Rooms on Film: Saturday Night Fever

let's dance the last dance: john travolta and karen lynn gorney

It seems I'm still in an Empire State of Mind. Specifically, New York in the '70s. This movie has several locations: Tony's family home, the dance studio, stores, the disco hall... And it briefly breezes through the new Manhattan digs of Stephanie, a young woman who is very serious about her ambitions. 

Typically, it's one of those places that gives the impression that elevators had not yet been invented. Or at least, no one had thought to install them anywhere in the five boroughs...

Rooms on Film: Annie Hall

annie hall, 1977: janet margolin and woody allen

This one's short and sweet. I'm not familiar with the movie, although surely I saw it as a kid. Lately I've been viewing a lot of studio apartments via Pinterest and Apartment Therapy tours. As a studio dweller, the topic is pretty much ever present. Between that and abrupt arrival of full-on SUMMER IN NEW YORK, this image came to mind.

Single-Girl Style: Robin Roberts' NYC Apartment

 

good housekeeping's spread from june 2012

Since she's been in the news lately, it seemed like a good time to take a quick peek at the Good Morning, America host's livingroom. Robin Roberts did a covershoot for Good Housekeeping that indicates a lovely, ladylike space. Too bad we didn't get a full tour. The article specifically mentions a show-stopping view of the Hudson River. 

Surely, we'd all like to take a gander at that. 

Rooms on Film: In America

thrifty chic in hell's kitchen, nyc

In keeping with my recent post about the insanity of New York City apartments and the lengths people will take to live here, I'm profiling a marvelous 2002 movie that got a fair amount of recognition for an indie. In America follows an Irish family as they relocate to the U.S. (via Niagara Falls) and set up house in a huge old building in Hell's Kitchen, following the death of the one of the children. 

Only in New York

the poster says it all: rustic floors, secondhand furnishings and tenants with artistic flair

All afternoon I've been thinking about the particular strangeness of New York City apartments. First, a friend mentioned that she has moved into a new pad that is bigger and better than her old one. Not a tough act to follow, that old apartment, it was a studio that measures about 14' square. This did not include the tiny (but cozy) bathroom or the teensy kitchenette. And there was scant closet space. The only saving graces are the nearly 10' ceiling and the blinding flood of southern light. It's asking a lot to make an adult's home in a room the size of a bedroom. (I had a number of ideas. The space really sparked the creative juices).