Name: Pearl
Location: East Gramercy
Apartment Size: 650 sq.ft.
Favorite: When Pearl first saw this apartment for rent, 12 years ago, she was "drawn to the orange walls and hasn't painted them since.'
Pearl is not burdened by what some would see as her clutter. Veering once again from my typical Inside Out column, this week's tour reveals a rebel in the Apartment Therapy community. Not everyone feels compelled to achieve minimalism. Pearl, for example, finds comfort from that which surrounds her.
Every surface is covered and everything that covers it has a story. The items are nostalgic and/or significant with historical reference. Pearl thrives on the stories she can tell about each memento and about every salvaged piece of furniture. She refers to her apartment as "a Native American talking stick." Just being in it opens the floodgates to sharing stories about family, religion, life, the past, the present, and the unanticipated therein.
In fact, the couch in the living room is such a poignant and evolved story that it begat her first feature length documentary film, Divan.
According to Pearl, her apartment wasn't always like this. She moved in 12 years ago originally subscribing to the IKEA furnishing approach--the norm amongst a significant portion of this country's population. Suddenly, her grandma passed away and no one wanted her furniture/heirlooms/kitch. Pearl's conscience and strong admiration for her grandma wouldn't allow her to send them to the landfill and so she adopted many pieces. In doing so, she willingly accepted a theme of kitch and dedicated herself to embellishing on the theme.
Pearl refers to herself as "an immigrant from Brooklyn." She was raised in an Hasidic family and spoke only Yiddish as a child. She has since left that community and emigrated to Manhattan. Her apartment is a vestige of her upbringing, infused with memories while fueling her complicated identity. With such a tall order, it is no wonder that she has so much stuff.
I love this apartment! It is filled with things that are important and tell incredible stories.
I usually like neat and modern, but this apartment really "speaks" to me.
Sorry, didn't mean to use "neat" - I meant streamlined.
I was not saying the apartment wasn't neat.
Love it. I don't see it as kitschy at all, just really rich and layered. With a divan like that and the orange walls, it's great how Pearl let the the whole apartment evolve over time.
I love this apartment. It is warm and comfortable, not cold and sterile. It seems so full of meaning.
Kudos on your place, Pearl! I'm particularly envious of your kitchen window. You're clearly very creative and very talented.
I work for a Jewish catering co. and we need some pix of the Rabbi who keeps mice away to put up. Where can I get some - does anyone know? Can I download them from somewhere? Love Pearl's apt. Thanks!!!
I love it, especially the divan and the use of textiles, my favorite things.
This space really has a lot of personality and doesn't look like anyone else's space, which is the best thing about it.
Pearl! I love your place. I am similarly DESPERATE for the Mice Fighting Rabbi!!! Please please tell me where I could find that image! Or even an authentic print!
Having also accepted a few items from what remained of my grandfather and his wife's things after he passed away and she was sent to a nursing home by her kids, I am touched by Pearl's story and how she's woven the stuff into her own place. I LOVE my dining table and chairs that were theirs...many good dinners happened around that table!
Go figure! Who knew my little apartment made up of not so little peices of my life hit a chord! Thanks to Jill for her forsight. The pic of the rabbi who is famous for keeping mice away is available at any "seforim" (book) store in Boro Park or Williamsburg and/or Eichlers (probably only the one in Boro Park has it). I have a tour of Williamsburg coming out on Soundwalk (soundwalk.com) in end of September which gives a Hasidic tour including the rebbes known for one blessing or another... and you can get my flick about the Divan online through amazon if you like after Sept. 20 -- feel free to email me at pearl@palinkapictures.com if you'd like more info, etc.
Thanks again for your great comments!
zey gezint,
p.
A mini musuem...the knid of space where cooking and dialogue beat out any idea of 'form'
it's not my particular taste/background, but i like the fact that it is so rich in particularities... and not just picked-up-on-atlantic-avenue-boutique particularities but ones that reflect her background etc. it feels like the organic expression of a person rather than contrived, which i admire very much.
Love the apartment and would love to see the film! It's funny that the beginning of this article calls Pearl a "rebel in the Apartment Therapy community." I must be one, too because I personally dislike (I'm being polite) the whole modern, minimalist theme. I find it so tiresome. I'd rather live somewhere that looks lived in and personalized than all shiny and sleek. I love eclectic cottage decor and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
Oh, Pearl, thank you. I love so many things about this apartment. The curtain in the first shot is beautiful. So are the divan, the beads in front of the window, the collections. This is the kind of apartment that I like to see. Thanks for sharing, and nice job!
everyhting is wonderful.
Cool stuff. I like all those old radios
Because of this post last year, my husband and I rented "Divan" and we loved it - I encourage everyone to see it.
hi five for old radios!
I happened to see Pearl's documentary by accident...what a treat! And what fun to see the auteur show up on the blog. Love seeing the famous Divan and all your wonderful collectables. Thanks for sharing.
i like it. doesn't feel cluttered somehow. there is a big difference between genuine items of real sentimental value and some idiot hipster buying garbage at a flea market in williamsburg to make him appear deep to the idiot from kansas he is trying to seduce.
This wonderful apartment reeks of history and respect for family, things that are often lacking in modern interiors that emphasize minimalism. Thanks for sharing your heirlooms and your creativity. I think your grandma would be proud!
i thought i recognized that divan...what a fab documentary it is...
Hey Pearl
I love your apartment.
I was in the former eastern block about 15 years ago and your apartment is very similar to what I encountered in Poland and Russia. In a place where most of the buildings and streets were bleak and dirty, it was amazing to go into people's homes and find these treasure troves of texture and color and just like your apartment; they had things that had been passed down for generations!
The facinating thing about the Russians is how they proudly displayed their history, even if it wasn't something we as Americans looked upon possitively. I'd seen some very intriguing displayes created out of old communist propaganda posters, statues, pins, hats and uniforms. They took things that many people would consider as junk and truely turned them into peices of art.
So Pearl, even if there are people who don't like your apartment, it has a lot of personality that most other's don't! The colors are incredibly rich and eventhough the stuff is "old" it has so much more to say than "new" stuff.
My apartment is very similar in that it has a lot of things from my grandmother and mother and my husband's grandmother (all of whom are now deceased). The style is a little differnt, it's more "country" and very little of our furniture is actually antique.
Love your apartment though - it's great!