This Brooklyn Apartment is the Best Craigslist Find, Ever

Name: Melissa, Chad and Bleau the Great Dane
Location: Brooklyn, New York
The basics: 1 year, rented | 1,800 square feet

Melissa’s Brooklyn apartment has soaring ceilings, modern industrial vibes and an enviable outdoor space. They’ve created a space that is perfect for hosting all manner of shindigs, relaxing after work, or relaxing all day (if you happen to be a Great Dane).

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband, Chad, and I share our loft with our beautiful pup, a nine year old, 130 pound Great Dane named Bleau. You can find her lounging most of the day on the sofa or sunning on the back patio.

Chad is in the wine business and I am in the furniture and design industry. We are both client-facing and on the go all week. It is important to us to have a space that we can come home to and enjoy at night and on the weekends, away from all the chaos of the city. And we have made it just that. We love sitting around the fire pit on the back patio, meditating in the deep soaking tub, or exhausting our weekday stress on the standing punching bag. We have really made our loft our city sanctuary.

We were so lucky to find such a unique space. Hidden behind what looks to be a commercial store front, the ceilings soar at 20 feet tall, the concrete floors are roughly finished and low maintenance and the 10 foot kitchen island serves all and is certainly the heart of the space.

We also LOVE to entertain which is why we fell head over heels with the kitchen and dining space. (P.S. we found our place on Craigslist which any New Yorker will tell you is the worst place to look!) We have been known to host everything from crab boils, 14-person seated dinners, holiday charity soirees, or a little 4-person late-night dance party. On Fridays we usually have our Brooklyn family over for dinner where we all cook and unwind from the week. It’s the best and we always look forward to it. No lines, no waits, no one around, but our favorite friends, and some great food and wine.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? The last thing I found for our home is a 1960s wood and brass Salton Buffet Cart that I discovered one night on the curb down the street. We now use it as our bar cart; it’s perfect.

Which fictional character would be most at home in your place? Archer and Lana. We love a good power-couple dinner where the wine flows, the guards are let down, and everyone can let loose.

Melissa’s words of wisdom: I think that creating an environment that is thoughtfully curated takes some time and effort. I always try to buy something special when traveling: an objet d’art, a small painting from a street artist, or perhaps a piece of jewelry. Having a story behind a piece warms a space like none other.

The perfect mess. We LIVE in our space, meaning that we make messes. When you select certain pieces, hand painted bowls, black candles that leave drippings on the table, an ombre basket stuffed full of junk mail, even the messes can look pretty… We are not perfect and our space reflects life, it is a home, it is lived in, and it is loved. We surround ourselves with beautiful objects that facilitate life.

Moving a lot (seven times in ten years) means finding versatile pieces, that can be flexible with each new space. It is pretty amazing to me that we have gone from 1,800 square feet to 600 square feet and back to 1,800 square feet with almost all the same furniture.

Thanks, Melissa!

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