Name: Charles
Location: Upper East Side
Size: 1100 sqft.
Favorite: That even though this apartment is smaller than his last apt, it feels bigger.
"What you see happened in one day!" When Charles explained to me that the movers arrived early in the morning and by late that same night, (not that much after midnight, mind you) the apartment looked as it looks today, I was truly in awe of this man.
Charles had been preparing for this day for a while, and had a clear idea of how he wanted his family's belongings arranged...
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...but it is still jaw dropping and impressive to say the least. Even if Charles told me the setup took months, I would be impressed. Every placement, every angle, every directed beam of light is complimentary, reveals an incredible sense of style, and seems to make incredible sense.
Charles says he finds the "low ceilings comforting, shady, and cozy." His last apartment was slightly larger but did not have an open floor plan and thus felt cramped. To enhance the impression of space as well as to create more usable space, Charles made two major improvements to the apartment before moving in. He had a nursery built for his infant and he had a deck built in back as a second dining room.
For the nursery, Charles identified a dead space in the corner of the front room and decided it wouldn't be missed if it were to be enclosed to create a bedroom for his child. "Once you give up the fantasy that your child is going to play in his room, it becomes much easier to build." Charles made a small room and kept the common space as large as possible so that the child could play in the presence of his parents. To integrate the room architecturally, Charles extended the crown molding and bookcases found elsewhere in the living room.
With the addition of the deck, the kitchen became the physical center of this larger apartment. "We're cooking for people," says Charles. By raising the deck 3 feet above ground, Charles provided space for the roots of the garden's Catsura tree to spread below it; he "registered the space" from within the apartment; and lastly, he created great visual access to the apartment while sitting outside. This one design decision enhances both the outdoor and indoor experience as well as adding an additional 30% of usable space to the apartment.
The yellow tinted paint color is the same throughout and was custom designed to go with the art and to play off the varying shades of light found in the space over the course of the day.
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Originally Posted January 11, 2006
Really lovely. The kitchen/living room/dining room is my favorite with all the built in shelving and nooks and crannies while still feeling open. Reminds me of garden flats in London.
Yes, it's lovely. It's got a certain sort of curatorial-scholarly-library feel to it that's really appealing. Like one of the Harry Potter characters grew up and went to art school.
The glass-backed bookshelf tops are brilliant - I will file that idea away in case I'm ever in an apartment where that would work.
Wow. What a great place. So warm and inviting.
I'd like to point out how great that enormous poster looks even though on that floor the ceiling is not all that high. That's a nice placement of the art, while we're on a roll about art.
So beautiful! I admire how you have so many lovely things, yet don't devolve into clutter! (That's our failing.)
I love this ... somewhat like what I'm aiming for, although in an efficiency.
How many square feet is this place.
And, please tell us the MBR paint color!
it is beautiful, classy, comfortable, personal. i love it. congrats on your home.
raising the deck to improve the view - genius. adore all the built ins throughout the apt, even a small one next to the bed! such a feeling of comfort.
Blue,
I like your comment about it having a curatorial-scholarly-library feel. This is the exact feeling I want to achieve in my place. Your place, Charles, IS indeed absolutely perfect.
Beautiful living room. I honestly think that floor to ceiling books is almost always a good thing. And I have the same shower curtain.
Zia! I get the impression that you are a fellow seattleite from your blog. What neighborhood is your (formerly) blue floored apartment in?
What a cool space. I could spend all day looking out into the garden.
Please forgive my ignorance and nosiness, but not being a New Yorker, I am really curious as to how much $ a place like this goes for. I'm wondering if I ever have a shot moving to the Big Apple (not that Boston is much cheaper).
Great place! And the sofa looks so inviting, ymmm, perfect for a nap!
I love the use of built-ins, shelves, upper tier storage etc. How much of it did you build and would you recommend your contractor? I need a shelf/desk/filing combo built-in to my place. Thanks!
M
I am jealous of your apartment; it's so perfect. To echo Marcellene, can you recommend a contractor for the shelving, etc.?
And to Marcellene: wasn't there a woman who showed her apartment a few months back who had built-ins as well? She had a Mexican mirror in her living room. Perhaps we ought to ask her.
Hi Caitlin,
Sorry, I haven't checked this thread for awhile ... we live in Rainier Beach. How about you?
Hi, I love the shaker style looking dining room chairs. Where did you find those? :)Lisa from Lyme, CT
Amazing built ins, art, outdoor space. I love this.
You have a phenomenal home! I love the open concept and the light. Absolutely wonderful - I am incredibly envious!
I like the open space a lot-great idea for a move with an open layout plan.
I like your idea of a built up deck. I wouldn't have thought of it, but i think it works here.
Good use of a warm feeling without creating clutter, i agree with earlier post of this.
i LOVE the brown santa fe spanish style terra cotta tiles. they are not used often in nyc, and i really like them. and mixed with brown wood floor-looks warm. white tiles would be too sterile. these are great.
enjoy
Finally, a pictures of a home I can actually imagine living in! It's so inviting.
Wow! How do people make places that are so, well, efficient, effective and positively stylish?
Ground floor Brooklyn Brownstone? It looks so familiar, in that brownstown ish way. I had similar fireplace mantels. I love the louvered doors over the windows leading to the street. I've never seen that before and it seems like an excellent solution to windows that are always problematic.
All I can say is fabulous!!! Now I really wish I was living back in New York again. So much unique and interesting things to look at, but not cluttered.
Lovely! Thanks for shairing.
even though this apartment is smaller than his last apt, it feels bigger
Were happier words about good design ever spoken?
That huge poster works precisely because it's so huge. Charles' eye for how to make black and pops of red work against his neutral background is what's making this so fabulous.
view wende in phoenix's profile
I'm jealous.
I've been in my apartment 2.5months and still am opening boxes. But my place is 1/3rd smaller in size than my last place, which was 1/3rd the size of the place before that.
Most of my stuff was in storage while I was on active duty, and I didn't have much time to sort out stuff I no longer wanted.
view bramasoleiowa's profile
Beautiful apartment. So warm and cozy. I loved the armchair near the fireplace. Can I ask where it is from?
view MSN's profile
What are the rocking chair and dining room chairs called (with the woven strap seats.) Are those Amish products?
view weezy2's profile
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing your pictures.
view Alaskan Mermaid's profile
http://www.shakerworkshops.com/
Weezy2: shaker
view markbright's profile
I love your place - especially the couch next to the bookcases. Where is it from?
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