apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I really like what they've done with this apartment. Just a few notes I made while watching the slide show:

* The mirror on shelf in the living room looks kinda cheap.
*The stereo cabinet is an interesting design, but it's cluttered and out of scale with the bench next to it. Looks lopsided. Very convenient to work with though, I suppose. I'd probably replace it with something long and low to match the television, or maybe something mounted to the wall that could house the stereo components and some books, like one of those Ikea Lack shelving units in black.
*I have a thing against rope lights and Christmas lights inside throughout the year (they're fine on a patio or elsewhere outside) - I'd ditch them from the living room window.
* Bedroom walls appear to be a bit spare.
* Love the sectional against the window
* Love that wooden bench

Scratch the comment regarding the mirror - I just realized it's a passthru from the kitchen. What a nice element!

I love that bench; I'd be proud of it too! Nice place; I like the comfortable style. The multiple (but not overwhelming) plants and touches of nature are refreshing.

Vanessa,

The bench is really beautiful. Perhaps you should start thinking about a new career making furniture?

I love the curtain on the cut out above the pass through, in all my years, I have never seen anyone do anything good with one of those cut outs until today. I love it! Also, this space looks much large than 500 sq ft, I bet it feels bigger too, nice work.

This is the largest 500 square feet I've ever seen!!

p.s. I also really like the toilet paper storage in the bathroom. when I first looked at it I thought it was a grouping of white containers or candles, I don't ordinarily care for open storage, but this works for me.

it was Simon's grandfather who drew the drawing's according to Vanessa on Flickr!

A bit random... but nonetheless, I had to ask... that white rug in photo 10... is it from pb? I think i have the same one (wool felted)... l am always defending it but it drives my boyfriend crazy...even after a year, we still have to lay a blanket on it if we're going to sit on it, lest be swarmed by fuzz... do you have the same problem? or a solution?
really nice job with your place.

It's true. I didn't draw those.

Ha. Yes. I had the exact same shag rug vs. boyfriend problem. Actually the photo photo showing the rug was taken a year ago -- before the boyfriend moved in. The rug (from Ikea) caused huge swarms of dust bunnies everywhere. We gave it away on Craigslist. We no longer have a carpet in the living room. I am happier. I would give in to your boyfriend. He is right. Shag is beautiful, but so difficult to live with.

Ec,
p.s. I should mention that I defended my shag rug too when my boyfriend complained. Then one day I was cleaning and I rolled up the rug to wash the floor. I sat down on the sofa to take a break and an incredible calm came over me as I realized that the floor was smooth and clean, without a hint of white fuzz in sight. That's when I made my decision to get rid of the shag.

Go, Grandpas!

You can hang those shag rugs on a wall - that's one way to keep the fuzz under control, while still adding that kind of texture to a room. Can help tone down a room that's acoustically a bit hot, too.

LOVE THE BENCH. I second SuzyQ's suggestion. And if you do (go into furniture design), please let me know--I would order your bench in a nano second!

Very successful decorating and love the extra toilet paper on the shelf. I never would have thought utilitarian storage could come across as an artistic display. Also really like the use of the awkward space for your mirror and shelf outside the bathroom/kitchen. The bench next to the TV and electronic equipment looks precarious. Perhaps it would look better with a more substantial base. Love the entry bench you made though.

this is really lovely. it's beautifully styled, but not too formal. and it manages to be both elegant and efficient. you don't see all that in one home very often. i actually don't think the media storage is an eyesore; in fact i thought to myself during the tour that even though you have the sort of setup that often is one, the overall lines of the piece in your space work. i think there's already so much 'long and low' going on that if you replaced it with something like that, it would be monotonous and overdone.

oooh, and i might have to steal the DVD winelist idea...

I love the bookcases--where did you get them?

I really like what you've done with the bathroom. It's so tough trying to figure out creative yet attractive ways to store things in a small bathroom. Especially such necessary things like towels and toilet paper.

i think there's already so much 'long and low' going on that if you replaced it with something like that, it would be monotonous and overdone.

Not if you mounted it to the wall, floating above the plane of the sectional. I think a unit like this one, turned on its side and wall mounted, would look great in that space: http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/60206_PE166210_S4.jpg

I do love that stereo cabinet they've got, though. It may just be the little table setting next to it that throws things off for me. YMMV.

And Vanessa is right about the 2nd sofa - it really doesn't fit the space quite as well as the sectional, but it's not awful or anything. Given that wonderful bench she's already made, I'm sure she'll come up with something to replace it in good time.

very nice! how'd you manage to hide the tv/electronics wiring??? your rental let you tack your tv on the wall!!!

Vanessa, I love the quilt on your bed. It looks like it's chocolate brown alternating with rich jewel colors! Did you make that or where is it from? So beautiful.

As Vanessa's other half i thought i'd best chime in here from the safety of my office computer. The bookcases in the spare room are from desiron.com. And I think the bed quilt came from Kate's Paperie of all places. As for the tv - what the landlord doesn't know ...

The shag rug is about the only design battle i've ever won in the household. And the "embarrassing" couch (as Vanessa so lovingly put it) fit perfectly in my old apartment but stands out like dogs balls in the new one. Vanessa does spend 95% of her time on it though ...

Vanessa, I'm an organizing maniac! What kind of web design are you into?

Vanessa, where'd you take a woodworking/welding class?

Annie,
I am working for a publishing company right now. But that I worked for a non-profit.

Steven,
There are welding classes at the Art Students League on 57th St, btwn 6th & 7th aves and the School of Visual Arts offers a woodworking class on 19th St. between 6th & 7th.

I meant to say, "before that I worked for a non-profit."

;)

I like the tree on your bookcase - it reminds me a little of something I saw online that I've been wanting to order for my jewerly:

http://www.vivaterra.com/pls/enetrixp/!stmenu_template.main?complex_id_in=482007.484107.484108.899557.page

Holly

Ha! Simon just said to me, "somebody actually likes your f***ed up tree on the bookcase." Thanks Holly! I picked it up at Anthropologie. I was using it for jewerly too, but it turned out to be a lot of work/not worth the effort balancing the jewelry on it. It's acutally a candelabra.

ha! this is turning into the first installment of our proposed couples' hated stuff thead! too cute.

sunspot, i'm not sure how feasible/safe it would be to wall-mount one's home theater components on a shelving unit. depending on what you have it's probably a bit heavy for the studs (especially if you're mounting an entire media cubby AND equipment). not to mention how disastrous it'd be if the whole thing came crashing down.

vanessa, how did you like the Art Students' League metal/wood working class? i've contemplated it so many times, but i just wasn't sure. do you get independent space and use of the tools? because i have to say i'm totally in if it means i'd have access to work on my own stuff.

Opoponax,

You will absolutely get your own space and time to weld whatever damn-fangled-cockamany thing you can imagine. Basically, they teach you how to weld metal together and then set you free to explore. It's awesome. And it's inexpensive. The teachers/techs offer great advice and guidance as well.

Beautiful.

Vanessa, could you please add me to the list of I-want-one-of-those-benches-people?

I really love the mirror above the toilet. Great idea.

Vanessa,

Who did you take you class at the Art Students' League with?

Thanks,

H

Nessa,
Instead of looking for more web-design-stuffy-office-small-cubicle-crabby-boss-9-to-5-work, why don't you start making more furniture. The bench is so lovely, and you are so talented.

Hi H,

My technical instructor at the Art Students League was Steve. He is now back in the sculpture studio as a technician. He was substituting for several months for the regular welding instructor.

There is another tech whom is quite good, but I forget her name at the moment. She is a women in her late forties. She wears her hair in a bun (which is a good idea in a welding studio). She was substituting for Steve for a week while he was on vacation. She is now a welding tech instructor, but I'm not sure if she runs the morning or afternoon sessions. The evening classes offer formal artistic instruction. I might try that, but I spent so many years in formal art classes, I kind of just want to have fun and do my own thing now... but I will probably try it...

Anyway, I hope this helps you!

I liked your fu**ed up tree on the book case as well.... ;-)

Beautiful apartment. Just beautiful- but no pics of the kitchen other than the aircon unit? I'm curious!

>i'm not sure how feasible/safe it would be to
>wall-mount one's home theater components on a
>shelving unit.

Depends on how much they weigh. People routinely mount bookshelves to the wall, and the weight there can easily exceed 500lbs. Vanessa has one of those all-in-one home theater units, and they weigh around 20lbs, max. That'll easily hang off a wall with fairly lightweight mounts, including the Pax unit or a similar piece of furniture. In fact, it'll weigh less than many flatscreen televisions, which people are happily hanging on their walls. Unlike many flatscreen mounts, the weight would also be spread across two or more studs. It's a non-issue unless your stereo system is insanely massive.

Just don't try mounting something like that to drywall without finding the studs first . . . That would not be pretty.

Linnea,
I think it's the solitary aspect of building her own stuff that stops Vanessa from doing it day in day out. If she could find a way to collectively interact with a bunch of people on a day to day basis and still design and build the stuff she wants, then that might just be her dream job....

And Vanessa if you'd make a dining table to go with the bench, I'd buy both...just lovely!

But I'm also wondering where you got your sectional? Is it microsuede? Thank you.

Hi Vanessa,
Lovely design! Looking at the slideshow I thought of several new ideas for my own place. I'm curious about the thing hanging on the wall in pic 7. Did you make it? What's it made out of? Cheers.

"relatively small space"?!?!? i would kill to have that much space, as most people i know in new york would!

Hi Kate in DC,

I purchased the sofa from West Elm http://www.westelm.com

Jen Y,
I made the sculpture that is hanging on the wall. It is welded pieces of stainless steel.

Maribou,
I swear, it is actually quite small. I know, I know, it's not a studio and we are very lucky to have two bedrooms, but for a two bedroom apartment it is really very tiny. The mirrors make the place appear much larger. Also, the photos lie. You know how claymation animators can film a small model of a city and make it appear large when it's really only a inches wide? The same sort of things happens when you photograph this apartment.

Vanessa and Simon - just wanted to say that your place looks beautiful and you all have done a fantastic job!

Without a doubt, Vanessa is one of the most creative people who I know and have had the pleasure of working with. If she is unable to do furniture, anyone who hires her for web or print design work will be very pleased!

Hope that all is well and that you can come visit DC sometime soon. xoxo -Christine

Blank master bedroom wall ideas:


1. metal wall sculpture (i.e. www.maxhoward.com)
2. geometric configuration of several 8x 10 framed photos
3. cover a canvas with textured fabric in a color pulled from the stripes in your bedspread
4. round capiz placemats(?) mounted in a row (we have some from the Phillipines)
5. wood carving or driftwood mounted to a 2x4

vanessa,

can you tell me where you took a woodworking/welding class? was this in nyc? i have been wanting to do something like that. if you have any time to answer with ideas, i'd greatly appreciate it.

thanks for your response,

stef

Hey Stef,

I took welding classes at the Art Students League on 57th St, btwn 6th & 7th aves and woodworking at the School of Visual Arts on 19th St. between 6th & 7th aves.

:) Vanessa

Maribou, a 500sf 2-bedroom is pretty tiny, if you ask me. my first 2 new york apartments were 500sf one bedrooms, which i think is pretty much standard. is it a studio? no. but, yeah, 2-bedrooms do exist in this city, and 500sf is pretty tight quarters for that kind of an arrangement.

Hi Vanessa,
we think your apartment is very sexy, while stil maintaining a hetero-chic look. Cheers big ears!

I think your apt looks perfect for a round of pig likkin fun with a side of guacamole dip

baneeeeeeeeza,
we love your apt it reminds me of a big old smelly quiche. i think the tp on display is a fab touch to the bull frog mac daddy feel

I like the dog balls.

Hi Vannessa ~ Found this site while surfing for interior stuff (modern stencils acutally, anyway)...your space is inspirational...I want your bench too. It is perfect functionality, and blended organic and industrial beauty. Love it. I want two that nest....the tallest being 29" high that I'd use as a sofa/console table, then the second highest would be 19" and I'd pull it out from under when I need extra seating at my dining table. And the second one would serve as as a shelf for books and magazines under the sofa table when not pulled out.

For your kitchen a/c window....a thought is to use shutters that fold back in front of the unit; I'm talking about the older smaller louvered ones like these on ebay.. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1950s-Wooden-Shutters-Plantation-Style_W0QQitemZ330040931103QQihZ014QQcategoryZ66799QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ....you can keep them closed when the unit is not in use, or open the louvers for air flow when the unit is on or fold them open all the way. I did this once in an apt. living room and painted the shutters a matte silver and distressed them a little...got lots of copliments on them and folks didn't even know there was an ugly a/c behind them.

Thanks for the tour! Cyndi in Austin, TX

hey,
how are you.
i am kristle and i love your songs.
i also have your c.d..
i had it from christmas.
i love it.
also your pictures.
love your fan,kristle.
hope you have fun.......pls write back..

Hey Vanessa,
What's up I love your songs and hope to get your C.D.But I have one simple question. How did you become famuos?
P.S.Will you send me an {Autographed Picture}of
{You} to this address 2216E.30St 74114 Tulsa OK
Please wright me back.
Makenzie Nickel

Hi- I really like how you've decorated & managed to organize your "small space." I'm very inspired by your storage & design ideas, as I'm currently redecorating & reorganizing my small apartment to accomidate my boyfriend & I & all our stuff.
I was wondering if you could tell me where you purchased those bamboo baskets for your sweater storage.
_Thanks

I remember when this was posted last year. Still think it's a cool apartment.

Are the zig-zaggy green plants real--if so, what are they?

The plants are bamboo. You know, the kind you see at the grocery store that have been wound together in early developmental stages and are sold with ribbons tied around them.

It looks like they grew and Vanessa unwound them...

I bookmarked this space last year... that guest room is so divine: full of warmth and wonderful texture. And I love how you store your toilet paper! Way to utilise every inch of spare space!
Lovely home... (:

Hi,

I love the art in the guest room, the horizontal rectangular art piece (predominantly red). Is it a photo print? If you don't mind sharing, who is the artist.

Thank you