Name: Alex
Location: West Village
Size: 440 sq. ft. backyard behind a 525 sq. ft, 1 bdrm. rental in a 3-story apartment building
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Alex evoked an audible gasp from the audience at last Thursday's meetup when she unveiled her garden and all its secret delights.
Alex Bandon is the multimedia editor at This Old House magazine. She also writes This Old House's blog, The Shelter Life--chronicling the eternal process of renovating and upgrading her glorious apartment.
Alex not only found a space in the West Village, but one with a large backyard just outside the kitchen door! As a 10 year veteran of This Old House, Alex readily took on the heavy lifting, major makeovers, and broken chairs necessary to create the perfect indoor and outdoor space. She happily took on the challenge of an overgrown yard and transformed it into her own piece of heaven.
First, Alex cleared away the topsoil, carved out space for flower beds, and dragged hundreds of pounds of dirt and rocks, literally, through her apartment. She then learned as she went how to create a flower and herb garden by experimenting with different plants. Lastly, she acquired, repaired, refinished, and arranged outdoor furniture to complete the look and feel of her garden.
Now it is an oasis for a morning breakfast, as well as a great venue for a summer night bbq for friends. I instantly forgot any and all my worldly concerns the moment I stepped into Alex's garden. She certainly earned it!!
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is it more normal in NYC than elsewhere to do so much improvement to a rental? I rented in SF for over five years and felt like it was a big deal to paint, I can't imagine refinishing the floors myself. Is this just something I've been oblivious to?
view eowes's profile
eowoes - I think it really depends on where in nyc you're renting, if you'll ever be able to afford to buy in the area you're renting and the condition of the apartment. If I were planning on staying in an apartment for 5 years in an amazing location with a backyard (!!!) like the apartment above? I would totally redo the floors. I would not however, redo the floors in my current apartment because a)they were done before I moved in, b)I do not plan on staying there for a while, and c)I do not make that kind of money.
view suziegoombs's profile
Since the new format for slideshows was put into place I haven't been able to get any of them to work.
view anne's profile
Re: making improvements in a rental - I've rented the same apartment for 4 years now and have painted every room, ripped out old carpet, and planted a perennial garden. For me, these things improve my living space and don't cost that much so it's worth it. I'd love to gut the kitchen and bathroom too (the apartment has nice bones with cheap, mismatched updates) but I'd rather put that money towards a down-payment on my own place, so I live with what's there.
view arza's profile
Why does it take so long for the photos to load? Every time I go into a slideshow on this site, it takes at least 20 seconds to go from one photo to the next. It should transition much quicker.
view Villager Steve's profile
I've seen a lot of NYers spend a ton on their apartments - some have rent-stabilized apartments from generations past, so it's a great way to spend your money. I can't understand why the rest of them do it - I'd rather save up for a down payment and build some equity rather than toss that money away.
view amt230's profile
Slideshows don't work for me either....Firefox OR IE!
view Charlotte's profile