As you can see, I am upholding the grand NYC rental apartment tradition of painting over wires and cables.
The bed is the now-discontinued green wool GRIMEN from IKEA. Also from IKEA is the enormous-yet-outrageously-well-priced HOVET mirror. The floor lamp is an Asteroid by Koray Ozgen for Innermost.
The long-haired Chihuahua is from Mars.
67 Comments
ooooh i have that mirror too and love it. but what i really love is the long-haired huahua from mars. little mars nugget. cute.
Got anything else from Mars? Adorable…and love the bed…too bad it’s discontinued.
Char
Ooooo…LOVE the floors, also!! Looks very cozy in there.
Aargh!!! Visible wires are the bane of my existence!
I love that bed!! It has been on my dream list since the first time I saw, but I’m scared of low beds (fat girl + low bed = not so good morning). I’m sorry to hear it was discontinued
:(
it’s not just a NYC rental apartment tradition – i’ve seen it everywhere i’ve rented – Cincinnati, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Chicago…
all the fanciest chihuahuas are from mars!.
i am considering getting that mirror for our master bedroom. we just got the groland kitchen island and it has saved my sanity. i no longer have a microwave on the dining room floor.
I’m going to openly admit that I love living vicariously through you . You have such a wonderful life and you live it in most stylish way. Thank you so much for sharing it.
We have that mirror as well – it’s great!
ummm, love that lamp. is it still available anywhere?
Tam, you can still get the lamp from Design Public.
I love that mirror!
Finally one of them appeared!!! Where is Bruno?
The hovet mirror is killer, have it in the bedroom as well. doesn’t ikea have a new version of that bed in gray?
Oh yes! HERE
Love IKEA ~~
… as long as Bruno isn’t from Venus… Sorry stupid joke !
I have been meaning to ask for a long time : how is Sylvester doing ?
As usual, can’t wait to see more of your fabulous place !!!
I’m looking for a bed at the moment and oh look there it is, the most perfect possible bed in my favourite colour… discontinued. Gah. It’s my own fault for not getting into Ikea till they moved to Dublin.
Ooh thanks Morgan. If I can’t have the lovely green, grey is pretty good. The shot on the Ikea website doesn’t do it justice.
oh my god i love this. and i love slim-framed mirrors like hovet. i just wished it also came in a slightly-narrower model.
Love the bed and the little dog too…
as in the planet?? ;-)
anna, are you going to post a floorplan of the apartment? i’d love to see its layout.
Love the mirror I have it in my walk in closet with fairy lights round it. I also find it makes the space seem much larger too
kristen: Draw a rectangle. Now you have a floor plan of the apartment! ;)
Love this mirror! I’ve been wanting it for my bedroom. I just can’t understand why it is double the price in Canada!
Nice mirror. I think your apartment is really cute.
-FringeGirl
All the stuff is great but what I LOVE is the photo itself. Beautiful!
LOVE the mirror! Such a great buy for an NYC apt — mirrors really do work magic. Noticed your beautiful floors too — as a former NYC-er I’ve had my share of HIDEOUS excuses for wood floors!
Can I get directions to Mars, please?
I like the mirror. =) I have a thin one that I got from Walmart years ago, and I could definitely get an upgrade..
I agree with XOJY, the photo is awesome!
I didn’t know the bed was discontinued. I like it the most of all Ikea beds. Did Ikea issue a statement on the decision to discontinue the bed? I was going to buy it at one point.
Cute post Anna. Are you going to refinish to wooden floor or not gonna bother?
Agnes: IKEA discontinues stuff all the time. I don’t think they ever issue statements, they just do it (usually with a “last chance” markdown first — we got our bed for 50% off). Check out the comment above from the Brick House, though — it’s only the green that’s discontinued, but the gray is still available. (For now.)
The floors were refinished about three days before we moved in. They’re 100+ years old, so what you see is just the patina of age! They’re actually in great shape. I just wish they were a little less shiny, but NYC landlords love that high-gloss poly…
Love it all so far. What are the window coverings that you have there?
Amy: Those are ENJE roller shades from IKEA. You can read more about them here and here!
Does the bed sit directly on the floor? Everything I’ve heard about NYC and bedbugs makes that sound unpleasant, even if it is beautiful.
Anna: I didn’t realize that you also had the ENJE shades in the bedroom as well. Was wondering how you felt about the amount of privacy they offered for a bedroom? Do you have curtains for nighttime as well?
Seraph: The mattress is on slats, not on the floor. It’s a platform bed. I don’t think bed bugs care how far the mattress is from the floor, anyway. It’s the human they want, not the mattress. Unfortunately, much of the information online about bed bugs is misinformed and/or hyperbole.
Amy: We’re on the 6th floor opposite a large rock formation, so visibility into our apartment is next to nil. The shades are more for psychological reasons than anything — I hate the “big black rectangle” at night! (I’m not really a curtain person, either.)
Anna, the gloss poly on the floor is meant to protect the floors acc. to landlords I am guessing.
But what a privilege to live on a hundred years old wood.
Oh man, the Asteroid lamp is amazing. The fact that it’s space-themed and a small lamp that simply sits on the floor. I love it and can’t believe nobody has commented about it yet.
I love Ikea disc stuff. We got our bedroom cabinets for about $100 off the regular price when we did our bedroom makeover, it was like 75% off.
I love this photo. Though you tell us everything that’s in it, the photo on its own is quite mysterious. And I’m having serious bed envy mostly because the bed is green.
i have two of those mirrors! they make such a statement! and then they also just blend in…
i used to have three…but a night of sushi & too much sake made me walk RIGHT into one of them. Yikes. Don’t make my mistake.
I have had the same simple, Ikea mirror for years – goes with everything – a good investment. Your apartment looks wonderfull.
Hi Anna, it’s Ruth from Dublin here again. The apartment is really coming along beautifully. You guys do not hang about! Love that Hovet Mirror. I just had my debut visit to Ikea’s first Republic of Ireland shop on Saturday. It is so close to where I live, I bought the lack tv shelf in white and 2 expedit book shelves that were kindly assembled by my brilliant neighbour. But I built the tv shelf myself! Anyway, I love your blog and happy decorating in NYC. Ruth
ah i love the floors too! i love seeing the progress of your apartment!
Fritz is so cute on that big bed. How does Bruno and Fritz like the new place. Did they make themselves at home immediately?
Did you get an IKEA mattress? I need a new mattress and was wondering if you use an IKEA mattress, your thoughts on it. Thank you.
Also, thanks for your caulking advice for the Linoleum, I used the caulk and then what is called a shoe molding over it. Worked beautifully.
You are so adorable and talented. It’s amazing what happens when you combine Ikea and artistry. It’s almost like magic or fairy dust.
Best of luck with your new place Anna.
My husband and I have this idea that we are going to make our own platform bed, I wonder when that will happen….
Hi Anna!
Coming down from Hudson to look at teensie studio apartments tomorrow, I’m looking way uptown and in parts of Brooklyn. Wondered: how do you feel about your neighborhood? Feel free to be vague about actual location, I understand that you don’t want people to know exactly where you’re living:)
But – did you opt for E side or W side, and how high uptown?
I’m still trying to figure out how high is too high (i’ll be working on Soho). Also most of my friends are in Brooklyn, so I have a few pangs about that. Wanted to hear how you are liking it.
Thanks!
Living vicariously through Anna….
Must be lovely having an apartment in the city! After being a commuter for 1.5 years I understand how it feels to spend so much time travelling! Love your dog so cute! Does he like the new place too :)?
I love that bed, don’t recall ever seeing that at IKEA. Great find!
Your dog is so adorable. And that lamp could be an alien in a low-budget horror flick.
just noticed that you and suki share a motif. and are also possibly SEPARATED AT BIRTH!!!!
http://pikkuvarpunen.blogspot.com/2010/01/pisaratyynyt.html
Completely off-topic, but thought you might like to see this (if you haven’t already):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKtdTJP_GUI
PS Completely loving the apartment transformation. :)
Love the little Mars puppy! And exposed wires —- don’t get me started. Our new (old) house has them everywhere — drive me crazy!!!
Mary-Ellen: Yes, F&B were immediately at home in the apartment! They’re pretty good at adapting to change — particularly Bruno, who has moved many times (with us) in his 7 years.
And yes, we did get an IKEA mattress. We also have one at our house. I can’t speak to the new one since it’s only been used a few times, but the one in the house is three years old, and it’s GREAT. Very comfortable. The more expensive IKEA mattresses are quite good. (The cheap ones…not so much.)
hallie: The apartment is in the Washington Heights/Inwood area (far, FAR uptown on the west side). It’s about 30 minutes to midtown from here, which is perfect for us. We are on a VERY quiet, fully residential street. We’ve only had the apt for a few weeks, but so far…so good. We definitely wouldn’t have picked this neighborhood if we didn’t like it. :)
Nicola: Yes, both our dogs are very happy with the house and the apartment! The car ride is another story, though.
kat: Yes, I did see that! Great, yeah? Travis is a pretty cool guy for doing that. :)
I absolutely love your use of empty space and restraint. That’s something I’m not so good at. I see a square foot of empty space in my house and I’m off trying to find something to fit it.
Love the image, and I agree with you about rental units, paint the hell out of those sconses! They look great! I always left a rental unit looking a million times better than I found it, I always thought I should get a thank you, but there you have it.
Funny, I would have guessed that you guys were going to put some kind of futon/pullout couch kind of thing in there. What are the plans for the seating area, if any?
elisabeth: I’m not a fan of anything that folds out or has multiple purposes, because often one thing can’t do two things very well (e.g. toaster ovens). We have a bed and a sofa, but no sofabed. :)
That’s my favorite mirror. The movers cracked the top corner of mine when I moved out of my apt – we didn’t notice it until it was upstairs in the house and in place. I’ve been too lazy to drag another one home so I’ve been using it crack and all.
I have exposed wires in my living room – even after drilling into the floor and running them through the basement. I’ll be painting those too.
I love the light too! And I know where to find others equally cool…
Great Photo – may we use it?
Brandy: Absolutely! I’ll email you the high-res.
I love that bed. If it had been the time and place in my life to purchase a bed, it would have been mine. I’m sad to hear it is discontinued. Perhaps Craigslist will someday deliver my lost opportunity.
Laura
great apt! was considering the Grimen bed and noticed Ikea’s dimension for a queen are quite large – 91″x71″. Given that the mattress dimension are 80×60, do you find that there are 5-6 inches on either side of the mattress?
shine: Those measurements (91″x71″) are for the ENTIRE bed, including upholstery. The area inside where the mattress sits is standard size.
Does that bed attract dog hair? If so, how do you clean it?