When we shared John’s less-than-stellar bedroom yesterday (for reasons unknown, it seemed kind of charming at the time), we also got quite a few requests to show my NYC homes. So here’s a look back at where I lived in the city—plus the one photo I could dig up of John’s Upper West Side apartment (where he actually had his own room, which felt revolutionary back then):
We painted a mural on one wall (not shown) and had leftover paint, so we grabbed two inexpensive canvases, used painter’s tape to make stripes, and hung them side by side. John suggested staggering them for visual interest. I wish I had a photo of the mural itself, but there’s an old video tour of his whole NYC place if you want to see it. You might also recognize that pillow—an Ikea relic we still have in our den.
Now, on to my places. Over six years in New York I lived all over—Chelsea, Queens, Brooklyn, and Soho. This photo is from my apartment in the Village (near NYU), where my look leaned very metropolitan: bright, bold, and playful.
The orange backsplash was my way of adding personality to an otherwise stark white kitchen. I was on a tight budget then, so Ikea was my go-to for the magnetic utensil rack, paper towel holder, and most of the glassware. I even made square orange fridge magnets from thin flexible magnet sheets and glossy paper from a magazine—glue stick and all. Proud DIY moments.
Here’s a view into the tiny living room (left) and the bedroom, where I used green and blue—colors I still use in many rooms years later. My taste then skewed modern: I assembled an artichoke-like chandelier from over 100 tiny plastic pieces. City spaces seemed to call for more drama and flair than a quiet suburban ranch, so my urban apartments tended to be bolder. Location really does influence style.
I made a playful piece of art in the bedroom using oversized battery-operated clock hands to create a custom numbering system. I printed neon-style numbers for 3, 6, and 9 and used a neon sign image that read “open late” for the 12 o’clock spot. It was an inexpensive, cheeky way to personalize the wall—still a favorite approach when working on a budget.
After a while, the sixth-floor walk-up routine—hauling laundry and groceries—got old fast. I moved to a cozy second-floor studio just a block away. The broker fee was steep and rent was $1,200, but I gained a single 18-by-12-foot room that felt like an upgrade. There wasn’t space for a sofa, so I bought four cool chairs on eBay for $40—chairs we still own today after painting them white. Two tucked under a tiny table; two pressed against the wall for lounging. Not plush, but it kept the small space airy. Compared to friends’ even smaller or noisier apartments, it felt like a luxury.
One of my favorite quick projects there was painting a green stripe around the room. I eyeballed it with blue painter’s tape and painted in under 30 minutes while waiting for company—no level, no tape measure. It dried before friends arrived and actually looked surprisingly straight. The bird silhouettes on the wall were inspired by pricey decals I’d seen in a store; instead of paying $50, I photographed the decals, enlarged them, printed copies, backed them with manila folder cardboard for weight, and taped them to the wall. Cheap, simple, and effective.
The bed was essentially the only other piece that fit besides the tiny dining table and the eBay chairs. You might recognize the green upholstered headboard from our current guest room—these pieces really do last. I aligned the painted stripe on the wall with the headboard top for a cohesive, polished look when entering the space. And another pillow from those days still makes appearances in our home now, proving that a few well-chosen items can travel through many design phases.
If you want more of a walk-through, there’s a video tour from back then that shows the small NYC crash pad and the quirks that made it feel like home. Looking back, our tiny ranch now feels like a palace compared to those compact city days.