This Plant-Stuffed NYC Apartment Is 600 Square Feet Of Happiness

If you've ever lived in New York City, you know that the apartments can start to feel real claustrophobic real fast. What Kari Lopez's East Village apartment lacks in space, it makes up for in personality. Here, Lopez, who shares the home with her husband, talks all about how to combine colorful details with plenty of plants to create an urban sanctuary.

Comfortable and functional.

Storage is very limited in NYC apartments, so I utilize every inch of space underneath couches, beds, consoles, and desks. I also store items in bins or baskets to keep them somewhat contained and neat.

The only thing that changes twice a year is the location of most of my plants! A lot of them live out on the balcony during the warmer months, and come October/November, I have to rearrange everything inside to accommodate them inside for the winter. I have a tiny 5-by-10[-foot] balcony, which is gold in NYC real estate, and I'm blessed to have such a space to do a bit of gardening in the spring. I try to grow easy vegetables like tomatoes, peas, radishes, lettuce, and herbs, so I'll be preparing seedlings sometime in March.

I get stimulated by color just as fast as I get bored with it so I tend to change things up with a variety of throws and textiles whenever the mood strikes me. I love color but tend to gravitate toward earthy colors as opposed to bright hues.

Oldest in age would probably be the vintage midcentury furniture I bought from the Brooklyn Flea. Oldest I've owned would have to be a pressure cooker I purchased within a few months of moving to New York in 2008. I got it from a discount store near my old apartment and still use it to this day.

We live on an avenue that is the route to about three different hospitals, so we hear sirens at different times 24/7. That took a while to get used to, but I'm deaf to them by now! We also live in a Mitchell-Lama Housing Development, and a lot of our neighbors have lived here for decades and come from a variety of cultures, so cooking smells are common. I'm originally from the Philippines, so I do a lot of Filipino cooking myself and definitely contribute to hallway odors.

It's not hanging up, but I have a framed postcard written by my father to his grandmother when he was in Amsterdam with my mom. He died in a plane accident when I was 7 months old, so it's one of my prized possessions.

There aren't a lot of rooms in the apartment, but I find myself in the living room a lot. It serves as my workspace, relaxing [space], and lazy space. When I'm there, I get a full view of most of my plants, which always brings me joy.

I don't know about health per se, but I've crafted my space in a way that I never feel the need to leave it. Before living here, I always found myself out and about on my days off, but that's no longer true since my space brings me so much warmth and a sense of peace.

Someone once said that I could never be accused of having the same space as everyone else. I'd like to believe that's true!