A 305-Square-Foot Hell’s Kitchen Apartment Proves Small Can Still be Sophisticated

Name: Amanda
Location: Hell’s Kitchen, New York, NY
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 305 square feet
Years lived in: 2 years, owned

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: When I bought my home the walls were yellow, there were old glass flush mount lights on the ceiling, and the kitchen needed some love. Over a couple of months with the help of my dad and other family members, the walls got painted (Benjamin Moore Cloud Cover, Simply White, and Shag Green), and the kitchen got a new countertop, backsplash, and floor. Then, I made this home my own by picking out every finishing detail, from the dining table to the ceiling fan. This is the first apartment I’ve owned and it was a rewarding (though sometimes stressful) project. By day I work as a data engineer for NYC Planning, creating NYC’s premier data products. Outside of work I enjoy running, hiking, and being outdoors.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Clean, cozy, mid-century modern, mine.

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? Make it 3x bigger so that I can live here comfortably forever.

What is your favorite room and why? The living room, because most time is spent here. The couch (Joybird) is the size of a twin-size bed so it’s great for flopping. The table is a great space to eat a meal with a friend or do some work while looking at the watercolor birch trees. Despite the fact that the apartment faces north/west it gets great light during the day and it’s an overall welcoming room to spend time in.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? I found the large frame. Someone was throwing it out, so I took it and painted it (Benjamin Moore New Providence Navy), and now I have two large, but very different, pieces of artwork in my living room.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Take your time to make your space your own and don’t get lost in the Pinterest/Instagram rabbit hole. When I redid my kitchen I wanted it to look like the mid-century modern kitchens I saw online, but the materials I was picking out conflicted with that vision, so I went with what I liked and made it my own.

Secondly, I had ideas in my head for what I wanted my furniture to look like. I eventually found what I was looking for, but it took many hours of scouring the internet. While I was overwhelmed with trying to fill my home with pieces I love, it was well worth the energy because I didn’t settle on anything. Also, when trying to pick out artwork, I’d recommend hitting up a museum and seeing what catches your eye, because that’s how I ended up with the two small watercolors. I fell in love with a couple of Cézanne’s pieces at The Barnes Foundation and it turns out the pieces I loved can be downloaded for free from the museum website. So two high resolution images and $60 at Framebridge later I now have some classy artwork.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to be quirky. I love the lobster pillow on my bed and the watercolor next to it that depicts a duck and penguin going to the moon (there’s a story behind that one).