Name: Laurie C.
Location: Lower East Side, NY
Size: 303 sf something-or-other
Favorite resource:
The Terence Conran Shop, hardware stores, marchand de legumes, gominyc, the streets of NYC
What inspired you?
This 6 floor walk-up apartment in the Lower East Side has high ceilings and an abundance of northern & eastern light which inspired me to set it up somewhat like an art gallery. The narrow (6 feet at its widest) living room doesn't allow for much furniture, so everything is installed or displayed along the walls.
...Simple white floating ledges and "J" mold shower surround trim display items such as found objects, jewelry, paintings, matches, postcards, etc. and allow the "exhibit" to be changed easily. As the curator/user, I often change the cheery and compositional pieces, allowing this art gallery/exhibition to reflect my interests of the moment with the skyline of New York City as my backdrop.
Design Tip:
Minimizing & organizing well is the key to clean, uncluttered spaces.
I've learned to only buy something if I love it. For example, I sat on the floor of my apartment for several months before I could afford to buy these Eames plywood lounge chairs. I love how they are the first thing you see when you walk in and they are perfectly sized for the narrow living room. When you live in small spaces, it's surprising how little you really need!
Love the shot showing how narrow it is! :) I think this is one of those occasions where great photography would make a big difference. I'd like to see different angles shown. I love the half blue/half white walls in the bedroom!
Truly an "Only in NYC" apartment.
I love this, and the J-mold is a great idea! I like the colors a lot, too. I'd rather see more of the interior, not the building, and swap the second bedroom shot for something else.
From what I CAN see, you've done a great job!
What is stacked to the ceiling in the kitchen, books? Cool building.
Agree with Christine (toiDC)--
That ledge/paint job combo in the bedroom is really inspired... deceptively simple, but a GREAT use of paint and ingenuity to make a (useable) feature out of none...
I love that crucifix art installation in the living room. Oh, wait... ;)
(but, why is everyone so rug-phobic in this contest?!?!?)
So, the living room is essentially a hall...
This would make for a real challenge. I would loft a bed in the "hall" (living room), and use the bedroom as a main living area. With high ceilings, you could just have an entry way with a ladder/stairs to the sleeping loft.
That large plant in the living room makes it all work!
Arg, what's with the lack of pictures? So many of these recent posts haven't shown the kitchen, bathroom, etc.
I like your Art Gallery esthetic , that tight narrow space reminds me of Das Boot, I'd go bonkers there. Hang tough New Yawker.
Patrick (too): Laurie may be rug-phobic because she has nice hardwood floors; and aren't rugs kind of an extra accessory? Plus art galleries don't usually have rugs. I know there's probably a good design reason for how a rug ties things together. I feel similarly about coffee tables being "extra" and you (as usual) made a good point in another post about how they can separate different areas.
Laurie, re: your photos, the "abundance of northern & eastern light" doesn't show, but I like the collage at the top.
I'd like to know what those large beads things are near the kitchen. They almost look like books that are stacked horizontally to the ceiling, but they're very intereesting, whatever they are.
Does anyone else find this floorplan topsy-turvy? I'd try to create a new entrance in the present bedroom, seal off the one to the current living room, and then swap the rooms. The closet would then be in the bedroom, my guests wouldn't have to enter my bedroom to use the bathroom, and I've have a much roomier living space.
Of course, if this is a rental, then nevermind...
Still, with this crazy floorplan, I like what Laurie's done! I'd rather see a picture of the kitchen or bath than the building itself, but I like what I do see.
Patrick! The other one! I'm with you; where are all the rugs?! Thanks to WNYC I recently learned that 80% of New Yorkers are required (by their leases) to cover their bare floors. While I prefer the clean, open look of gleaming hardwood I am one of the many New Yorkers forced to cover up. I've come to peace with the shag we purchased for our living room but I'm not so hot on the Asian-type rug we've got in our bedroom. I was hoping to see some inspiring solutions here...but most of the floors are bare! Sniff.
re: rugs
Aside from warming up the space, defining distinct areas, making a "bedroom" out of a "bed," anchoring a furniture plan, and being a great place to experiment with color or pattern, floorcoverings also make your downstairs neighbors a helluva lot friendlier.
And are often an actual requirement in many NYC leases.
ps: I think those graphic columns near the kitchen are postcard holder sleeves, similar to ones sold at Exposuresonline.com
sandra--
We were posting that rug-lease connection thing at the same time!
Garr! The Eames Chair. Again. It's taking over the city.
The reason I don't have a rug is because of all the grit and dirt tracked in from outside (I'm in NYC, street level). The welcome mat just doesn't catch it all and a rug becomes a magnet for it. I'd love to have a nice area rug, don't get me wrong, but it's just impractical.
As for sound, I installed a floating IKEA floor over the original damaged hardwood, so perhaps that muffles any noise.
Now I better go sweep my gritty floor...
Sandra,
I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers the clean, open *look* of gleaming hardwood. (But my husband has both more design sense and rugs than I did before I married him.)
rugs are for the suburbs! i can vouch for this being a tiny apartment but it's so cool that i feel thoroughly uncool when i'm in it.
Great space! I like the way the spaghetti-like floor plan is used to turn hallway into 'gallery'.
That red paper on the refrigerator is a liiiittle crooked, though.
but it's small (check), and cool (and check!).
It's easier to vacuum/shake/replace a dirty rug than to resand and refinish hardwood floors ruined by constantly tracking street grit onto them.
Sorry but "rugs are for suburbs" is just silly.
Don't get me wrong... I loves me some hardwood floors. But two much of them looks like a high school gym (which you'd THINK I'd like...). Or, a bowling alley.
And I stand by my statement that rugs are a really, really underutilized tool in defining zones in a small space.
Um, and did we mention THEY ARE REQUIRED IN MOST NYC LEASES, for the sanity of the people living beneath you?!?!?!?
whoops... two = too
as a person who grew up with carpet being the norm and loathing it, i think adding a rug for gp will crowd the space. thumbs up on keeping it clean.
I like rugs, but my cat loves them even more. This means that any rug on my floor gets covered with black cat hair from the beast lounging on it. I don't want to be a rug-cleaning slave, so in my apartment rugs are not present. Say what you will, but I need to keep my sanity more than I need to define an area in my apartment.
Now about this entry: the layout is most definitely challenging. I wish there were more pictures; from what I can see now, it's a nice apartment, but it's not a "wow."
Um, that hair that collects on the rug.. without a rug, that hair is going SOMEWHERE in your apartment...
I've still not heard a convincing argument against, and I think rooms without rugs look like dorm rooms.
Mind you, I'm NOT talking the "throw them in the washer" latex-backed area rugs that *I* grew up with (sorry, Mom).
Granted, in a room like the living room here, a rug would not be my first choice either. But it *would be* in the bedroom.
I have to disagree Patrick - it's really a matter of what works for each individual. Running the Dirt Devil or a mop over my floor is easier than trying to clean an area rug. If I had a separate bedroom, I'd definitely have an area rug. But my bed is literally twenty five feet from the front door and the nasty sidewalk. It's two feet from my kitchenette. To keep dirt outside I'd have to become very disciplined and remove shoes at the entrance but I know I won't. My IKEA floor is sturdy - common grit doesn't scratch it. The only mark on it is from when my bike fell over.
The other areas in this wee place can't accomodate a rug - the kitchenette is obviously out and my living/work area needs a hard surface for the rolling desk and chair. Again, I'm not ant-rug at ll. I've sighed with desire over many of them. But the way this wacky 350 sq.ft studio is configured, it's not a good idea.
I do, however, have a lovely bath mat :)
i think next year, we should have a category for 400 sq ft and under. it's almost impossible to compete with a 650 sq ft. apt.
I agree, Ptoo. There are quite a few bare floors on display. But it is hard to find the right one at a reasonable price.
This is one of my favorite entries. There's just something very cool about the spirit of this place. I like the color combos and the clever furniture in the living area.
I'm (one of the few, it seems) with Patrick. Rugs are SUCH a big part of the design of a space. They bring in color, texture, and warmth, and they make the space look finished.
I grew up in suburbia too, but with wall-to-wall carpeting (ick), which is a haven for dust and allergens. Give me a nice hardwood floor and a beautiful rug any day.
It's true, though, that bare floors are easier to clean than a rug. I go over my wood floors regularly, but only drag out the vacuum every 2 weeks or so. Which is why the rug is in the center of the room, where it doesn't get as much foot traffic.
I sure would love one of those tiny Miele vacuums...
P(too), I gasped at your insinuation that I have cat hair accumulating in my apartment. That was a stab in the back. The thing is, hair and any kind of dirt are much easier to remove from a hardwood floor than from a carpet or a rug, just like Sharon said. But I guess there's no converting them rug-lovers.
Sorry, bubble... did not mean to cast aspersions on your housekeeping abilities!!!
And I have this unnatural love of vacuuming, so all this talk of "easier to clean" like it's a good thing is a little lost on me. :)
Sophia--
Yes, Eames, but we've not seen the red ones in this contest yet, have we?!?
"J" mold shower surround trim as a dispaly shelf! Gotta steal that idea. Oh and this space is too small for a rug and I hate wall to wall carpeting.
I like this space. It's neat and artful. I would leave the bedroom where it is... it seems a sort of sanctuary there.
Regarding rugs, I am required in my lease to have them, and I'd love to - but I don't. From time to time I have had small area rugs that are washable (woven rag rugs), but they've been disposed of. All because of my cats - but it's not the fur (I don't mind vacuuming, either). It's the clawing and the puking. A neighbor once gave me a sisal when she moved and I had to throw it away about six months later. I just couldn't clean it well enough and couldn't afford to clean it professionally. I would also hate to have a really nice wool rug and see tufts of it sticking out or missing from being clawed on. My husband wants an area rug and I'm always on the lookout for an easy and pretty solution, but haven't found it yet.
Hi, it's laurie-
To comment on some of your comments-
1. I am anti-rug in this apartment because it would get incredibly dirty so quickly and besides, I think the hardwood floors are really beautiful! Adding rug(s) would clutter up the small space even more. I have had awfully strong-stepping upstairs neighbors in the past so I am extra-considerate and walk around in socks or slippers. (I do, however, own a very lovely bath mat)
2. Yes, the "column" on the left is a hanging postcard holder.
3. The "column" on the right is actually made up of CD's slipped into wall-mounted sleeve holders.
4. Yes, it's a rental so reconfiguring the apartment is not an option.
5. Yes, the floorplan is flipped for some reason.
6. The exterior shot shows how narrow the building is- there are 4 apartments per floor! (Along the short elevation, that's divided into two apartments)
7. I have other photos/collage of the apartment, kitchen, and details but they didn't upload correctly...
Hope this helps clear up any confusion.
laurie-
brilliant apartment.
I'd love to sleep on the living room floor and take in the narrow straits on my back.
the shot with the postcards and cd's stacking is really great.
love the colour scheme in the bedroom.
you should shoot the living room with the wing span of someone over 6' tall, cuz I bet they would not be able to stretch their arms all the way out in that space.
also dig the closet at the end of the living hall.
Too dark. Needs more light.
How much does a small apartment like that go for? I am considering moving? Thanks.
what do you use for that bedroom headboard?
Nice place. You live above Zoso's? Lucky ... Those grilled chicken mango chutney sandwiches are ridiculous.