{"id":93397,"date":"2025-04-14T03:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T03:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/lauren-o-s-manhattan-apartment-is-a-love-letter-to-rituals\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T03:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T03:04:16","slug":"lauren-o-s-manhattan-apartment-is-a-love-letter-to-rituals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/14\/lauren-o-s-manhattan-apartment-is-a-love-letter-to-rituals\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren O.\u2019s Manhattan Apartment Is a Love Letter to Rituals"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

We gush about readers all the time during our Cup of Jo team meetings, and Lauren O.<\/a> is a name that often comes up. A reader from the beginning, she has left many hilarious and heartwarming comments (think: \u201cHang loose my goose<\/a>\u201c, a birthday realization<\/a>, and what happened when she deleted Pok\u00e9mon GO from her phone<\/a>). Other readers have asked to learn more about her, so today we\u2019re thrilled to feature her one-bedroom Manhattan apartment, which she shares with her husband, Joe, and two darling cats\u2026<\/p>\n

LIVING AREA<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Chairs: vintage Niels Otto M\u00f8ller from Housing Works Thrift<\/a>. Throw pillows: Pendleton<\/a>. Stereo: \u201cJoe\u2019s audiophile \u2018Frankensystem\u2019 \u2014 it\u2019s a Linn turntable on a custom plinth with a Leben amp beside it, and DeVore Fidelity speakers.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

On moving to New York:<\/strong> Joe and I came from San Francisco to Manhattan in 2003 so that I could intern at a magazine publisher. We originally thought we\u2019d just stay for the summer, so the move felt low pressure. But then we sneaky fell in love with the city. Before New York, I\u2019d never really found a city that spoke to me. So, at the end of my internship, when I was offered a full-time job, my answer was \u2018Of course.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Red lamp on record shelf: Nicholas Furrow. Record shelves: \u201cJoe and our friend George made them.\u201d Media center: Design Within Reach thrifted via Craigslist, similar<\/a>. Red lamp on coffee table: Mantar<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On personal style:<\/strong> Our design vibe is similar to the Bergdorf Goodman holiday windows, if they were made by and for raccoons, since we love shiny things. I\u2019d also describe it as a metropolitan goblin feel \u2014 there\u2019s lots of records, books, orbs, minerals and rocks. <\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Art mural: thrifted from Housing Works<\/a>. Record shelf: CB2, similar<\/a>. Pink lamp: vintage, via Furlong<\/a>. Plant shelf: Ethnicraft<\/a>. Coffee table: Jordan Crowell<\/a>. Red lamp: Mantar<\/a>. Sectional: Saba Italia<\/a>. Moth throw pillow: Timorous Beasties<\/a>. Rug: Saint-Ouen flea market in Paris.<\/em><\/p>\n

On bursts of color<\/strong>: Before the pandemic, there was definitely less color in the apartment. But once we were stuck here all the time, we wanted to brighten things up. Joe was actually the one who said, \u2018We have to get a pink sectional.\u2019 So, we went for it. <\/p>\n

\"1984<\/a><\/p>\n

On a travel tradition:<\/strong> I used to volunteer at the Housing Works bookstore<\/a>, and one day a mysterious Frenchman came in asking if we had any copies of George Orwell\u2019s novel 1984<\/em>. We pulled out all these different editions, and he was over the moon, saying that while traveling, he always goes to local bookstores and asks for an edition of 1984 from their country. I thought that was the best idea. The book was published in a zillion languages, and it has been released in new editions. If you read the various introductions, people love to frame it in terms of their country\u2019s current political moment; it\u2019s an interesting lens through which to see other places. I\u2019ve now taken his tradition on as my own.<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

On fibre art:<\/strong> I go through random phases where I get the urge to make fibre art. I made a Debbie Harry portrait during our first summer in New York, when Joe was as a paralegal and never home. A few years later, I embroidered a portrait of David Bowie on a handbag for a contest held by the now defunct handbag brand Rachel Nasvik. I ended up winning!<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Lauren and Maya<\/em><\/p>\n

On beloved cat children:<\/strong> We adopted our cat Matty in Anaheim, California, while I was down there visiting family. He had been a stray running around in some parking lot, and we found him on Petfinder<\/a>. Then we adopted Maya a year ago. She was originally living with her five kittens in a kill shelter in Tennessee, and then somehow they all ended up on Staten Island? The fact that she ended up there with her babies always makes me laugh because it reminds me of Madonna\u2019s music video Papa Don\u2019t Preach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BEDROOM <\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Basket: Swahili African Modern<\/a>. Blue bench: West Elm<\/a>. Tiger throw pillows: Williams Sonoma<\/a>. Duvet: \u201cA white West Elm comforter<\/a> I got on super clearance and then tie-dyed and appliqu\u00e9d with a bunch of quilting scraps.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

On a long-time love:<\/strong> Joe and I met 26 years ago, while studying abroad at the University of Oxford in England. For one of our first dinners, he made me this fantastic, complicated, vegetarian Thai soup \u2014\u00a0even though he lived in student housing with a crappy kitchen shared with a dozen people, and he had to shop for groceries in a small town in 1999 where good ingredients were hard to come by. That gesture meant so much to me because in the past, previous boyfriends made me feel like shit for being a vegetarian. Like it was a hassle to work around. But Joe has always taken my needs seriously and my eccentricities in stride \u2014 like when I wake him up in the middle of the night because I\u2019m sad about the way people are mean to pigeons \u2014 and he always really hears me and makes me feel taken care of. <\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Gold dachshunds: vintage via Atlantis Home<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

On favorite books:<\/strong> I\u2019m forever recommending Kelly Link\u2019s Magic for Beginners<\/a>, a series of short fantasy stories. You can feel your brain growing new wrinkles and acquiring new neural pathways as you read. She\u2019s just so creative and I have such a crush on the way she puts her stories together. I can\u2019t imagine anyone not finding this book magical. <\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Paint: Middleton Pink from Farrow & Ball<\/a>. Mushroom throw pillow: John Derian for Target. Mushroom print: David Shrigley<\/a>. Wolf print: \u201cFrom a festival in Montreal. I saw them all over the subway and ended up writing to the festival\u2019s team asking if I could buy one. They then sent me a couple for free.\u201d Bed: CB2<\/a>. Velvet blue throw pillows: West Elm<\/a> and Timorous Beasties<\/a>. Brass bookcase: One Kings Lane, similar<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

On mushroom decor:<\/strong> It all started when I submitted a pitch to Mushroom People Magazine<\/a> about an artist who made shrouds inoculated with mushroom spores that you could be buried in. In theory, the mushroom would consume you. Putting that piece together ended up spurring a lifelong mushroom enthusiasm. I\u2019m now part of the New York Mycological Society<\/a>, a group of citizen scientists and foragers who are really into mushrooms and super generous with their knowledge. Now during walks, I fetch sticks with exciting things growing on them and present them to the more expert members like a retriever with a Frisbee.<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

Brass bookcase: One Kings Lane, similar<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

On traveling with parents:<\/strong> The picture of the little girl is my mom. A couple years ago, Joe and I started a tradition of going on vacation with her and my stepdad Doug. Mom and I love walking around all day, so we\u2019ll put on our comfy shoes and head out. Then Joe and Doug will go to a sports bar and chat about baseball factoids. For our first trip, we went to the U.K., and I found a pond in the middle of the Hampstead Heath that only women can swim in<\/a>. And even though it was November and freezing, my mom and I jumped in. After that, we decided we were officially pond scum and had to swim everywhere we traveled. In Iceland, we went to the lagoons, and when we visit my sisters, we always pick a hotel or vacation rental with a pool. <\/p>\n

ENTRYWAY<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/p>\n

Credenza: vintage. White lamp: Verner Panton<\/a>. Rhino: gifted from her mother. <\/em><\/p>\n

On special gifts:<\/strong> My mother surprised me with this rhino for Christmas. She was an art history major who took a bunch of studio art classes, like furniture- and rug-making courses.<\/p>\n

KITCHEN<\/p>\n

\"Manhattan<\/a><\/p>\n

On working around old design choices:<\/strong> Our kitchen is very much not our style. But it was brand new when we moved in and is in really great condition, so I can\u2019t imagine spending money on ripping out the counters. As a workaround, I\u2019ve added personal touches. I\u2019ve been switching out the cabinet knobs one at a time, so none of them match. Some are snails, some mushrooms, one is a resin knob with a bunch of moss inside. I also started drawing this mural. Changing the kitchen initially felt like an annoying task, but it has turned into this space of giving myself permission to do whatever I want. And that\u2019s been very liberating.<\/p>\n

Thank you so much, Lauren<\/a>. We adore you! Never stop commenting!<\/strong><\/p>\n

P.S. More home tours<\/a>, including a a reader\u2019s \u2018introvert nook\u2019<\/a> and a yoga teacher whose Manhattan studio apartment is a love letter to women<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(Photos by Christine Han<\/a> for Cup of Jo.)<\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

212<\/span> COMMENTS<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\n