hello brooklyn!

Thank you all for your nice comments on my last post. It was fun to learn that some of you have similar leaving-Manhattan stories!

Well, I’m here in Brooklyn, and all is well. My biggest fear was that life here would be less convenient, and that I’d have to schlep into the city every time I needed any little thing, like a zipper or a something special for a recipe.

Of course, that was silly, because Greenpoint has everything I need. There are tons of great food markets and bakeries (oh the bakeries) right down the street, and I’ve already found a gourmet kitchen shop and a well-stocked sewing notions/yarn shop within a short walk. So I now know that I can officially survive here. Groceries, baked goods, kitchen supplies, craft supplies — what more does a girl need?

The most exciting thing is that I have a big, fresh canvas of an apartment to play with. I have 825 square feet all to myself — which is small by many standards, but HUGE to me! I’ve never lived in this much space, ever, and I honestly don’t even know what my decor style will look like when I have room to spread out and get creative. I’m super excited to see everything come together.

OK, want to take a look at the raw space?

Yeah, this is a lousy image of the floor plan – I know it’s hard to see. But it gives you an idea of the layout. This apartment is a railroad, which means the rooms are all in a row, like a train. At the front (top of the floor plan) is a nice, sunny room with bay windows overlooking a park, and that will be my work studio. Yes!

Here’s a view of the windows. The trees are now green and I can hear birds chirping. Which is quite a change from the chaotic sounds of Second Avenue.

One wall of this room is all closets, which will be home to my craft supplies.

The wall opposite the closets; this is where I’ll put a long work table for sewing and other projects.

Fourth wall of this room; I’ll put a counter-height work table here, which is where I’ll cut fabric and do other standing-up tasks.

OK, note the glass blocks. The landlord installed these back in the 80s to allow light into the next room. It’s a great feature light-wise, but the blocks definitely lend a certain flavor to the decor. They could be worse though; at least it’s not an abstract, multi-colored mosaic backsplash!

This is the next room moving down the railroad. I’m using this room as my bedroom. It’s small, but it’s really cozy and I’m planning to do something very zen with the decor so that it will be simple and relaxing.

Opposite view of the bedroom. As I type, I’m having a closet built in the nook under those cabinets, so that the whole wall will be storage. I’ve also never had more than 36″ inches of closet space, so I don’t even know what I’m going to do with all this closet.


Moving along, the next room is the living room. More glass blocks on the left! This is a long, narrow room and it’s a tiny bit tricky to figure out how best to plan a furniture layout, but there’s definitely enough space to play with, so I’ll make it work.

Other view of the living room. What do you know, more glass blocks! I kinda like the diamond shape; I’m sure I can make it into a fun focal point somehow.


This is the hallway just outside the living room, leading to the main entrance to the apartment. (There’s also an entrance into the craft room, but I don’t use that door.)


The next room is the dining room. YES — the dining room. I can’t believe I have a dining room. I have a dining roooooooooom! It’s another long, skinny room, making it perfect for a long, narrow table, which I couldn’t be more excited about. I can have, like, ten people over for dinner, and we can all sit at a table at the same time. This isn’t just a material thing; I feel like it’s going to really take my cooking to a new level once I have the chance to entertain more. I can’t wait.

Yes, the dining room is a crazy mauve color. I’ll be painting this room, probably white. I plan to do most of my photography in this room, so white will be best for that, and I’ll add color with the curtains and accessories.

Other view of the dining room, leading into the kitchen and bath.

The bath. This apartment was last renovated circa 1989, and it shows. The fixtures are dated, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve to (hopefully) help bring things into the new millennium.

And, finally, the kitchen! It’s very dated but it’s got TONS of cabinet space, which is just insane. I’ve already put away all my stuff, and the cabinets aren’t even full. Can you imagine? I can buy more stuff!

I’m thankful that the kitchen is basic black and white. You see so much bad tile and awful cabinets in rentals out there – even though this kitchen is old, it’s basically a blank slate, so that’s a really good thing. And I’ll be doing some little updates to the cabinet hardware and whatnot, so I think that will help freshen things up.

So there it is! I still can’t believe I have all this space. I keep walking through the rooms and having these moments of Wait, there’s another room here?? And like, if my phone rings and it’s on the other end of the apartment, I have to run to catch it in time. And I keep burning food because I walk out of the kitchen and forget about it — I’m just not used to having other rooms to walk into. Ha!

Also, have I mentioned that I have NO furniture? Seriously, none, except for my vintage medical cabinet and my clear coffee table mentioned in the post below. Due to a couple moves in recent years, I ended up getting rid of all my furniture. While it’s daunting to think about filling all this space, hello, it’s also AMAZING that I get a total fresh start with a new place and no old decor baggage. It really is a unique opportunity and it will probably never happen again in my life. I’m excited to enjoy the process and whip this space into a crafty oasis!

POSTED by Brett IN decorating ON Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 · 9 comments
Labels: DIY decor, my apartment