Interior Design for Small Spaces, from Observer Living expo

I attended the Observer Living 2009 event held at the Puck Building last Thursday 5/14/09 and greatly enjoyed the panelist session on Interior Design for Small Spaces. Interior Design is not my forte but I did take some good notes on pointers shared by panelists including Simon Doonan and Jonathan Adler.

* Best item to brighten up an apartment: Pillows, pillows, pillows.

* Get things off tables and onto walls via wall racks.

* Use screens to separate space. This creates segments in your apartment and makes it look bigger. Instead of backing your furniture to the wall, you can use furniture as separators.

* Splurge on throw carpets, sofa and mattress. These are the main items for an apartment. You can save on others. A throw carpet is probably the single most impactful item to make a statement.

* The easiest "green" activity to do are to (i) use flourescent bulbs (ii) remove your shoes when inside the apartment. Removing shoes leaves all the toxic and unhealthy particles outside.

Streeteasy Manhattan Market Report Q1 2009

Streeteasy's report for Q1'09 breaks the numbers down by neighborhood. Similar trend as reported by Miller Samuel. Condos down 7.5% while coops down 16.7% compared to a year ago. I like the many details - by neighborhoods, most searched, most expensive etc.

Streeteasy Manhattan Market Report Q1'09