produced by Christina Dun; appearance by Hong Vu; edited by Sam Russell.
In Refinery29's Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women. Today, 26-year-old Hong Vu shows off her one-bedroom apartment in the West Village.
Hong Vu's new West Village apartment is everything her old apartment wasn't. While her last apartment only had a window in the bedroom, her current one has a whole wall of vitrines. While her last place had a bathroom the size of a closet where the sink was over the toilet, her current place has a bathtub.
Hong is a copywriter, and her current monthly rent is $3,775 (£2,975) (her last place was about $1,800 (£1,400)). Of course, no New York apartment is perfect: Hong's least favourite feature is the small non-clothing closet in the living room, which is so full and crammed that, "anytime we need a suitcase or something, it's a really big production to get it out."
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But this covetable find is the product of an almost year-long search: "When our lease ended at our last place we actually got our landlord to put us on a month-to-month lease so we had more flexibility in regards to when we had to move out so I basically stalked StreetEasy until this place came on the market."
The "we" in this case, includes Hong, her partner, their dog, and their cat, Princesa. "We really love the vibrance of the community and one of the perks is that we know where all of the store cats are," Hong explained. Their building, which has a courtyard, is on the edge of West Village, one of Manhattan's most coveted neighbourhoods.
What is your favourite part about your apartment?
My favourite part about my apartment is definitely the light. We have three huge windows in the living room and that’s definitely what sold me on the apartment. It’s just so nice to have all that natural light come flooding in at all times. And I’m someone who needs that. We don’t hang curtains in our living room, just because I enjoy having light all year round. You know those gated areas, where it has a courtyard, like those little pockets? We live in one of those. I think that’s such a unique situation to be in, out of all the millions of apartments, I think there’s only a couple hundred like this. It feels like you’re living in your own special secret in New York.
My favourite part about my apartment is definitely the light. We have three huge windows in the living room and that’s definitely what sold me on the apartment. It’s just so nice to have all that natural light come flooding in at all times. And I’m someone who needs that. We don’t hang curtains in our living room, just because I enjoy having light all year round. You know those gated areas, where it has a courtyard, like those little pockets? We live in one of those. I think that’s such a unique situation to be in, out of all the millions of apartments, I think there’s only a couple hundred like this. It feels like you’re living in your own special secret in New York.
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What’s the worst part about your apartment?
The worst part about my apartment is just how the closet in the living space, it’s the only storage we have that’s not for clothes, but we have to fit so much in that closet, that I should have organised it a lot better. For example, anytime we need a suitcase or something, it’s a really big production to get it out. But because it fits so much in there, it’s just really, really hard to find a way to organise that. I’m sure if I sit down one weekend and just really work through it, I’m pretty sure there’s a better way to do it.
The worst part about my apartment is just how the closet in the living space, it’s the only storage we have that’s not for clothes, but we have to fit so much in that closet, that I should have organised it a lot better. For example, anytime we need a suitcase or something, it’s a really big production to get it out. But because it fits so much in there, it’s just really, really hard to find a way to organise that. I’m sure if I sit down one weekend and just really work through it, I’m pretty sure there’s a better way to do it.
Can you talk about what room you use the most?
Definitely the living space. Since my partner works from home, he needs a designated desk and also I can also work from the coffee table. So the living space for sure.
Definitely the living space. Since my partner works from home, he needs a designated desk and also I can also work from the coffee table. So the living space for sure.
What’s the most expensive item in your apartment?
Our couch. But it’s so worth it. Our old couch was so uncomfortable, that even our dog refused to sit on it. Comfort and durability were definitely priorities for us when we were shopping for a new couch and we wanted it to be an investment piece so we wanted something that was going to last us hopefully 10 or more years. Actually a few of my friends actually bought this couch after they sat on my couch because it’s just so beautiful and soft and it’s really comfortable.
Our couch. But it’s so worth it. Our old couch was so uncomfortable, that even our dog refused to sit on it. Comfort and durability were definitely priorities for us when we were shopping for a new couch and we wanted it to be an investment piece so we wanted something that was going to last us hopefully 10 or more years. Actually a few of my friends actually bought this couch after they sat on my couch because it’s just so beautiful and soft and it’s really comfortable.
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