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Jenn Kinnear | Small Space Planning + Decor

@jennkinnear

5.9K

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making small spaces work harder
a hobby, documented
[email protected]

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not getting the apartment i wanted is the only reason i got this one.
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415 square feet in new york, $3,500 a month. i toured a unit in this building and lost it. my broker heard an identical one upstairs was coming up off market in three months, so i waited.
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i signed for it without ever standing in it. some StreetEasy listings carry photos from past rentals, and this one had about five sets, so i knew the layout before i signed.
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not every listing has them, but it costs nothing to look.
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the listing found me the broker. the broker found me the apartment. start on StreetEasy, just don’t expect to end there. by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

Six layouts before this one.

Same room, same 415 square feet, three years of moving things.

It takes time to land on the right setup. Listen to your gut, try, and try again, until you feel it. You’ll know when it’s right.

It’s amazing how many ways a room can work when you have the right pieces. Source things that can move, and you get to change your mind.

Nothing in here is permanent. It just finally feels like it’s always been this way.

I’m documenting the rest of it here. The layouts, the mistakes, the things I drew and never built.

How many layouts are you on? taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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2 months ago

1.6 million views, 8,600 saves, 5,300 shares, and so many of you asking where I got items so I made a ShopMy page to share the links!

It’s only pieces actually in my apartment, not look-alikes. If something isn't there, I probably thrifted it or took it from my grandparents closets.

Take a look, no need to buy a thing, just come back and tell me if it worked or if I missed anything!

Know someone moving into a small space? Send them this post ❤️

shopmy.us/jennkinnear

(FYI I’m sharing affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy anything from them.)

#smallspaceliving #studioapartment #apartmentliving #apartmenttherapy #shopmy #homefinds #smallapartment #renterfriendly #cozyhome #apartmentdecor #nycapartment #studioapartmentideas #homedecorideas #firstapartment #livingroomdecor taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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16 days ago

i didn’t buy the sofa like this.

it’s an ikea queen size pull out sofa bed. i added a custom slipcover, put memory foam inside the cushions, then wrapped a pottery barn blanket over the whole thing as a second cover to up the cozy factor. it seats people and it sleeps people, and there are two baskets behind it holding every sheet i own.

cozy mattered more to me here than anywhere else in the apartment. after all, the whole place is technically my bedroom.

that’s all six. every spot in here is doing more than one job, and that’s the reason 415 square feet works.

which one are you stealing? taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

i own one set of dishes. on purpose.

i used to have a double set when i had ample room to host. paring it down felt like going backwards. but hosting in a studio means someone’s in your bedroom, so i mostly meet people out.

one 12 piece threshold set from target, four dinner plates, four small plates, four bowls. six tall glasses, six small, six mugs. a small set means i run the dishwasher more often, in smaller loads. nothing gets a chance to pile up.

the rest of it: a miscellaneous basket from ikea, a cord cabinet i purge every six months because i don’t need seven micro usb cables, a bucket of bags under the sink so starting a recycling bag takes me one second, and a utility drawer with a tape measure, a box cutter, and brown painters tape instead of blue, because blue tape screams and brown disappears into everything else in here.

in 415 square feet i have to be exact about what earns a spot.

ep 06 tomorrow: the sofa. i didn’t buy it like this. taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

my dresser is also my bedroom wall.

it splits the studio so the bed gets one side and everything else gets the other. it’s a headboard and a nightstand at the same time, and the floor in front of it is basically my dressing room.

the height is the whole thing. tall enough that the bed becomes its own zone, low enough that it never blocks the view from my kitchen.

it holds every folded thing i own except my pants. those live on the top shelf of my first closet.

my sister and i shared one ikea hemnes and one closet growing up. now i have two closets and the whole dresser.

ep 05 tomorrow: the junk drawer, except it isn’t one. taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

my bathroom is not always clean. it just gets back to baseline fast, and that part is on purpose.

three medicine cabinets, sorted. one miscellaneous, one dailies, one actual medicine. i got lucky with this bathroom, i wasn’t looking for that.

but the real hacks are smaller. the hairdryer hangs inside the cabinet door so I have to put it away cleanly wrapped to hang. the rug is dark brown so hair doesn’t show. and there’s a little wooden box on the counter for bits of trash, because if i can’t see the opening of the trashcan, it doesn’t exist to me. trash just stayed on the counter until it piled up enough to bother me. the box is open and right there, so it actually gets used.

none of that is discipline. it’s storage systems doing the work for me. build solutions around the way your brain is actually wired.

ep 04 tomorrow: the dresser. eight drawers, one wardrobe. taken in New York, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

one of my closets doesn’t hold a single piece of clothing.

two closets in a studio is lucky and i know it. closet one is everything i wear. closet two is the 4 dining chairs, luggage, the ironing board, the step ladder, and every pair of shoes.

if you have two closets, don’t split them by season. one is for wearing, one is for storing.

ep 03 tomorrow: the bathroom, and three cabinets that don’t do the same job. taken in Manhattan, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

some people pay for a storage unit. mine is under my bed.

16 inches of clearance under the frame. 8 HDX 17 gallon bins from Home Depot fit under there.

this is where the stuff goes that you don’t need often. off season, extras, the things that would otherwise eat a closet. prime real estate that shouldn’t be overlooked, and you didn’t even have to pay extra for it.

measure the gap under your bed before you buy bins. that number decides everything.

ep 02 tomorrow: both closets, and one of them doesn’t even hold clothes. taken in Manhattan, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

$3,500 for 415 square feet in New York City.

the two questions that most people ask: what do you pay, and where do you put everything.

six places. new series starts tomorrow.

tell me which one you want first and i’ll move it up. taken in Manhattan, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago

Day one of pretending I know what i’m doing. Let’s see where this goes! taken in Manhattan, New York by @jennkinnear

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a month ago