apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Really great place.

I thought contractors liked to supply the materials so they can mark them up.

Fantastic place! I love all the built-ins and design choices. My first place was very similar--520 sf apt that was all view, with a sleep alcove and an under-counter sink--but not the built-ins. I learned how to live with fewer possessions and fresher groceries because of storage limitations (which was ultimately a good thing). Sarah, you must love this apartment because it's certainly not lacking in either creature comforts or style.

Great apartment, but the pictures are too tight! I'd really like to see where the bedroom fits in relation to the front door (is there a hallway?), and where the kitchen in as well. It's hard to get a sense of the layout of the place without some wider shots. Good job!

Although I love how she organized and populated the spaces, it feels *slightly* unfinished to me, due perhaps to the lack of fabric/and or rugs (or art or color?) in the space. I also prefer a slightly tighter grouping style to decorative stuff.

But these are all picky points about a space that I think is largely successful.

What does the caption to picture 1 in the slide show refer to:

In the front wall, she created a 40 that serves as a wonderful frame for the space rather than a doorway with no door.

Regards,

Jonathan D.

It should read 40" opening.

Not sure I'm disciplined enough to live with that much open storage, but anybody with a big Egyptian head is alright in my book.

(I'd love to see what color would do to the bed alcove!)

Could you be more specific re: "building supply shops in Chelsea" for the formica? Do you recommend anyone in particular? We are considering formica counters and you definitely get some strange looks from people when you say that. But I think the clean look can work. Would appreciate any thoughts from others on this.

Sarah,

My apartment is very similar. White and spa greens and dark woods.

I especially love the low white shelves. Does anyone know where I could find something similar in a dark wood? Or was it custom built? Thanks!

Great job!
I tried to sketch out a floorplan and it seems that you could have put a wall up to isolate the section where desk is (you would be essentially making the bath room ensuite in that case) but I imagine it would have made the rest of the LR seem too long and narrow so you did a much better thing and enclosed part of the other alcove instead.

I like the dropped ceiling mainly because I like having that kind of differeing height detail in ceilings but also it does make the higher ceilings appear even higher. Many ppl don't like white apts but I do and I think your furniture color choices complement the whole look with the white built ins. I would be tempted to get your floors sanded down and ebonized as has been discussed on AT previously. That would go so well with the white look also.

The only issue I have is with the English fridge size comment. I am a Brit and I don't think that this ubder counter fridge is common. The first place I ever lived in (as a child) in England in the 70's was an apt building in Hemel Hempstead and it had a full size fridge. Next place was a council flat in the same area and that had an undercounter fridge but all the places I have seen thereafter had full size firdges including my father in law's 1BR apt in Mill Hill.

Finally, a plea to Jill. Is there any chance you can get a wide angle lens for your camera? Some cameras permit screw in lenses and you used to do fisheye lens shots (which I was not keen on) so I assume you had a screw in for that so I'm guessing your camera can do this. If you are taking apt shots, a wide angle lens is really a must because, without it, you can't get enough of a room in the shot to get a good sense of how it looks.

I LOVE that mirror.

sarah: this looks absolutely amazing. i'd love someone like you to re-do my apt.

Where did you get that couch in slide 13? It is unusual to see such a small foldout.

It seems like the bed alcove might also be a great noise buffering solution, too. I saw the green in the windows, which is so lovely, but have seen many apartments with open views and much noise that comes in. That would be my one big problem with a studio. With the alcove I could see the noise being slightly less. I wonder if that is the case?

i love your apartment!

the built-in's are awesome. great job.

BRAVO! :-)

Pixie,

Contractors do like to add their profit & overhead to the cost of materials, but that covers their time to order the right stuff and make sure the right stuff shows up. Good contractors can usually get a discount from suppliers, which at least partially makes up for their mark-up.

You may save some money by obtaining your own materials, but that savings won't be worth it when your plumber calls to inform you that you got the wrong valve, you need to get the right one, and he's going to have to move on to another job -- setting your project back 2 weeks.

I'm currently employing a contractor...

Thanks Jon. But, since this is a source of profit, I wouldn't think a contractor would be gleeful about a job where the owner provided all the materials, as was the case here.

I dunno...some professionals are past the point of trying to squeeze some profit margin out of supplies, but I suppose we're lucky to find and work with those folks.
I just had a little job done where the guy told me what he liked to work with and was delighted when I produced it.

This apt is excellent - no color needed. I immediately wanted to marry you! Which is really just a sign of my wholehearted admiration of your conception of this place. AT got it right when they said you made all the right choices.

Simply fabulous. It's perfect.

Tell us more about the built-ins!

It's a source of profit, perhaps, but it is not pure profit, without headaches, and I seriously doubt average contractor mark-up on smaller jobs even begins to cover the time and hassle of even the follow-up paperwork alone. I've heard of many arrangements like this that contractors willingly sign on for, for that very reason.

I love this!! Especially the shelving.

I would love to see that mirror centered above the bed, perhaps against a subtly colored back wall.

The countractor-buying-stuff issue is primarily dependent on the size of the contractor's business and how individual/eccentric/specifc your tastes are regarding fixtures, hardware, tiles, etc. Long story short: they make a lot more dough working than shopping. If you've basically hired one (or even two) guys who work solo, they try to factor in shopping time when pricing your job but still purshasing anything more than sheetrock, plywood, romex, etc. is a pain, and the time spent doing that is costing them money. Plus, (from my own days doing it) they often deal with the same waiting in lines, custom-faucet-hasn't-been-delivered-yet hassles that you do. Back in the day, I would have LOVED if a client had purchased all but the basics in advance, especially any specific item like cabinet handles that they particularly liked. (Other question: yes, it's common to use over-bought stuff on future jobs, but where, in New York City where no one has sheds or garages, would you store all that stuff - and in New York City, even if you had that kind of space for it, couldn't it be better used for something else? Like a tiny, cool studio apartment like some we've seen on this site? Just wondering.)

Overall it's a lovely space. But sadly, planning for electrical outlets didn't seem to be a part of the design. Slides 17 and 19 show powercords running from the table to the beautiful built-in bookshelf -- not aesthetically pleasing.

Any chance Sara is willing to share the name of her contractor?

I was wondering also if Sara would be willing to share the name of her contractor, and the source for her compact fold-out be in slide 13.

Thanks.

What a warm and inviting retreat you've created. I love everything about his studio apartment. Even makes me think I could live with such a small frig given the access to grocery stores/produce stands throughout the city.

Great job!!!!

There is no way in hell that I'd let any of the contractors I've interviewed pick out anything aesthetic. Do people really do that? Unless I had some amazing high-end contractor, I would not let him/her pick out anything (and in that case, what they picked out would probably be above my budget, even with a discount)

This apartment was photographed for Time Out New York around November 2005, in case anyone thought it looked familiar but couldn't place it.

Thanks, Jane! I felt like I recognized the shelving, the mirror and the head sculpture.

Sarah's right, spend money on the right things! Excellent advice. And I love the mirror. Nice touch.

jamie pup — I respectfully disagree about British fridges. Newer homes in the U.K. seem to have taller fridges as the standard (although narrower than North American fridges) but virtually all older homes that I visited in Scotland and Ireland (where I lived for several years) had small, undercounter fridges, like a bar fridge — even for families.

Lovely apartment, by the way!

Hey roundabout, I can't speak for Ireland or Scotland but can speak for England! The last caption says that an undercounter fridge is "a normal sized fridge in England".

Well I grew up in England and only came to nyc in my 20's so I have seen a lot of fridges in my time (what a claim to fame huh?) and undercounter fridges were a rarity and certainly not the norm and are not the norm today as the caption implies.

Not a biggie I know but a fallacy all the same.

this is nice, i guess. nothing wrong with it or anything. i feel like it could use some color, but i guess that's a matter of taste.

i have to admit that i am immediately turned off by a house tour when every other caption is about custom work, having pieces commissioned, etc. etc. especially when, to be perfectly honest, the built in bookshelves look pretty much the same as Ikea. the commissioned dresser (it was a dresser, right?) looks pretty much like any similar piece you could get readymade. i have small furniture in my small apartment, and i didn't have to go to India to hire somebody to build it for me.

it's not that i think there's anything wrong with spending a lot of money on a project. it's just that i don't think it's justification for a house tour.

A tangential but related note: there is an interesting article in the WSJ real estate section about working alongside your contractor as a way to keep costs down without going all the way to DIY. I have never heard of this...but could make certain projects in Sarah's place more available to us in the masses.

Casamidy mirror: love it!

I like it. I admire that she waited till she got exactly what she wanted. We did the same in our apartment- no ugly time fillers till the right theing came along. I like that it is mostly white- it doesn't look sterile because of the accessories she has, also the kitchen adds color.

What I've seen so far is amazing. I would love to see a floorplan of the apartment to see how everything comes together...

Sarah,
Kudos to you, smart woman. And you have your sanity to boot.

Hi Sarah - Recently there were some posts relating to difficulties in both reaching Casamidy and receiving items ordered from them. They have received full payment for a simple tray that we were advised was ready to ship once in Sept and then again early October - however it is now November and they do not return emails nor have they sent us the tray. I hesitate to place larger and more significant orders at this time. What was your experience. Any one else had problems?

I like the windows the undercounter fridge! Great idea to add the walls and create a small bedroom. I think instead of a curtain covering the bedroom though, I think it would have been great with a frosted glass sliding door that goes into the wall.

Great place lovely and bright.

Another Brit here: people with u-t-c fridges usually have a matching u-t-c freezer, and unless there are eight of you in the household :) a fridge the size of a phonebox isn't an essential, specially if you have access to good fresh food, delis etc.

Gorgeous apt, very inspiring: I'd also love to see a floorplan.

Lovely (except that the toilet seat is up).

this place looks really relaxing at the end of the day.