This 600-Square-Foot Bushwick Loft Has Industrial Bones and Is Filled with Personal Details

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About this tour

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Home Type

Loft

Location

Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York

Style

Bedrooms

Square feet

602

Sq ft

602

Award-winning photojournalist Brittainy Newman clearly has an eye for great compositions. She’s worked as a contributor for The New York Times and The Associated Press, and her work has appeared in countless other well-known publications.

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That’s why I don’t find it surprising in the slightest that her rental home of the last four years is impeccably arranged. It feels full and maximalist and yet not cluttered or unorgainzed.

Credit: Daniel Wang

It’s a space that feels lived-in, and also one that reflects someone who’s traveled the world and is interested in many things. There’s a Pac-Man arcade machine, a stationary bike, Turkish lamps that she’s picked up during travels, and a collection of furniture that she’s found at flea markets and onFacebook Marketplace.

The space even reflects her history — she had permanent wooden shutters installed in the bedroom as an homage to her grandparents’ home in Naples, Florida.

Credit: Daniel Wang

"Creating my walk-in closet into what it is today was probably my biggest challenge over the last four years," she admits. "In the beginning, the space was packed with wooden dressers and a desk, and it constantly felt cluttered and chaotic. Eventually, I bit the bullet and found affordable IKEA storage closets on Facebook Marketplace, which completely transformed the room and made everything feel far more functional and organized."

The building itself is packed with history; it was built in 1914 as the Alhambra Theatre, and Brittainy has a bit of an homage to that, as well.

“The 150-inch projector screen suspended from the original industrial beams is something I’m especially proud of,” she explains. “I have my friend Nir to thank for bringing it to life — climbing around like a monkey to rig it together with rope that’s practically the thickness of a shoelace.”

Not only was Brittainy attracted to the apartment’s history and grand architecture, but she also enjoyed that it came with a built-in community: many of her closest friends have actually lived in the building. That’s actually how she came across this apartment.

Credit: Daniel Wang

“One night, while sleeping over at a friend’s apartment, I accidentally knocked over a lamp after waking up and went downstairs to the storage unit to grab a broom. As I passed the second floor, I noticed an apartment door standing completely open — empty, quiet, almost waiting,” Brittainy writes.

“I knocked, and by sheer luck, a real estate agent was inside showing the apartment. Right there in the doorway, I told him I would work as hard as I possibly could to make living there happen and to pay the rent. Two days later, I signed the lease and moved in.”