lmk's Profile

I'm a big fan of the early spring/late fall move in NYC -- less competition from college kids, summer interns, and new grads, but also a smaller threat of miserable weather come move day. (I've been incredibly lucky during my last two moves in early November and mid-April -- sunny with temps in the 60s both times!)

you probably give up $50-100/month from what you'd pay in the dead of winter, but I've done the mid-winter apartment hunt/move, and I'm happy never to repeat it. :)

oh man, I'm late to the party.

I can't believe no one's mentioned a canopy bed! I moved into a 14' x 14' studio in Cobble Hill two years ago and got the Room & Board Architecture bed with the intent of making curtains for it. the curtains still haven't happened, but I like the visual suggestion that the space marked off by the rails *is* my bedroom, even though my sofa is four feet away. with high ceilings (mine are 11', too) it's not overwhelming at all. (bonus: there's a good 15" of vertical space underneath to store stuff!)

also, if you don't feel the need for a table all the time, but you'd like it once in a while, keep your eyes peeled for a gate-leg table. I inherited one that my downstairs neighbors were getting rid of -- it's tiny when closed, but can seat four (or feed and water a whole party) when opened up.

really, the biggest thing is not to make apologetic choices because you're living in a small space. go for a queen-sized bed, not a full -- a queen is only 6" wider, but it feels so much bigger when you're sharing it. ;) stop by the Brooklyn Flea (you're so close!) and see if anything strikes your fancy. if you want to use splashy bright colors, do it! being surrounded by pieces you love makes all the difference.

I bought the Room & Board Architecture bed for my studio a year and a half ago and haven't regretted it once. initially I thought I'd make curtains to hang when I wanted them, but I've found that even the visual suggestion of "this block of space is my bedroom" is enough separation.

one thing I think people don't realize about Room & Board -- you can get any fabric on any frame! this time last year, I decided that what I wanted more than anything was a velvet sofa, but I didn't like any of the sofas that are listed with velvet on the site. I wound up with a pale blue velvet Loring, and after 9 months I'm still excited to plop myself down when I get home from work. and if you want to pet fabric samples before you decide, you can order up to 10 for free.

I can't quite tell whether you have space on the walls facing or parallel to the toilet for this, but it was my solution for a teeny tiny bathroom:

I got a white Benno CD rack from IKEA, along with two of the smallest Billy bookcase doors. it's perfect for me because it's barely 7" deep and just the right width for the little bit of empty wall in my bathroom. to make it a little more interesting, I contact papered the back wall of the rack, lined the glass doors with fabric, and swapped out the knobs. (it still doesn't fit cleaning supplies, but I'm alright with keeping those under the kitchen sink.)

a friend and I *each* recently wound up with our very own 1 gallon jugs of vegetable oil, left behind by a friend of a friend's old roommate. good thing we were planning for a bake sale!

I'll second cedargr0's yarn suggestion. I also decided during a trip to Mt Rushmore last summer that I wanted to collect thimbles purely for the goofball factor -- haven't got space for much more than that in my studio apartment, anyway. :)

oh yeah, definitely make the bed every day. (my routine is start coffee-brush teeth-make bed, and by then the coffee's done.)

1GH, glad to know I'm not the only one who raised an eyebrow there.

I grew up in a sorta-no-shoes household in upstate New York, and the first thing you learn in the winter is that shoes *have* to come off as soon as you walk in the door unless you want to be soaking your socks in melted snow puddles for the next several hours. it didn't matter if you were just running back in the house -- the shoes came off.

of course, our out-of-town relatives never caught onto that (or would walk across to the sofa instead of lean on the wall), and I guess my parents were too nice to school them. so for guests? hot, absolutely.