Manhattan Chowder, Back in the Big Apple

Closet Space

No, the title of this post is not some clever reference to Mark Foley or the outing of gay Republicans--it's about closet space. Actual closet space. You know, like for clothes and stuff.

Ever since I bought my tiny studio apartment on the Upper West Side six years ago I've been trying to figure out ways of maximizing its scant 450 square feet of living space into an actual one-bedroom--albeit a very small one bedroom. I've made sketches and floor plans and taped borders out on the floor where future walls might be. By doing this, technically it would turn my studio into what is known in New York real estate as a "Jr. 1 BR". Real estate here is full of terms that only a seasoned professional in the business can decipher and each has its own price point. For example, Jr. 4, Classic 6, Floor thru, etc. You get the picture.

But wall construction might be costly and block some light and make the whole apartment complicated to heat and cool. So, having given up my dream of an actual wall separating my living and sleeping areas a few years ago, I thought at least I could build a walk-in closet that would increase storage and create a sleeping alcove making it an "alcove studio". This apparently slightly higher up on the food chain of New York real estate than a regular studio, but not quite a "Jr. 1 BR" and certainly not as high up as a full fledged one-bedroom.

Anyway, I sketched this proposed walk-in closet two years ago making various specifications, taking careful measurements and passed the whole thing along to my engineer father. Dad, now retired with lots of time on his hands for these kinds of projects went about building in his garage the framed studwork for my future walk-in closet. And there it sits to this day--in a garage in New Jersey.

SO, inspired by a book I'm reading, Julie and Julia, about a New York secretary who proposes to make all of the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in an ill-equipped kitchen in Long Island City in one year and blogs about it, (I know--sounds very "chick-lit, but I'm enjoying it.) I figure if I do the same thing with my walk-in closet it will keep me honest and I might actually get it done.

It'll be fun. I'll post before and after pictures, we'll give stuff to Good Will and hopefully I'll increase the value of my apartment. Whattya say?

By the way, here's an example of what a selling point closet space can be in NYC:

Labels: Humor, New Yorkana

posted by Michael @ 6:14 PM