Home is where you make it! I’ve been keeping busy the past few months by putting together my second apartment in NYC and making it feel like home — it has been such a rewarding process! This was my first time fully transforming a new space and it really has been quite fun and addicting. I’ve loved the hunt for certain items – and then the thrill of finding the missing “puzzle pieces”! This post has been a long time comin’ as it’s been months in the making and I’m so excited to finally be sharing our (2nd) NYC Apartment Tour!
I was obsessed with my first NYC apartment – if you remember – and truly never planned on leaving that apartment until the pandemic hit. For a few different reasons, I decided it was best to put my things in storage and spend a few months at home in Dallas with my family – time that I’ll forever be grateful for. I wanted to move back to NYC, but to be honest there was a point in time when I really didn’t know if that was going to be the case. After a few months of looking, I found a spot to land (thank god for StreetEasy!), and it happens to be just around the corner from my last apartment in Downtown Manhattan, which has made the move back to NYC even more seamless!
Nearly every major piece of furniture in our apartment is from West Elm! For apartment living – especially in New York City – I feel like West Elm is the best bang for your buck and truly is so elevated with its offerings. I feel like so many of the West Elm pieces are the perfect blend of modern and mid-century and that’s what makes them so easy to style seamlessly into your apartment or house! I’ve linked everything
Kitchen:
Marble Dining Table: West Elm | Dining Chairs: West Elm | Dishtowels: William Sonoma
Bar Cart: West Elm | Cutting Board: Bed Bath & Beyond | Candle: Nest | Ceramic Watering Vase: Lifestyle So Chic
Print: PSTR Studio | Woven Storage Baskets: Container Store | NYC Coffee Cups: Amazon
Fruit Bowl: 47th and Main | Glasses: CB2 | Dinnerware: Social Studies | Silverware: Crate & Barrel
Our kitchen is compact, but by NYC’s standards, I’m quite grateful for it! It’s an open kitchen that spills out to our dining room area. It came with a white/grey marble backsplash so we got a marble dining room table from West Elm to match it! The black dining chairs tie into the coffee table & media console in our living room and look great against the white marble. One thing about our kitchen that I love (and makes clean-up a breeze!) is our stainless steel countertop. I was a little nervous at first that there would be too much metal, but it’s been wonderful. Our funny New York-ism with our kitchen is that we don’t have an oven. It was one of the only “cons” about our apartment, but we’ve been making do without it! Our microwave oven doubles as a convection oven and we’ve been successful at making a cookie in it! Storage is pretty good in our kitchen space, but I added woven storage baskets above our cabinets to add some extra room! As for glasses and dishes, my all-time favorite glasses are from the CB2’s Marta Collection, ultra-thin and so light. My favorite bowls & plates are from Social Studies, they’re durable, don’t scratch, and I love how they’re all organically shaped!
Living Room:
Sectional Couch: West Elm | Samsung Frame TV: Best Buy | Media Console: West Elm | Marble Coffee Table: West Elm
Terra Cotta Vase: Onora | Candle: Nest | Faux Plant: West Elm | Candle: | Face Sculpture: GAIA
Rug: West Elm | Sandstone Coasters: TENZO | Floor Lamp: West Elm | Xochipilli Vase: Onora
Leather Ottoman: West Elm | Marble Tray: West Elm | Couch Pillows: CB2 | Leather Table: Crate & Barrel
The Living room is where we hang out most of the time, watching TV, lounging around, or for game night! We tried to keep this space masculine and minimal but still cozy and inviting. With the neutral couch, we added pops of white & burnt orange and black metal, which somewhat became the color palette for the main living area! We love our Andes couch from West Elm – some of you might remember it from my first apartment! It’s truly the best: so comfortable and deep enough that it’s the perfect bed for when guests stay! I’m also pretty obsessed with our Samsung Frame TV, which is so thin and chic – we love changing the display art when not watching TV!
Entry Hall:
Entry Cabinets: West Elm | Print: Gray Malin | Table Lamp: West Elm | Golden Hand Bowl: Jonathan Adler
Terrazzo Tray: GAIA | Cyrus Palm leaves: Wayfair | Vase: Tom Dixon
Hanging Tapestry: Wayfair | Metal Round Frame Mirror: West Elm
I kinda loved the idea of creating a different vibe for the entryway and letting this space kind of live on its own! We went with a “boho chic” entryway that kind of hits you in the face right when you walk into the apartment. All the colors are neutral and tan with beachy textures. It’s very different from the rest of the apartment, but we wanted to have a little shrine or oasis to the beach life! My favorite Gray Malin print of Sydney’s Icebreakers Pool hangs centrally in the entryway and really pops in the space! Some of my favorite pieces are in the entry hall: the gold hand catchall from Jonathan Adler and the precious little rattan elephant (that is actually a purse!)
Bathroom:
Bath towels: Parachute | Reed Diffuser: Nest | Lacquer Vanity Trays: Container Store | | Hairdryer: Dyson Supersonic
Toothbrush: Philips Sonicare | Hairdryer Holder: Amazon |
Bedroom:
Bedding: Parachute | Knit throw: West Elm | Large Pillows: West Elm: | Accent Pillow: CB2
Leather Bench: Article | Lumbar Pillow: St. Frank | Shelves/Bookcase: Bludot | Wall Planter: West Elm |
Ceramic Cactus Vases: Wayfair | Laquer Snake Box: Jonathan Adler | Faux Plant: West Elm | Candles: Tom Ford
This is the first time since before college that I haven’t had my bed pressed up against one side of my room. Horray for adulting! A lot of the elements & color schemes are the same as my first apartment, and I feel like this room is almost an “expanded version” of that! My bedding is Parachute’s linen offering, and I’m kind of obsessed with it! I have neutral tones for my bed mixed with grey and a pop of burnt orange. Right when you enter my bedroom, my BluDot bookcase is the first thing you see – it holds all my books and a few of my favorite pieces that I’ve been collecting: my collection of Monocle City Guides, a stack of coffee table books, lacquer snake box from Johnathan Adler and a bust that I bought off an artist on the streets of Paris! For my gallery wall, I have a mix of prints from here and from some talented friends of mine! A favorite piece in the bedroom is these cute cactus vases that add the perfect amount of funkiness and a nod to my Texas roots!
I hope you like my new digs and you gain a little bit of inspiration for your own living space! Let me know if you have any questions about any of the pieces of furniture I have in my apartment or if you have any other questions – I’d be more than happy to try and help! I’ve had such a blast filling it up and collecting pieces for the apartment on my travels. It’s never fully finished… I might have another write-up in a year or so about what I’ve added or how I’ve re-arranged the space – we just signed on for 2 more years here! I’m also going to be posting a list of all my go-to spots for interior and home goods (including some antique stores!) so be sure to stay tuned for that!
Stay Risky,
– John
Photos by Max Rainoldi
