Minimalist Queens Apartment Tour

House from the outside

In September 2014, we arrived in New York City and had two weeks to find an apartment (no pressure at all 😉) until Daniel would start his new job. Back then (and still a little bit today in 2021), it was my dream to find a 2-bedroom apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

After we started the search, I woke up from my dream because Park Slope was just too expensive for our budget. 😥 We looked in a different and more affordable Brooklyn neighborhood. However, We realized that the apartments were either with tiny rooms so that our king-size bed (which was still traveling in a container across the ocean) wouldn’t even fit. (Tipp: Dont’s bring your king-size bed to New York City! 😂)

One day before the new job started, we found this apartment at the edge of Queens. The neighborhood is called Bayside, and it’s almost in Long Island. The apartment had four bedrooms and a ton of space - actually more than we needed or wanted.

As this was the first apartment we saw, which was clean and in good condition, we said YES. Only later we realized that it would be a long commute to work.

We moved in in October 2014 and stayed for two years.

Our apartment was on the ground floor. The window at the bottom left was my office and to the right was the guest room window. The left garden gate was our entrance, and before the trash cans to the right was our apartment door. The small window to the left was already one of the rooms from our landlord. He and his family lived in the rest of the big house.

Living and Dining Room

When you entered the apartment, you stood right away in the living and dining room. I designed the big white shelf to have some privacy and coziness while sitting on the sofa. The only "window" in the room was the apartment door. But only if we would pull up the blinds that were in the door. We had to leave open all the other doors in the apartment to get some daylight into it.

Before the move, we didn't own living and dining room furniture, so we went shopping. As we were new in the city, we went to what felt like home: IKEA. 😂 And yes, IKEA is very much the same in New York as it is in Germany.

Above the sofa, you can see my little gallery wall. Mainly with photos from our wedding in 2012. And I also made two colorful art pieces. On purpose, we didn't own a TV (and still don't). So when we wanted to watch DVDs or Netflix, we just used my computer screen and carried it into the living room.

Kitchen

Our new kitchen had two windows (which I loved because I love natural light). And we had so much storage space as the cabinets were many and up to the ceiling. It was essential because we owned so much stuff (which was mostly my stuff). I inherited several china sets from my grandmother, and then I had my old student mixed and matched china (because I might use it someday), plus our new wedding china and tons of Tupperware.

For even more counter space, we bought a table to put beside the dishwasher. And as a pantry, we purchased two medium Billy shelves.

Bedroom

In November, our king-size bed arrived with nightstands and all. This room was big enough for everything —even a mirror at the right (which shows me in my flannel pants 😂).

The closet was "my" closet. Daniel had his suits in the guestroom closet. And then we had the two big MALM dressers from IKEA. One for Daniel and one for me. Two to four drawers (which I can't remember) were for general items like towels and sheets. 

It's so weird to now (2021) think back and see that we had so many clothes that we could fill all those drawers and closets! No judgment, just astonishing to remember how different we were back then - before I discovered minimalism and the KonMari Method®.

I also wanted to show you how we slept for a few weeks before our bed arrived in the container. We bought a big air mattress which was very practical!

My Office & Creative Studio

Gee, when I think back to having an office just for myself, it sounds like a distant dream. 😍 From 2014 to 2017, I had a crafting business. I created handmade custom stationery and paper art and sold them (weddings, baby showers, birthdays, far well). I also gave classes and workshops. People came to us and had an afternoon with crafting and tea, coffee, home-baked goods. I also went to other locations and taught classes or to birthday parties. 

On the small dresser at the left, you see a tower with all my ink pads (yes, I had a lot!). On the left shelf, I had all my punches and stamp sets. On the right shelf were our books. Daniel only owned a few books that he had brought to Germany when he moved there in 2011. But what shall I say? I'm a Theologian; we need our books! Or at least that's how I used to think back then. I felt that my books were my professional identity. And truth be told, I used to be a collector of many things. 😂📚 Always with the thought, "I might use it later."

Sadly I didn't find a picture from the other side of the room. But imagine a very long desk with enough room to get creative and messy. It was just the best thing to leave things on the desks when a project wasn't yet finished. It's no fun when you have to clean up everything in the evening because your only table is the dining table. So it's helpful to have a designated space for creativity. 

That’s how it looked when I gave a workshop. And I also wanted to show you a few of the cards that I crafted.

Guestroom

We used the big air mattress as the guest bed and also got a small desk. The big closet was already in the apartment, and we used it for Daniel's work suits and ties. In the two small dressers, we had towels, sheets, and bedding for the guests. 

During the two years, we lived in the apartment, we had 14 overnight guests. A few stayed only a long weekend, others for two weeks. We were glad that both of our parents and the majority of our siblings were able to visit. Also, a few friends came. In between the visits, it served as Daniel's office. 

The thought of paying so much rent for a room that we hardly used was a bit painful because it was very tight financially. And we wouldn't have been able to have even more guests because hosting guests took a lot of time, and we had so few vacation days a year and couldn't take off a lot of time. These are things we learned along the way. 

In the beginning, it was so great to think about having visited all the time, and then we had to accept our limitations, and we had to say 'no' to people that weren't close friends or family.

Bathrooms

We had a master bathroom that we could use directly through our bedroom. The bathroom even had a window, and I was thrilled! Yay for natural light in the bathroom! 😍 

We also had a guest bathroom. Same size as the master bathroom but without a window. One time when we had four overnight guests, it was convenient to have two bathrooms. And even with only two guests, it was nice that they could have their bathroom.

The probably greatest thing about this apartment was that we had a washing machine and dryer inside the apartment that we didn't have to share with anybody else. To have this is incredibly special for NYC. Many buildings don't even have a laundry room, and then the people have to go to the laundromat. 

The other super fancy thing was a vacuum cleaner socket in the wall. We only had to plug in the long tube, which was long enough to reach each room. The dust was sucked into the basement through the socket in the wall. Absolute luxury and so practical!

Advantages

• We had a spacious and well-kept apartment with a washer and dryer.

• Central heating and A/C so we could easily regulate the temperature.

• Our landlord took good care of the apartment and supported us initially (showing us stores and giving us a few rides). He even invited us to a few parties he had with his family.

• We had lots of space for us and all our belongings, as well as for guests.

• It was so lovely to have an office and also that we had the extendable dining room table for the crafting workshops.

• Each of us found a great church community—Daniel, a catholic church close by, and I found a small house church in the next neighborhood. We made so many friends through our churches.

Disadvantages

• The apartment had a (for us) high rent, plus the added utility costs.

• We had a long commute (1.5 hours one way with one bus and two different subways).

• We had very loud neighbors (usually, they were fighting). They also had two aggressive dogs, which was terrible for me, as I’m terrified of aggressively barking dogs running towards me.

• Traffic noises from the highway (but we got used to them because it was white noise).

• Most rooms had hardly natural light because of the architecture and of the small windows.

Conclusion

The apartment had so many convenient things. Above all, the washer and dryer only for us was a dream. If the commute wouldn't have been so long, I think we would have stayed for longer (even with the terrifying dogs). However, the longing for winning back time each day had a higher priority. 

I don't regret that we lived in Bayside, Queens. The precious friends we made because of this location is priceless! During the time in Queens, I discovered minimalism and the KonMari Method®, and I'm so grateful for it! Both things certainly changed our life for the better. 

It was challenging to downsize from a 3-bedroom apartment to a studio apartment. But when you have a goal in front of you worth it, you can accomplish almost anything! And winning back our time was this grand goal for us. 

If you are curious, here you'll find the blog post about our shoebox apartment in Manhattan. 

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