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Name:Pierrick Beaulieu-Wojtowicki and my cat, Raphael Location: Montreal, QC, Canada Type of home: Studio Apartment Size: 485 square foot Years lived in: 1.5 years, renting
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Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and thepeople who live there: I’m calling this apartment “The Nest,” a space designed for growth, rest and comfort, high above the city in its big concrete tree. A simple, elegant yet highly functional space, perfectly tailored for my current taste and needs. As a young interior designer, I wanted to find a rental apartment where I would have the opportunity to make some significant improvements.
When I visited the studio back in March 2021, the place was in a pretty bad shape. However, I immediately saw a whole lot of potential in it. From the first plank of flooring to the last light switch, the space has undergone a complete cosmetic and renter-friendly transformation. While the apartment is perfect for my daily needs, I also do love hosting dinner parties. In consequence, the place was designed to be able to accommodate comfortably up to eight guests in the dining and living area. During the whole process, I was fortunate enough to have a very cooperative and trusting building management that allowed me to make my vision come true and unravel the full potential of their apartments. While I did all the planning on my own, I got a ton of help from family and friends during the renovation process. None of this would have been possible without them!
I’m a minimalist and I wanted that part of me to be reflected in my apartment. Clean lines, neutral tones, lots of closed storage, discreet and timeless furniture were used to achieve this look. The result is a clutter free and low-maintenance space. I decided to not use colors in the apartment. Colors have powerful ways to emulate certain types of feelings or moods and for certain people like me, they can become visual distractions.
By keeping my space neutral, it leaves more room for the mind to simply wander. As a result, the space is not screaming to be seen, it’s here to nurture a more relaxed state of mind. The space is completed with a few art and decor pieces that I truly love: art prints, vases, plants etc. all come together to tie the apartment perfectly.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Minimal Restful Neutral Simple Contrasted
What is your favorite room and why? Since the place is only one room, I’d say my favorite spot is the sleeping area. This space, marked with a contrasting black accent wall and many plants, fits a queen size bed and has a ton of storage underneath. While being entirely open to the rest of the space, it is lodged in a nook that separates it from the main living area. That way, it feels like a space exclusively reserved for rest and comfort.
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? One of the latest addition was the IKEA HOVET Mirror. I spray painted it black and simply laid it on the wall between the desk and living area. It makes the space look much bigger while reflecting the north daylight.
Any advice for creating a home you love? As a minimalist, I’d advise to fill your home only with things that you absolutely love. Objects you will never tire to look at. For each piece you bring to your space, be mindful and ask yourself if it truly adds practical of aesthetic value to your life. On a more general note, I’d advise to always trust your gut when it comes to designing your own space. No matter what your style is, people will have a lot to say about it. Some of my friends love my apartment as it is, while others think it lacks personality. The only important thing is to do what feels right for you.
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Name: Dana Miller Location: Upper West Side — New York City, New York Type of home: Studio Apartment Size: 350 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned
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Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My name is Dana Miller and I’m Dean of Students at an adult ed creative writing school and a vinyasa yoga instructor. And I’m an Upper Westsider through and through. In fact, I grew up only a few blocks from where I now live. I remember jogging down my current block on my way to run in the park as a teenager and whispering to myself: “Someday, I’m gonna live on this block.” Can you believe it? That went over big at my co-op interview!
This is my first real apartment. I’ve either lived in places where I had one foot out the door because I wasn’t sure I’d be staying or I’ve lived with people, most notably and recently with my mom who was my best friend and passed a few years ago. I took care of her for a bunch of years.
I didn’t envision myself in a 100+ year old brownstone — I favor new over old, used to jokingly tell my mom she was the only “old” thing I liked — but I had a budget and that didn’t include doormen and elevators and glass and steel. I knew I wanted to be on the UWS because it’s close-ish to work and to the studio where I teach and close to the park. And it’s where my center of gravity lives, where I’m my best self. I looked at about seven apartments, all within about 10 blocks of each other and this was #4. The clear winner. I’m very big on gut feelings and I knew in my gut that this could be home. All the others felt like dorm rooms or efficiencies. This was a full apartment.
The size of the main room isn’t huge, but there’s a separate kitchen, a loft, 11’ ceilings, and huge French windows that open onto all of these first floor brownstone gardens. I don’t have outdoor space but I get to look at outdoor space, and that’s almost better. Lots of foliage, lots of birdsong, very lush, very quiet.
I didn’t have a fully crystallized vision when it came to decor but I knew certain things right away: I wanted a dark blue wall, a velvet couch, a modern vibe. I wanted soft textures, clean lines, a mix of bold and subtle, and no clutter. All you need is to pack up a home you’ve lived in for more than 20 years once and you never want to accumulate stuff again.
I am in literal love with my apartment.
I’m very much a New Yorker, and my identity is very wrapped up in this amazing city; it’s lines and angles, the meld of old and new, of pace and stillness. I lived in LA for a bit, too, vacationed there with my parents before staying at a scrumptious hotel wasn’t prohibitively expensive, and love TV and movies. So I’m influenced by that, too. Hence the Beverly Hills Hotel wallpaper behind the ladder to the loft and the photograph above the couch (that I saw in a store for $4K and bought online for $400).
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Pop-culture chic, soft, svelte, sophisticated with a wink.
What is your favorite room and why? Well, it’s essentially one room, but I can give you favorite elements:
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? Most recently, I re-did my kitchen cabinet doors. It cost a lot of money and the experience was, let’s say, not pleasant. But I love how they turned out. Sleek and clean and bright.
Originally from California, but turned New Yorker since 2000, I’ve been shooting my entire life and am still inspired and excited about it. Lately I have been putting my energies into my Fine Art, which can be seen on my website and on Saatchi Art. Being infatuated with interior design doesn’t hurt either, which mixes well with my love of photographing interiors.
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Name: Jesse Epstein Location: Greenpoint — Brooklyn, New York Type of home: Open concept one bedroom/studio Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting
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Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: I moved to Brooklyn after living on the Upper West Side for a few years. I wanted a break of Manhattan and the tiny shoebox studios that were the only housing offerings in my price point.
After the pandemic settled and my old Upper West Side lease ended I decided to trade in the city for an in-unit washer/dryer and a view of Brooklyn. Every time I enter my home I feel like I can exhale and slowly strip away the grime of the city.
I’m an actor and a recent graduate of the Juilliard School. When graduation was approaching I wanted to be able to wake up as an alumni and not live down the street from my alma mater. While my profession of choice encompasses a lot of chaos, stress, and uncertainty, it was very important that my home reflected none of that. I worked very hard to create a serene, comfortable, and functional living space, so that at least when my work-life was a mess my apartment wasn’t.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Airy, Cozy, Golden, Plush, Blush
What is your favorite room and why? The living room area is my favorite. It’s where all of my favorite books and art pieces live. It’s where I call my mom and journal and gush over my view. It’s where I entertain and watch movies and lounge on lazy Sundays.
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? I just bought the Walter Water Filter/the Berky filtration system. I wanted to get rid of my plastic water filter that lived in my fridge so I could free up some much-valued space in there. I also wanted a more sustainable way to filter water that didn’t include replacing plastic filters every few weeks. Walters are made by a small group of women here in BK, and it’s definitely the most beautiful and complimented entity in my kitchen.
Any advice for creating a home you love? Start with pieces you know you want to include and build from there.
Get creative about storage solutions.
When splurging on pieces that will stay with you through the years (a bed frame or couch) pick something that can grow with you as your taste evolves through the years. In other words, pick something on the neutral side and let your current taste be reflected in easily replaceable pieces.
When you aren’t working with tons of square footage, you have to get creative to make your small space feel functional. Some folks opt for petite furniture, while others rely on smart storage solutions. For one small-space dweller in Taiwan, the trick to keeping her loft feeling light and airy lies in a few strategically-placed floating shelves.
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Mish and Ryan recently renovated their 600-square-foot loft apartment in Taipei, Taiwan. According to Mish, their home was initially a “very awkward studio with a tiny storage room upstairs that nobody used.” So she and Ryan ended up transforming it from top to bottom to create a bright, breezy loft space that suits their lifestyle and shared aesthetic. “I saw huge potential within the existing structure to convert the space into a duplex loft, which was a dream we always had of creating,” Mish says in her house tour. Since the overall footprint of the apartment just hits 600 square feet, the couple wanted to prioritize a feeling of expansiveness. To achieve this, Mish stuck to classic minimalist colors and finishes — blonde woods, whites and dove grays — as well space-saving furniture ideas. In fact, in lieu of traditional furniture, Mish decided to utilize wall space over floor space and incorporated floating shelves all throughout the loft. These simple wall-mounted perches completely transformed this tiny space, and these three spots in particular stuck out to me as worth copying in my own home.
The kitchen in this apartment is smaller than most, but it’s one of the more stylish spaces in the house, thanks to this little built-in counter situation. The long, narrow layout leaves virtually zero room for a dining table, so Mish had to create one. She mounted a sturdy wood floating shelf to the wall across her appliances then placed two custom stools underneath it. Now the couple has the perfect eat-in kitchen for two.
“The house is filled with fun touches that give it its own unique personality, like our fold-out Murphy working desk in the closet that we DIYed ourselves,” Mish says. Some may have taken one look at the tiny closet in this loft and thought to stash a few boxes or extra clothes here — but not Mish. She turned this feature into a home office with the help of a small, wall-mounted shelf turned desk. “We followed a YouTube tutorial and now have a functional foldout work desk,” Mish says. “This means that the walk-in closet now doubles up as a private work area.”
An unexpected art display
Accoding to Mish, her favorite element in this loft just might be the gallery wall near the staircase. “Our signature art gallery wall symbolizes how decor is way more than just about aesthetics but also an opportunity to positively affect your psyche,” she says. On this same wall, Mish also mounted a thin floating shelf above a doorway to create an additional spot to display even more art as well as some colorful candles, which function like tiny sculptures here.
