We moved to a new apartment on August 1. Since then, we have updated the previously barren apartment with a bunch of our DIYs, cheap light installations and loved (used) furniture. We love rustic industrialist home design so we decided to create an apartment that's airy and minimalist (industrialist aspect) but very homey and lived-in (rustic aspect).

Industrialist and rustic meant we will use natural colors and materials such as wood, metal, and a bit of green (just a bit because i'm still testing if i have a green thumb gene). So today I will share our cheapest and one of our most rewarding home update: Copper Pipe Rod and Bracket.

Materials:

(4) 5ft. and 1/2 thick copper rod

(8) 1/2 tube cap (to cover the ends)

(4) Pairs of curtain rods (we used Home Decorator's Collection because those things are solid!)

(1) Copper Spray Paint (Our local Homedepot ran out of what we actually needed to we instead settled for "hammered copper"- still works though!)

Electric Drill (or Screw Driver)

Ruler

Pencil

1. Spray paint the curtain brackets. These things don't come in copper so to unify the look of these two metals. We decided to spray paint it. Wait after 24 hours before using them. Otherwise you run the risk of the paint bleeding on to your white wall (if you have white wall).

2.) Mark where those curtain brackets would be installed. We basically decided that the rod would be placed two inches after the ceiling since design wise it makes the room airy and spacious. And believe me, using any trick to make space bigger is valuable to any New York apartment. Our window with the moulding is about 41-42 inches so we decided to place the bracket 6 inches after the moulding and the height is again two inches after the ceiling. The bigger the space is for your curtains, the bigger your window looks!

3.) Install the brackets. Pretty straight forward. The bracket I recommended comes with screws but we used our screws with built in anchor. Those little darlings are hella strong.

4.) Place the tube caps on the copper pipe and slide in your curtain.

5.) Place the rods on the brackets and lock the screws on the bracket to keep them in place.

and Viola! pretty and simple curtain rods.

We love the way that the copper adds extra warmth to our rooms and we couldn't be happier to have done these ourselves rather than getting those generic ones that prove to be flimsy (and frankly..ugly).

Price wise:

the pipe was 8 dollars each and the brackets (brought in pairs) were 5 dollars each. Inexpensive and beautiful! Let me know if you decided to try it and send pictures!

Anne

Home

I consider a place home once I’ve lived in it for more than 4 weeks. I could say I have lived in 12 different addresses for a minimum of 3 months to 10 years. I recall living with a different family, besides my own, for convenience since it was closer to the University that I studied at. I lived at a yoga studio and slept on the locker floor at one point (believe me it was one of the best sleep I had in my life). I remember living in a basement that constantly had a flooding problem (At the time I was living in a tropical country where the seasons were summer and rainy season – You could say that half the year, I was constantly ready to scoop out water). I remember living in a 3 floored 800sqm house with a lawn where our 15 dogs run and play then moving to a 30sqm apartment.

You can literally put me anywhere and I will make a home out of it no matter what the living conditions are.

In most of these places I always lived with someone, My family composed of our two loving military parents (that would be for another story), 3 sisters who don’t know anything about private space, our big brother, our lovely Grandma who’s battling dementia, and our matriarchal alpha dog, Pee Wee, who at one point mothered 15 dogs! I once had to live with a a couple who constantly fought, a family who had one of their rooms rented to me and a roomate in which they eventually became our family. I had such colorful Living conditions but i can call each of them home.

4 years ago, after being together for 6 months I married the love of my life. It was only when I moved to our 30sqm apartment that started really learning how to cook (yes, apparently cup noodles don’t count) and one thing i can say is it’s a beautiful thing seeing someone nourished from the bellies to their hearts

Now that I moved to a new country and in an exciting city, I’d like to share to you how we constantly make, reshape and nourish our new home.

Welcome to Our NY Apartment. :)

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