HOMEPAGE

Lifestyle

This tiny New York apartment has a hidden 60-inch flat-screen TV and motor-powered cabinets

Leanna Garfield

2016-05-03T14:20:00Z

Inside 150 E. 56th St. Leanna Garfield/Tech Insider

When you live in a shoe-box apartment in New York City, taking advantage of every square foot is crucial.

Advertisement

That's the idea behind the one-bedroom apartment at 150 E. 56th St., which is full of space-saving design hacks.

On sale for a pricey $1.29 million, it packs a living room, kitchen, dining room, office, bedroom, and bathroom into 790 square feet.

I recently toured the apartment in Manhattan's Midtown East. Take a look inside:

Advertisement

The facade looks like a normal Manhattan apartment building.

I took the elevator to the seventh floor and went to the end of the dim hallway. It didn't look like the type of building that would house a million-dollar apartment.

Advertisement

When I walked in, it looked larger than I imagined. Dan Sperling, the apartment's developer, completely gutted and renovated the former apartment to maximize space.

Inside 150 E. 56th St. Leanna Garfield/Tech Insider

He calls it the "Hashtag Pad," because he imagines it as the ideal apartment for a millennial tech-lover who wants to live minimally. It comes fully furnished, so its future resident can move in with just a few suitcases.

A hashtag table and couch with another mattress hidden inside. Leanna Garfield/Tech Insider

Advertisement

Since it has only 790 square feet to work with, it's full of practical space savers, like this hidden pantry that slides out from the wall.

To maximize the kitchen's storage space, the cabinets are high, but they're powered by an automatic motor if you can't reach.

giphy (7)

Advertisement

Other hidden amenities are physically integrated into the apartment's design. The kitchen counter features grooves where drying plates and cups can sit so water funnels right down into the sink.

In the island, there's a hidden cutting board with a hole so you can slide scraps into the trash can beneath.

Advertisement

To the left of that, there's an invisible charger that can charge your phone when you put it on the right spot.

giphy (8)

Grab one of the apartment's iPads — it comes with two — and tap a button, and a 60-inch flat-screen magically reveals itself.

Advertisement

The iPads can also lock the apartment and control every room's speakers, temperature, and motorized blinds. Subwoofers hide inside these cabinets, which feature laser-cut holes that allow sound to travel through.

To the right, there's a room that's an office and a guest room. A Tempur-Pedic bed folds out from the wall.

giphy (10)

Advertisement

When you walk through the master bedroom's door — which slides open — it trips a light underneath the bed.

giphy (11)

Two shoe racks slide out from the bed frame ...

Advertisement

... and you can access your clothes using fold-out racks in the closets.

giphy (12)

In the bathroom, you can control the shower's temperature down to the degree with this panel.

Advertisement

You don't need a giant loft overlooking Central Park to live a life of luxury, Sperling says. What matters is how you use the space.

"You have 790 square feet. If you lost 10 square feet, that's a significant amount of space," he says.

Before and after the renovations. Leanna Garfield/Tech Insider

Design Home New York City

More...

Advertisement

Jump to

Main content
Search
Account