00:02my apartment is in Gramercy Park New York City so I wanted my unit to kind of feel
00:08like a breath of fresh air every time you open the door like oh how is this
00:12lovely bright apartment in this old building as this is the first apartment
00:19I've ever lived in without roommates I almost treat it like my design
00:22laboratory I'll try something live with it a week decide I hate it and do
00:27something completely different it takes a lot of trial and error but I think
00:31we've gotten to a pretty good place the idea was to make the space feel clean
00:36and calm while still reflecting my passion for objects and collections most
00:43of my belongings are tucked away so that the things I love the most can shine
00:46it's easy for a space this size to feel cluttered and I've been very cautious of
00:51that since day one
01:04I live on the cutest street and it's kind of like the town center of Gramercy for
01:10being such a quiet charming neighborhood it's actually really central it's
01:15right next to Union Square Park there's a grocery store right downstairs there is a
01:20very cute coffee shop in my opinion the building is nothing too special it's a
01:28dark old walk up and you know pretty typical for what you would find in New
01:32York City but the apartment was actually better than it needed to be in some
01:39places like there was this beautiful molding surrounding the windows and door
01:43frames great light there was even a dishwasher and I knew that it was
01:48something I could really work with I knew I wasn't going to live here forever so
01:54I figured I might as well have fun with it and paint the walls I must have tried
01:59nearly 20 different shades before landing on this one it's called skylight by
02:04Farrow and Ball and the irony is that I could actually see myself living with it
02:08forever and probably will put this color of paint in my forever home so the
02:14apartment is a studio there's one main space that includes the kitchen and then
02:19there's a closet and a bathroom everyone loves working next to a window so I
02:24thought this would be the perfect place to put my desk
02:32in order to feel an overall sense of calm when walking in the door I wanted to
02:36keep the core pieces in the same muted cool color family I usually put my keys and
02:43sunglasses in a catch-all basket and that's sort of my entryway well I would
02:50have loved a larger closet this one gets the job done I can't say it always looks
02:56pretty and organized but I keep my shoes my jackets my clothes everything behind
03:01the closed door my sofa is one of my favorite things in this apartment I love
03:09that it's both slouchy and structured and if you take the back cushions off it
03:13makes for an awesome bed for guests while my first instinct was to push the
03:18sofa up against the end of the bed I actually decided to leave a pathway
03:22between the two pieces of furniture that way I could walk from the bathroom to
03:26the kitchen with ease that little space between the bed and the sofa just gives
03:32the entire apartment some more breathing room my IKEA cabinets which are from the
03:39IVAR collection actually came from my last apartment I took them apart and put
03:44them all next to each other and I love how they create this shallow counter
03:48across the wall I keep everything in these cabinets from handbags to tools to
03:54even wine bottles after I think eight months of searching I finally found the
04:01perfect coffee table at an antique market in Massachusetts called Grimfield
04:06because the coffee table is an oval it kind of allowed me to get away with a
04:10larger table in here when I have friends over for dinner we'll just sit around the
04:15coffee table my go-to is always a jute rug but in this apartment since I could
04:22only have one rug I wanted to make sure that it was really soft and cozy and
04:26gave the space a homey vibe so I went with a plush dark green Moroccan rug the
04:33kitchen is along the left wall and in a space like this every storage
04:37opportunity counts so I've used the little gap between the ceiling and the
04:42cabinets for cookbooks and serveware and I really like how that looks while it's
04:49not the biggest the kitchen does have everything I need I have a full-size
04:53fridge a dishwasher an oven and even a microwave because it's a rental I only
04:59changed one thing in the kitchen and that was the hardware on the cabinet doors I
05:03got these tiny little chrome balls on Etsy as subtle as hardware is you interact
05:09with it so often that it kind of made a big difference I love the drama and the
05:18symmetry that my curtains add to the space they draw the eye up and add a
05:22really nice softness and texture the curtain part is actually more for
05:27decoration though what I really use are the Roman shades they block out more
05:31light and they don't conflict with the radiator on one side and the AC unit on
05:36the other the space between the windows perfectly fits a full-size bed it's
05:42actually a storage bed so if I pull a rope the mattress pops up and I can keep
05:48all of my towels throw blankets and even terracotta pots down there it's kind of
05:53like a magic trick if anyone should own a bedside table with storage it's
06:01probably me but no I decided to just get a little side table with not one drawer I
06:07found it at an antique mall in upstate New York and I just fell in love with the
06:11patina on it the tizio lamp is actually one of my very favorite things I've ever
06:17owned I actually got it for free at an office moving sale next to the bathroom
06:25door there's this little bit of space that I thought was the perfect place to
06:29put a rattan table I bought at an antique store in the Hamptons everything that I
06:34can't keep in my tiny closet I keep in this vintage wardrobe I might upgrade for
06:38something taller in the future but this works for now on the other side of the
06:43bed I have a spaghetti chair and it's kind of like a nightstand but I also
06:48usually just use it when a colleague comes over and we need to take a call
06:51together I also switched out the doorknobs to my bathroom in my closet the
06:58first thing I did when I moved in was rip out the broken medicine cabinet and
07:02replace it with a brand new one and that makes all the difference I've tried to
07:07bring a little bit of personality in here and there I absolutely love my
07:11patterned shower curtain and I have cabana striped towels for all the days
07:18that I'm not on a photo shoot you can find me at my desk next to my window I
07:23have a very narrow long desk from an antique shop in Brooklyn called horseman
07:28antiques and I like that it's clear glass on top because it kind of creates the
07:33illusion of more space and it keeps things feeling really light and airy the
07:38more industrial blue clamp lamp is actually also vintage and I had never
07:42seen one in this color before not to mention it takes up zero surface space I
07:48actually get asked about the shelves a lot but the truth is is there just wood
07:52that's painted the same color as the wall on simple hardware store brackets I
07:58love how they draw the eye up and they give me a place to show off all of my
08:01collections I found that when designing a small space it's super helpful to lock
08:08in a color palette I've committed to cool tones in here and it helps everything
08:12feel super cohesive I really wanted to mix and match with the art I have pieces of
08:19different sizes shapes mediums and they're not all totally balanced some
08:25things are heavier than others it's a little off kilter and I like that the
08:31chessboard is another thing that you wouldn't necessarily think to hang on the
08:35wall but it actually adds just the bit of color the walls needed as much as I
08:40love patterns and bright colors I found that it totally overwhelms the space and
08:46it's best to keep it simple so I try to mix in different textures and shapes
08:51where I can it's all about using your intuition and striking a balance
Comments