Name: Yoktan
Location: East Village
Size: 400 sqft
Favorite: The high quality of building materials and skill that went into this apartment even though it was built as a tenement.
"I like to convert things," says Yoktan. This is not an understatement. Yoktan, through his mere 400 square feet of real estate, takes us through the entire industrial age and into the 1950's in both France and the United States. Items are on display but they often serve a function as well...
Yoktan moved into the former tenement apartment this past summer. He has been working diligently since then to actively achieve a curated space. He removed linoleum from the floor and will be stripping the paint off all the door frames. He hired a contractor to expose brick on one whole side of the apartment, reseal the floors, and paint.
Even though almost all of his belongings are acquired rather than bought, the results are more particular than many people's purchased assemblages. Sometimes, people end up buying something they don't really want or even like. Yoktan has a keen eye for discarded materials. He knows what would work in his apartment and only takes home those things. Some objects wait patiently to get a prime display spot, while others are integrated immediately. For example, there are some 1940's ice trays that await transformation, whereas the oddly shaped maroon colored formica covered plywood is currently serving as a cantilevered coffee table within a pre-existing ladder. (see the slideshow).
Yoktan, one might say, has a perversion for objects. He is drawn to some objects to the point of having empathy for them. In order to save them from a landfill and obscurity, he turns them into something useful or uses them to make a worthy and notable contribution to his decor. While looking through the photos and the video, you will notice certain themes--the refrigerator, the 60's color palette, and creative storage alternatives.
Like many curbside shoppers, Yoktan's habits developed out of an inability to afford more conventional methods of acquisition. It pains him, now that he can afford to buy stuff, that he will occasionally succumb. He struggles with the pull in both directions.
Yoktan says his objects define his style. I think this is true to a certain extent, but I also think that he has a subconscious filter that lets in certain objects, colors, and styles, and keeps out others. He enjoys the limitations posed by decorating an apartment in this way and maintains an admirable patience and skill while doing so. It is a work in progress that will likely continue as such.
Yoktan's tips:
1. Use clear caulking to fill big gaps in old floor boards. The polyurethane seal is insufficient for this purpose.
2. When removing layers and layers of paint, use Peel Away #7. He has been experimenting with various methods of removal and this seems to work best. As opposed to scraping the paint off, the stripper will not cause paint chips (often lead filled paint chips) to fly around your apartment. Rather, it turns the paint into goo which you can then wipe away. It is also a much faster process.
Jonya & Brad's Modern A–Frame 
Quick Cleaning Tip: Keep Baseboards Cleaner With Fabric Softner
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Profile Chair by Ma...
Mac and Cheese: The Secret to Making It Rich and Creamy
Summer Recipe: No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake
Comments (14)
Well, I think the collection is great as is. Sure, it's a lot in one place, but that's part of the charm here. So much that's unexpected -- the Pez dispensers, butter tray, freezer doors. Some of the objects wouldn't have much interest on their own, but in relation to the others become more interesting.
Re: "You don't need a step-ladder if you can lift your leg to your waist." Ha! You're lucky you're not 5'1" like me!
i like the yellow fridge in the paris apt
Your place is wonderful. I am amazed and jealous that you actually get to live there--but I would have to put a shower in!
It just seems like another East Village apartment inhabited by a fetishistic pack rat.
Nice place but you left your ladder on the floor. Might want to fold that up and tuck it away so you can make room for a coffee table or something.
Pack rat? I say modern kitsch. I love it, so much fun.
A fantastic and inventive menagere of goodies. I don't know if I could live with so much stuff, but I certainly empathize with the desire and compulsion to collect. I think this was an AT first for me in saying, I didn't want the slide show to end. very fun!
oy.typo...menagerie
Great tour - it reminds me a bit of one I featured on Strange Closets recently (come to think of it, I have another one coming up this Thursday that is also reminiscent).
Here is a link to the past one:
http://www.strangeclosets.com/2008/08/open-house-andrews-west-town-loft.html
Or to see all:
http://strangeclosetshometours.blogspot.com/
Great post - very interesting concept.
T8
www.strangeclosets.com
When design takes priority, the result is often strange closets
I'd like to second the notion that these are great collections that would benefit from being pared down. Some of the spaces look too cluttered to be comfortable.
Yoktan- you have a very playful way of arranging objects. I like it! Also, used to have that handheld Mickey game. That photo took me back to childhood!
there is a lot of life in all this. quite impressing. i guess i wouldn't be able to let go of conventional thinking enough to live like this, but i certainly envy Yoktan that he does.
I thought this was interesting in the intoduction - "Yoktan, one might say, has a perversion for objects. He is drawn to some objects to the point of having empathy for them."
I can identify with this a bit. I have to hold myself back on found objects and realize that just because I can save something from landfill doesn't mean I should. I find boxes of old photos in vintage stores particularly difficult - it drives me crazy to think of those images and memories being lost. And the worst is when there are names on the back - I want to quit my job and start a new career - "photo detective" :-)
Wow! What a great place! It's full of personality and clever use of space. I really dig the freezer doors! I love it when people collect interesting stuff.
awesome space, nice repurposing. (those cabinet handles are wonderful!) tremendously creative, and oh! so much more interesting than 'off-the-rack.'
i used to do something similar, although not to this extent. one of my friends told me once, 'you have a lot of stuff to eyeball in here.' and you, yoktan, have a LOT of stuff to eyeball in there.
salvage on!