Name: Duncan
Location: Lower Murray Hill
Apartment Size: 800 sqft.
Favorite: "Having a balcony to step outside on (and to make people smoke on) is nice"
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Duncan designs with great hesitancy, as he is afraid of (real estate) commitment. He is one of the lucky few to successfully negotiate a legal inheritance of an affordable New York City apartment. His grandparents moved to California, and he got their stake in a Mitchell Lama building. The building might go private but either way, he has possession of a one-bedroom coop in a doorman building...
If Duncan did decide to commit, you can tell he would do a great job. Even in his half-hearted efforts of the past couple of years, the apartment has a great style, provocative yet pragmatic.
It is ultra-hip while simultaneously revealing the history of the building and his family. The apartment still boasts a linoleum floor more reminiscent of a hospital lobby than an ad-executive's dining room. But Duncan put down a wonderfully indulgent white shag run in the living room that makes you forget what lies underneath.
There are artifacts salvaged from Duncan's grandfather's machine collections, as well he and Duncan's grandmother's 60's era furniture purchases.
Duncan has made it his policy to line the walls of the large living/dining area with hand-made creations, art produced by himself or friends that brings a very personal feel to the space. This human intervention is set off well by Duncan's preference for commercial based furniture such as the work table and 6 office chairs that fill the formal dining area.
He has designed with an in-flow of guests in mind, making the living room as comfortable as possible. The priority is to foster an arrangement where people are able to talk to one another, but also watch Duncan's new flat screen TV, if so inclined.
Duncan's daydreams for the apartment include knocking down half the kitchen wall to create an island and a visual connection to the living space and the outdoor balcony. He'd like to use bamboo to redo the floors because it "looks cool and is an easily renewable wood."
He has great ideas and just needs a bit of a push to make them a reality.
Originally Posted August 17th, 2005
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Duncan
Never ever put stuff on your speaker cabinets. Those monitors are too nice to be on coffe tables - a lot of the bass will go into the table instead of the air.
Great potential and great collectibles loaded with personal history. I think a few strategically chosen and placed rugs will counter the waiting-room feel you describe (I think it has a lot to do with the flooring). I think you can continue to play up the vibes you've got going without resorting to demolition or construction. I thnk this space and your stuff would be great to add finsihing touches to.
More lighting options of the lamp variety will make it homier, too.
Thanks for letting us in!
Would love to hear how you legally negotiated inheriting a Mitchell-Lama apt.! I say go for the bamboo flooring - it will really transform the space. My partner and I had it installed in his CT condo living room, and it's terrific. Most people assume it's wood until we tell them otherwise. Economical and durable, and yes, really renewable -- only takes 5 years to grow bamboo to usable form.
Congratulations on the wonderful collections. I think this is the start of am amazing living space. I do think it's crying out for more color. You might try a headboard like the one that was shown earlier on AT. And the one art piece should be lowered, imho. Rugs and pillows can make a huge difference. But these are just suggestions. I think Duncan is on his way to an enviable home.
I think the bamboo floor will make a huge difference--the industrial style of the desk etc will really stand out against a warmer floor. Is the bookshelf ikea?
Nice start. Definitely get some color in the place and put something more on the drab floors if you aren't ready for installing bamboo (though that would be super). Boldly colored/patterned modular carpet squares might work nicely as an easy, non-permanent way to add warmth(e.g. Interface Flor products). I'd also suggest moving the computer desk to an out of the way corner instead of having it one of the first things seen. The photos don't really show how bedroom, bathroom and kitchen connect to the main living area, but it looks like reversing the living and dining areas might also make it more inviting.
I love the meters and tools... and even more because they're family items.
Try moving the torchiere away from the wall. You'll get a rounder halo of light. Indirect lighting is so great... makes even a small place look airier.
Would you consider a deeper wall color? Maybe you're thinking pale = illusion of more space, but these days I'm really enjoying the more saturated colors in my little place. To me, they seem warmer. But if you're thinking of rugs, get those first.
You seem to have an eye for interesting individual items. I bet you could find some more good lamps for different areas.
Nice pad. A couple of fab (not too busy) rugs and a few pieces of mid-C/retro ceramics (flower pots, vases) here and there would be a nice touch.
Nice place. Personally, I'd move that shelf unit and put it against the wall somewhere. The living area is too small to be dividing it up with something that stands out so much. Other than that, the others are right - some area rugs, splashes of color, maybe a warmer color on the walls....etc.
I think that all Duncan needs is a good a paint-by-number mural and he'll be all set. Excactly where? Not sure. Fun stuff, though, and I look what he's using for a mouse pad -- it's VERY smart-looking.
Speaking of looking smart, his own self looks KIND of like Maxwell with longer, darker hair.
I don't know how often anybody reads this stuff once it's not on the front page, but actually as I look back at this, I think that one thing that would look fantastic in here are the square versions of those Wallter application things.
If you applied them to the wall and THEN repainted the wall -- and actually I'm thinking of that stretch of wall by the dining area, between the windows -- they would echo those square openings in the room divider unit, and sort of ground that unit, making it look more architectural integral to the room. And the pattern would break up the blankness without really introducing any extra colors.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE? This is an old story, AT, and this is not the first time you've done this of late. The apartment tours are fantastic...WHEN THEY'RE NEW. Are you really so desparate for content that you think your readers will forget something you did a few months ago?
Calm down debbie.
I was sure that I would not need to post this explanation again but I guess I was wrong.
Debbie search for my posts in these two threads. A debbie did post in the second one after my explanation. I wonder if that was you.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/house-tours/the-inside-out-johns-high-end-for-low-cost-reno-003507
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/house-tours/the-inside-out-justine-and-davids-home-away-from-home-003435
Debbie,
Let me guess, you have a bad temper and you put your foot in your mouth alot...
Mondays - Old Tours
Wednesdays - New Tours
If you paid attention to Jamie Pup the first time or looked into it abit more, you wouldn't have had to get your panties in a bunch with your post above
I wonder if it would help to put the "Originally posted on Such-and-such" tag at the beginning rather than at the end of the post. Or to put an introductory blurb at the beginning of these Monday re-visits.
I like looking at these old apartment tours.
jamie pup and aristocrat,
thanks for the schedule (the what), but it still doesn't explain the why...
there isn't any other content that gets repeated on here -- why are house tours different?
maybe i've missed a longer explanation somewhere...
I like looking back at the old apartment tours also, but for as long as I've been following this site it didn't occur to me that they were on a schedule. I also think it would be good to mention earlier in the re-posting that it is a repeat.
'sfunny but when ppl complained about the google ad links I almost wrote to say that ppl seem to miss the "originally posted on" blurb on these Monday repeats so how come one was more intrusive of the other. But then I thought better of it.
Anyway, pure speculation on my part but many ppl have said that house tours are their favorite part of AT so I guess repeating older ones helps newer folks to see stuff they have missed and if it is the most popular aspect of AT then that is why this was chosen to be repeated. But what do I know?
I must admit though that it would be good to get updates from the owners/renters when their places are repeated and, if that is not possible, also may be good to give them a heads up that they are being shown again so that they could respond to newer questions. *That* would improve it for me.
I never really gave it too much thought before because we do get new tours every week so lack of content is not the issue.
Advise:
What do you do when you live in an apt. with downstair neighbors who complain to the rental agency at the smallest hint of noise coming from my apt. I'm single, work long hours outside of my home (like most NY'ers) and feel I'm extremely considerate of those that live above, below and to the sides of me.
Oh, I've already tried discussing their complaints. They are a mean couple who don't care about being liked.
Thanks for any suggestions you might have. I hate being the cause of problems. I hate it even more when I feel the problem isn't me, but them.
Help!
I would talk to them reasonably about how anyone living in an apartment should expect to hear some noise. Then I'd lend them a radioshack SPL meter and get them to tell me just how noisy the noise was. If the noise was within reason (28db is a whisper) and they were still bitchy, I would tell the rental agent just how quiet you were being (using the SPL meter is a great way to get real data here), and then pee on the neighbors' doorknob.
Help:
I'd suggest reposting your question on an open thread, or sending it to the site as a "Good Question".
Otherwise, you might not get too many responses on this House Tour thread.
Hey my name's Duncan too. I've only met about 4 people in my life with the same name:) I think the last person was some guy at Sears in Santa Cruz.
I think it's a nice place, the only thing I'd do differently is have a different colour rug under the coffee table in the living room for contrast.
It may be that you don't have carpets. If you're on hear floors, a PENCIL dropping from the floor abaove can sound hideously loud below. Louder downstairs than in the room where you dropped the pencil!
Great idea, Patrick.
Sorry for the misplaced question, I'm still learning the site.
This place seems to have pretty good bones, but there's no color, and almost all the photos have the same yellowish beige cast, which could easily be fixed in Photoshop. Ugh...
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