closet?

Yes and no. We keep our winter coats under the floor in our bedroom - beside the bed - as well as in the closet. During the winter, however, we keep them right outside our door on hooks, basically in the common space. It works nicely for us as we're the only ones at our end of the hall.

- where do you store ursula's stroller, if she has one?

Didn't have a stroller until a few days ago. It's a tiny Graco umbrella stroller and it hangs on a coat hook outside our door.

- what kind of compact crib did you buy?

Good question. I actually came home one day and SK had gone and bought this very nice, very plain, compact white crib that we now have in the bedroom. I'll ask here and we'll blog it.

- can you give details for your storage units in the bedroom? they are gorgeous - way better than the lame ikea PAX stuff I've been living with.

The bedroom storage units are custom built by myself a few years ago, and inspired by my friend Marre Moerel, who did a similar thing in her apartment - also small - years ago.

They are not complex. I used cheap chipboard (not plywood), painted it all with primer and then "wrapped" it with naugahyde from KNOLL. I had all the cuts done at the lumber yard on Spring street and then screwed and glued everything together in my house. The Naugahyde I stapled on with a T-25 stapler.

For Pixie - We have this vacuum:

http://apartmenttherapy.com/ny/cleaning/best-products-the-shark-1000-watt-vacuum-in-a-small-package-000302


and we keep it in the boxes I built that are right beside the bed. The tops are soft, but they lift up.

wow, this is inspiring. Inspired us to measure our apartment: +/- 10 due to measurement error it is 436 sq. feet, excluding closets. YES, next year's smallest coolest, we're coming...

Maxwell, your closets are inspiring. I already downsized my wardrobe 50% since moving in, its inspiring to find other ways to reduce STUFF.

Now if only as 2 computer programmers we could live without 3 computers a person...

Great to see that your wonderful family practices what you preach! :)

Maxwell,
I love the neutral color in your living room and bedroom--would you share the color?
Thanks so much!

Congratulations!. This is a responsible way of living. Besides your place is really cool!

Pilar

For the little sitting area next to the kitchen (white rocker), I'd love to know where to find the yellow throw, the foot rest, and the pretty print on the wall. I looked through all the links without success. Thanks!

This is a cute little apartment, reminiscent of an Airstream.

really perfect, but i wouldn't expect anything less. the felt doors on the bathroom make me cringe a little but other than that, i would move in.

taking a cue from your felt headboard and your bamboo cabinets. i've been inspired since the first time i read about your place. thanks for always sharing!

I've seen it before and it's adorable! So many neat, innovative ideas. It looks like you had lots of fun dreaming up all those ideas, which is half the fun.

I would make one unsolicited recommendation for a space that size. And, that, of course, is assuming that price is not a huge object. But, I'd strongly consider using the Gaggenau cooktop that has a cover for each hob. It would make for amazing counter space in between cooktop uses.

This image does not show the burners, instead, it shows a fat fryer and a grill, but it does have electric or gas cooktop hobs, which come with covers.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/universal-akb_1954_246639082

It's very low profile, and the cover sits less than an inch above the countertop.

Good stuff throughout the space!

Oh, and it doesn't have to be the whole pro cooktop thing as the image shows. The one I have sits on top of the countertop and does not have the whole front, in other words it's not 9" high, it sits in a cutout. Just wanted clarify! The pieces come separately, so you can get one section or two or whatever.

I bet this has beaten the record of comments. I could not keep myself from commenting too. It is the most amazing place i've seen on this site. I wonder how those felt doors isolate the sounds and don't they become damp serving as a bathroom doors? Also recently I've read that hanging things above babies head is not good, baby can be threatened that if falls on his/her head. I don't know how true is that.. Anyway, I think your apartment is wonderful! Hope i'll have similar one some day.

Has Ursula started standing up in her crib and screaming at you in the middle of the night yet?

Very nice. I think I'm going to steal your wine rack/shelf idea. :)

Good timing! I was just mentioning this place to someone this afternoon.

slide 32 with adorable family is my favorite!
you're amazingly self disciplined.
you wouldn't believe how brightly colored and toy filled our tiny apt was with our baby

Beautiful place. Where are the prints from? I googled the artist's name but didn't come up with anything. Thank you!

Wonderful tour. Maxwell, can you tell me where you picked up the rocker from? Thanks.

Where are the tracks for the bedroom "doors" from?

It's so hard not to chime in and let you know that this apartment is literally breath-taking. The right sacrifices, the right investments. Like other moments in the history of humanism your apartment seems to me a testament to the idiosyncrasies of being human. Felt doors (soft, true, odorless, forever)! It reminds me (as I need to be reminded each day) that each of us is not alone.

Easyenough, Why are felt doors odorless? Does felt not pick up odors the way other fabrics do?

I love that white chair , the one with the orange throw on it.
Where did you get that?

Thanks!

Where can I find the Paulina Rays print? Any help is greatly appreciated.

I could really use a classy small range and oven like that. what brand are they and where did you get them?

Maxwell / Sara Kate, please can you tell me where you got that white chair from?

Monica, the artist you're looking for is Paulina Reyes ... it was spelled incorrectly in the slideshow tour. She is a designer/illustrator in NYC who has designed for kate spade and etc. Her site does not have those prints, but you could probably email her. :D
paulinareyes.com
paulina.rdb@gmail.com

love love love