Small Kitchens

Do you guys know most apartments in Brooklyn have virtually no kitchen? This is what I am discovering after looking at more than 25 apartments in the last month or so. I don't cook all that often so I can live without a palatial kitchen and sometimes a small space just means you get to be exceptionally creative with storage and presentation. Is anyone else out there as thrilled with this challenge as I am? Here are a few photos for inspiration:

An old favorite from Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small Cool Spaces

Cammie's Chunk of Green

Jordan's Light, Location & Vibe

Anna Dorfman's Manhattan Apartment

Anna Dorfman's Newburgh Kitchen

More Kitchen Envy

Words cannot express how obsessed I've become with this gorgeous kitchen, which belongs to Anna of Door Sixteen. It is becoming a sickness. I've had the photos up on my computer all morning and in between projects, I keep glancing at them in wonder and amazement as if it could be mine if I just stare at it hard enough.

What I love about this kitchen is how functional it is. You can tell much thought was put into the use of storage vs. open shelving, the accessibility of select utensils and the placement of smaller appliances. Since it lacks the usual line-up of cabinets, both under- and over-head, Anna and her husband had to think carefully about the amount of kitchenware they use and that may be the key to their success in this room. My own kitchen is bogged down with ugly dishes and hand-me-down servingware that I don't really like. (Sorry Mom, but it's true.) Virtually every cabinet, shelf and cubbyhole is packed with pieces that I rarely use. I have 2 sets of plastic measuring cups and three sets of measuring spoons. Who needs that? The lack of storage space and the open shelving forces them not only to pare down their kitchenware but also to pay attention to what each piece actually looks like.

I adore the simple color scheme and how tidy everything looks all lined up on the shelves. Even though much of their dishware doesn't actually match, each piece works well within the over-arching color scheme and as a result, the whole room is more cohesive. I'm also really digging the splashes of pattern in the artwork and dishtowels. This reminds me- I need better dishtowels!

Images: Anna Dorfman of  Door Sixteen

Nice Rack!

I have about a million things on my 'to do' list but instead of working on various writing projects and/or work I actually get paid to do, I am going to write about this brazilliant coat rack.

I have such a love/hate relationship with coat racks. We had a traditional brass coat rack when I was little but it was so top-heavy it fell over on me when I was 6 and I spent half my morning 'trapped' under a mound of jackets pretending there had been an earthquake and rationing out fruit snacks in case I was stuck under there all day.

The problem is, I don't love those wall racks either- especially the kind with a shelf or anything that looks too 'country'. Ick. Since we don't have a hallway closet, we have to find a way to store coats and hats that won't topple over onto our guests and small cat. Our entryway is tricky though. When you enter our apartment you basically walk straight into the kitchen and though my first instinct is to fight for a proper entrance console/mirror combo and forgo the jacket storage altogether, I also have to consider practicality. This coat rack might be an easy solution to our problem. We could keep a few coats on it without piling them on top of each other and it looks shallow enough not to take up the entire walkway. Plus, we could paint it a nice bright color and it would look so neat and tidy!

Image: Design Sponge

Reading Rainbow

Magazines are a huge problem in my apartment. We currently have two large plastic bins in our living room to hold our reading materials and they are almost always filled to the brim. In my bedroom, I keep a carefully curated collection of my favorite periodicals in magazine files on my bookshelf, although a large pile of more current issues can frequently be found on or under my desk.

This morning I was browsing through the Danish website Rice and I found these colorful Raffia baskets. I love their effect on a simple white shelf and I think they would be a perfect solution for my current storage woes.  I'm tempted to order a few extra to store toiletries in the bathroom, scarves and gloves in the foyer and detergents and dryer sheets in the laundry room!

Images: Purple Area, Rice

quest for the holy grail of jewelry boxes

Probably the only thing I would ever own that could be categorized as 'Safari'. 

A Sephora train case. Who knew?

This is ok. I like the medium red one the best and think the tassel is ingenious. But is it for me?

Embarrassingly enough, this is a Marc Jacobs for Sephora train case. Good storage though.

Love the Mirrors. Hate the decorative accents.

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am a huge fan of accessorizing. Day or night, rain or shine, black-tie or black sweat pants, I will accessorize accordingly. I even accessorize during heat waves when it's painful to even wear underpants. I am that committed to the larger picture of fashion. But how and where does one store all this bejeweled wonderment? 

One of my current conundrums in life is my jewelry storage situation. It's not that I need anything special-- most of my jewelry is not worth more than $30 --but right now it is all stored in colorful tupperware containers on my bookshelf and that is just not acceptable. (I should also mention that my more valuable ring collection currently resides in an old Altoids tin on my nightstand.) 

I seem to be excessively picky when it comes to jewelry boxes. I am the Goldilocks of accessory repositories. I've had the usual suspects before: the regulation unicorn music box when I was 8 (Damn that was good!) followed by a more sophisticated Italian music box that played Phantom of the Opera when I was 13 and then a decoupaged cigar box in high school that finally kicked the bucket a year ago. My main problem is that it must be a box of some some sort and it must fit my considerable reserve. I detest any kind of earring or necklace stand or rack because I firmly believe that jewelry should be viewed only when worn, not hung on display where anyone can ogle your goods. 

Hunting around for the perfect vessel to house my collection, I have come across many promising candidates but nothing that screams 'YOU MUST OWN ME IMMEDIATELY'.  Above are some of the contenders. So now I defer to you, dear friends.  Thoughts? Suggestions? Your own musings on how ridiculous my problems are these days?? 

Images: (from top) Sephora, Pottery Barn, Sephora and Urban Outfitters