Name: Jerah K.
Location: East Village
Size: 40' by 10'6'', so 420 square feet. Not all usable, of course.
Type: Two Bedroom
The Pitch:
This is a true (Manhattan) two bedroom, inhabited by my husband and I... and my my husband's cats. I'm on a mission to turn the middle room into more of a guestroom and less of a guest closet, so any advice is welcome.
The "side-table" in the middle room doubles as a platform to put extra cushions on, so guests can stretch their feet out and pretend the couch is full-length.
The best part: the location and the light pouring in.
The worst part: Let's pretend the ceilings were meant to be that low.
Best space-saving doodads: The magnetic spice rack and paper-towel dispenser.
Really nice dresser.
I would kill for that kind of natural light! This place has potential. My suggestion - get thee a headboard.
I love all the plants! A headboard would make the bedroom very nice.
nice light, but the living room is too cluttered - the fish in the bathroom make it look smaller than it is, too.
-- Would that be the magnetic towel dispenser of award-winning doggerel fame?
-- What's so great about headboards? I think they can be a little, how you say, Trading Spaces?
I really like that this tiny apartment actually looks like somebody LIVES there. It looks really cozy and welcoming, even though it's not particularly "innovative" as far as use-of-space goes. I also love that there are BOOKS in the living room. I know I'm probably one of the few readers of AT who doesn't look at books as clutter. They're beautiful, they dampen sound, and they're good to read. So multifunctional! Of course, it's possible to go overboard with the books, but one large and one small shelf isn't too many, I think.
Well it does seem small, but I'm not seeing much in the way of "coolest". This apartment seems cluttered though not as bad as mine ;D.
I think the thing with headboards is they can give the bed more "presence" and make it more of a focal point. Although in a very small space I think maybe just adding some nice bolsters against the wall at the head of bed would do the trick.
looks like a "every-man" kind of place, please bring on the extraordinary innovative inspiring places, rather than the "very nice" apts
It felt very average and cluttered to me. Some of the furniture pieces could be scaled down maybe- particularly the couch. It's got a lot of potential though.
Do you own or rent?
If you own...you have to ask yourself. Do you really need 2 bedrooms within 420sqft?
I don't mean to come accross as condesending. I do like the space. I will even go as far as to say it's better than average. It has all makingings of a propper home.
However the last entry scewed the grading curve a wee bit.
i'm not sure if i'm actually supposed to be responding to the comments... but i'm sure the AT people can censor me if i'm not.
thanks for all the input, and i do apologize for the lo-res pictures, i was dealing with my dial-up connection at home and couldn't send bigger files.
we do rent, and the place is very much a work in progress, since we were forced to move out of a much larger apartment 2 months ago... i'm assuming the only reason my entry made it up on the site is because they haven't received too many entries, so everyone else, please chip in!
thanks for the headboard comments, the head of the bed is not my favorite spot and i think it definitely needs work... any other suggestions would be much appreciated. thanks!
i realize the kitchen is in the living room, but does the garbage can have to be in the fireplace?
i think the furniture is too big and too dark for that space.
It's a small apartment, but nothing has been done to make it "cool". So, it's missing half of the "Smallest Coolest" equation.
I like all the books in the living room, yeeey! And the plants! And your cat is cute. But some litlle details bother me, trash can in the fire place, curtain in the bathroom, and that working desk seems to have too many things on it.
Well, I'm voting supercool, just on the basis of the space alone! The light, and that adorable defunct fireplace! And lots of really great pieces in general.
There's just a little bit too much stuff in it. A little editing of "stuff" and it would be marvelous.
I really like this place a lot. It's very cozy and romantic. It reminds me of a French one-star hotel, not upscale by any means, but the sort of place where you'd go with your college girlfriend on vacation, and of course, ooh la la...
I'd get that trash bin out of the fireplace though. It looks tacky there, and the paintings on the wall look a little too college apartment-like. They'd look a lot better either framed or at least presented with some visual regularity (like three rectangles all together and then two circles, etc.). As is they look sloppy.
And the bedroom could use more stuff on the walls or maybe just a hanging mobile or something simple could really liven things up! Or maybe a large photo of Sartre if you want a little more melancholy.
This place has a very library-like feel so maybe a nice dark rug would fit in the living room. I personally would get rid of the coffee table entirely, plop in a faux bear skin rug and cool some floor pillows for the perfect fire-side reading environment. If you clear out the fireplace you could put in those smokeless firelogs...