The coin canister

My friend and realtor, David, who sold my last apartment and found me The Beautiful Wreck, sent me a lovely Christmas gift this year. I've steered a few possible clients his way recently and it's his way of saying 'thank you'. Totally unnecessary but appreciated nonetheless! It's a glass canister set into a wrought iron base of metal leaves. There's a hammered copper lid with metal rose hip on top. I decided it would be a great place to stash coins and it looks great on the little shelf above the dining nook.

The moose on the mantel

Most every year my mom gives me a Christmas ornament as a holiday gift. This year she gave me a little wooden statuette of a moose (or is it a reindeer?), wearing a buffalo plaid sweater. Super cute. When I got home with it I realized I didn't have many Christmas decorations in the city, so I decided it would look good on the apartment mantel alongside my little snow scene in a jar that someone gave me a while back. (Thanks Mom! xo)

Eye on the prize

Ever since I moved into the apartment three years ago I've been wanting to find a small painting for the dining niche, something small, an oil maybe, with an ornate gold frame to offset the modernism of the niche's design.
Coincidentally, my friend Jim has been taking painting classes, and he has a surplus of canvases that he's created. I jokingly told him I wanted one and he kindly said, "yes". Yay.
He texted me a small (5" x 7") oil study of an eye.

I immediately loved it and thought it would be a great solution for what I'm looking for.
I Photoshopped his painting into frame to see what it would look like:

Jim was in Michael's, the craft store, the other day. He brought the painting to see if there was a frame that would work. He texted me this one and it was only $11. Perfect.

And here is the real painting nicely placed in the niche. I'm very pleased with the outcome.

The new neighbors?

I had been out on the island for over two weeks. When I arrived at the apartment the other evening I saw a bag of Halloween candy with my name on it sitting on the hallway table.

I figured someone had left it at my door and the cleaning lady had brought it inside, because no one would have actually come inside my apartment to leave it, right? (yes, I leave my door unlocked...with TWO doormen on always on duty 24/7 what's the point?)
Anyway the note said, "Enjoy! Patti & Ellie (5G)"

So my first thought was, "How nice, I've got some new neighbors and they left me a gift." A couple? I figured the apartment had finally sold and this was a nice gesture. I asked one of the doormen if, indeed, the place had sold. He had no idea. He said the previous owner, Mr. Stevens, the older gentlemen who had passed away, had his nephew come by a few times to take some personal belongings from the apartment but he hadn't heard about any sale. I also asked on of the porters. Again, he knew nothing. I even texted my realtor friend to see if he could look up a possible sale on the place, he has access to places online that has up-to-date info on current apartment sales in Manhattan. He texted back and said he found nothing and that he didn't think it has sold as there was just an open house a few days ago. Then  it hit me: the note was from the two realtors I've been chatting up since the apartment went up for sale. They've been really friendly and I take to them everytime I see they're having a showing. Case solved! And I thought I was getting a nice lesbian couple for my next door neighbors, LOL.

Through the looking glass

I realized the other week that I wanted a full length mirror. I kept racking my brain as to where to put it. In such a small apartment there's very limited wall space. The only place was maybe behind one of the closet doors in the hallway. Then I had an epiphany. What about the small column/wall next to the bathroom door, the wall that's essentially behind the bed headboard?
The more I thought about it the more I knew it would work.
And it did.
I got a high bid from a mirror company. I was able to get the price down by getting the tax knocked off. Then they postponed the installation date and I whined and whined and got $25 more off the price (the squeaky wheel gets the grease!), so here's the wall BEFORE the install:

Here's the two tallest mirror installation guys putting it up, they were giants!

Here's the finished product. Not only do I get a full length mirror to help me get dressed, but mirrors always make a room look bigger. It's an old decorator's trick I've used in every apartment I've ever owned and it always works. I like the way the reflection makes it look like there more bookshelves on that side of the room. Mirrors also bounce a little extra light around, not a bad thing to also put in the plus column.

Speaking of reflections, I also like how the mirror reflects the soffit on the ceiling, it makes it look bigger...

Here's a side beside comparison of the BEFORE and AFTER, not bad, huh?

I must be doing something right

I ran across this photo on Instagram the other day, it was from a designer or from some publication like ELLE Decor, and I thought it bore a lot of similarities to my favorite apartment.

The Chesterfield sofa, the leather Eames chair, the gray shelving unit with square cubbies filled with

object d'arts. Pretty much a carbon copy of the elements in my place...

Makes me think I've got at least a modicum of taste, right? ;)

The sale next door

I posted about the passing of the old gentleman who lived next door a while back. Well, it didn't take long for his estate to put his apartment up for sale. I was taking out the garbage the other day and there were two realtors sitting inside his place greeting folks for an open house. Being the Gladys Kravitz that I am, I introduced myself and took a look around. I'd never been inside his apartment even though his front door was inches away from mine! The apartment was surpisingly modern and has a nice layout. And what's more surprising is that it's priced--to my eye--at a STEAL: only $775,000! You can see the listing here.
Here are some pictures:

And here's the apartment's layout:

It'll be interesting to see how fast it sells...and who moves in!! Stay tuned!