(Welcome to Justine, who is just out of college, works in our office and is in the process of making her first home in the world. We invited her to journal her experience. Here is her second entry.)
This week we finally moved in and spent our first night in the apartment. We thought moving in would be exciting and fun. No one told us that stress and confusion would follow.
Where do we put this? Does it look good? How do you put this together? Omg so many boxes!
Once we calmed down and starting unpacking, the clutter began to fade away. We each started with our own rooms, before tackling the other 3 rooms. Since my room had so much light from the windows, I wanted to keep it warm and bright. No dark colors!
I got bright tangerine and coral sheets, from The Company Store, for my bed, which I wanted to be the center and main focus of the room. My queen size bed takes up a good amount of the room, but there is still plenty of room to walk around from side to side. The bed frames, which I purchased at Sleepy’s are my favorite of the entire room. I just love the design and cleanness of it.
I wanted two side tables and I was lucky enough that my mother got up early one morning and found these two tables outside on the curb ready to be thrown away. So we grabbed them and now they sit perfectly in my room.
I then needed a dresser, which could hold most of my clothes and accessories. I found the perfect one at Straight from the Crate on 84 Street and Lexington. I loved the lightness of the wood and that the drawers were deep enough that I could fit lots of clothing inside. Also, in order to get rid of more clutter, I got rid of my jewelry boxes and purchased this jewelry organizer that you can just hang in your closet and doesn’t take up any room. You can purchase one at the Container Store. Next week you should see the finished product of my room, with some pictures on the walls and a carpet.
Charmian hasn’t gotten as far as me on her room, but she is doing a completely different design. She wants a bookshelf and 2 dressers from Ikea. She needs the room for her shoe and bag addiction. The dressers aren’t up yet, but the bookshelf is. She loves how it’s so tall and spacious and fits perfectly in the room.
Since her room doesn’t get much light she wanted to have light colored furniture that wouldn’t make the room darker. Her bed, which is also from Sleepy’s is only going to have a headboard, which will allow her to have more space. The space above her closet, she is going to use for storage, since it is too high up to get to everyday.
For the bathroom and kitchen, we went to the Container Store to buy products to help us organize our apartment. For the bathroom we wanted to use the space as best as we could, yet not clutter it. Instead of hanging towels on the walls and taking up space, we decided lets just hang a towel rack over the door. In doing so, it gives us much more room when you are brushing your teeth or when you get out of the shower you don’t bump into anything. We have a small window in the bathroom with an open space in front of it.
Then we thought let's put stackable shelves there and use the space. So we did and that is where we keep toiletries and makeup. In the shower we purchased a shower pole that goes from the top of the shower down to the floor. It’s great, because its skinny, so it doesn’t take up much space and it has enough shelves that we can fit all of our shower necessities on it. We also, purchased elfa shelves, which we plan on installing above the toilet, to give us some more space as well. You will see them in the next installment.
The kitchen was our last room that we managed to get containers for. Behind our sink there is an open space in front of the window. Since our kitchen has a limited amount of cabinets, we thought we could use the space. We bought a rack from the Container Store and put it in the little space. In doing so, we can use the space to put kitchen utensils or whatever on the rack.
By putting the rack there the space is no longer as deep and the products we place on it can be seen when at the sink. Also, we decided instead of using the cabinets for storing food, we would just buy a rolling rack to store food and use the cabinets for dishes. We are storing the rack right off the kitchen in a corner of the hallway. It is just what we needed.
We are really excited to be moving in and excited to share this with you all. Hope you all enjoy!--Justine
Moving in to a new place is fun (albeit stressful at times). Have fun with your decor! P.S. (Who wrote this? Did Maxwell move to LA? Just wondering if I missed something over the holidays...)
Lost me when you used journal as a verb.
Justine,
I love your new headboard, it's so pretty! Also think the shower rack is a v smart idea w the many layers tucked into the corner of the wall. One point I must make is that having make-up in the bathroom that constantly gets damp is a bad idea. It attracts moisture and encourages the growth of mould in your make-up, making it turn rancid that much faster. Better to keep toiletries in the bathroom and make-up back in the bedroom w a wall/wardrobe mirror for application. Thanks for sharing your wonderful journey, the rooms look fantastic so far!
This looks great so far girls - good for you!
Sigh - brings back memories of moving into my first apartment in NY, ahem, 17 years ago - when you could get an OK studio for $800 a month, without a fee! Back then the 80s were still hanging around, so I remember using lots of black and white, and saving up to buy a fancy halogen desk lamp from the MOMA store.
Reading this post makes me realize how much NYC retail has changed in the past couple of decades. Back then there was no BBB, Ikea or ContainerStore; I got my starter furniture and organizers from places like Pintchik's and National Wholesale Liquidators (still amazingly on prime real estate downtown) and my stereo at the Wiz.
Linens came from the LES or this one great outlet that was around the corner from the Kate Spade Soho store. There also used to be a bunch of thrift and secondhand furniture stores in the Astor Place area that were great sources.
It's amazing to me how many of the small, locally owned discount and houseware stores I used to shop at are now all gone. Truth be told, shopping at big chains is easier and more pleasant - but finding the exact right thing after combing through a ton of dusty shelves in a tiny store on some forgotten corner was sure a lot more exciting!
If you want to keep that bedside table you found on the street, you could get some iron-on melamine edging for that front edge at most hardware stores or Home Depots. But I'm wondering if perhaps there IS some edging on the other edges that are facing the wall?
Anyway... it really IS an exciting thing getting your first place; congratulations and good luck!
Looking good so far! I love that bedframe, but not having something really solid to lean back on would make me crazy.
Justine, once you get the idea/containter store/etc necessities settled, you might want to check out Angel Street Thrift Store and Housing Works for some more personal touches. I got my full-length beveled mirror there for 25 bucks (you can't hang it, thus the cheap price, but it's pretty cool just leaning against the wall) and a great wooden bedframe for $90, both from Angel Street. Both shops are for charity, so lots of wealthy people donate their really nice stuff there when they get new furniture. (They also have clothes, records, books, etc). Both are on 17th street between 6th and 7th avenues.
I haven't spent much time in the UES myself, but I've heard they have great thrift stores, so I wonder if you could find good decor stuffs there as well.
I would be very wary of taking things in off the street. Bed bugs are becoming an epidemic all over the city and they are often transferred by used furniture.