Our first week in New York City was finding the things you need when living in, not just visiting, a place. Grocery store, cleaners, hardware store, subway stops, local bar - all the essentials. When asked where we live, I soon learned that one doesn't say "we live in New York", or "New York City". How out-of-towner. New York City is made up of five boroughs: Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. At minimum you say "we live in Manhattan". But residents in these boroughs are intensely loyal to their 'hood. To the informed you'd say "we live in SOHO".
It's always interesting to understand how others see things so differently, or how we see things differently, due to upbringing or training. As our kids have noted, we can't seem to go anywhere without assessing the design or planning. (thus none will be architects). We knew it was going to be a funky artist loft. But as we settled in, besides the eclectic furniture (that's being polite) and the oddly shaped open space, we thought that the furniture layout made no sense - even for the untrained. The living furniture was split into two separate areas, with an old tube TV on a stand in the middle of the space. And the dining room table, with its potpourri of chairs, was the focal point in the prime seating location taking up about 1/3 of the space.
After a couple days having our sensibilities challenged we were unable to resist; we started moving things around. The dining table moved back near the kitchen counter and defined by a couple columns and art on the wall. The seating furniture was consolidated and moved to the corner by the window, and the TV was moved up against a wall freeing up the center of the space. This also freed up space for a piano to rent. We then added a desk and a couple chairs by the window. Ahh. Sensibility restored.
To make it feel like ours, we moved the owners excess clothes out of our closet into a spare room, relocated art work, and reorganized the kitchen contents to make it functional - though it's still a bit of a challenge. How a 5'-4" Chinese woman could cook on a counter that's 3'-6" is beyond us. It's even high for Bill.
As Robin settled into her new office a couple blocks away, we decided that entertaining some of her potential clients in our loft would be fun. With the rearrangement, the space could accommodate dinner for 10 or a large-group cocktail party. However, the assortment dining chairs were really just too funky. We like the "artist space", but there had to be some consistency somewhere. (like I said - architects!) So we met with the owner and showed the rearrangement and explained we'd like to either rent dining chairs, or we'd pay half that cost to contribute to new ones. She was very accommodating and together we went through web sites and mutually selected what the artistic and loft sensibilities required and our mutual budget. She also explained the "odd" furniture arrangement we found. As an artist, good light is critical. That necessitated moving the dining table (her work surface) to be closest to the windows and everything else followed. Priorities. There's always a story behind the story.
After the first week we feel settled in - and felt like New Yahkers. Next post: The 'hood.
It's always interesting to understand how others see things so differently, or how we see things differently, due to upbringing or training. As our kids have noted, we can't seem to go anywhere without assessing the design or planning. (thus none will be architects). We knew it was going to be a funky artist loft. But as we settled in, besides the eclectic furniture (that's being polite) and the oddly shaped open space, we thought that the furniture layout made no sense - even for the untrained. The living furniture was split into two separate areas, with an old tube TV on a stand in the middle of the space. And the dining room table, with its potpourri of chairs, was the focal point in the prime seating location taking up about 1/3 of the space.
View from Entry with one seating area by kitchen
Dining table and second seating area at far wall
New layout with Seating in Corner, Dining in foreground, and Desk against window.
To make it feel like ours, we moved the owners excess clothes out of our closet into a spare room, relocated art work, and reorganized the kitchen contents to make it functional - though it's still a bit of a challenge. How a 5'-4" Chinese woman could cook on a counter that's 3'-6" is beyond us. It's even high for Bill.
As Robin settled into her new office a couple blocks away, we decided that entertaining some of her potential clients in our loft would be fun. With the rearrangement, the space could accommodate dinner for 10 or a large-group cocktail party. However, the assortment dining chairs were really just too funky. We like the "artist space", but there had to be some consistency somewhere. (like I said - architects!) So we met with the owner and showed the rearrangement and explained we'd like to either rent dining chairs, or we'd pay half that cost to contribute to new ones. She was very accommodating and together we went through web sites and mutually selected what the artistic and loft sensibilities required and our mutual budget. She also explained the "odd" furniture arrangement we found. As an artist, good light is critical. That necessitated moving the dining table (her work surface) to be closest to the windows and everything else followed. Priorities. There's always a story behind the story.
After the first week we feel settled in - and felt like New Yahkers. Next post: The 'hood.
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