I Just Moved—These Apartment Essentials Make My Small Space Feel Like a Luxury Hotel
Step one: find a signature home scent.
One thing I’ve learned over the past few months: moving in New York City is not for the weak. Finding an apartment is like the Hunger Games. And once that very stressful step is done, it’s time to pack everything up. Call it an occupational hazard, but I have hundreds of glass-bottled perfumes, fragile skincare jars, and eyeshadow palettes that need extreme TLC. For all of a split second, I considered packing ‘em alone, but I ended up having Piece of Cake Moving & Storage do it for me—nuts to bolts—and it was the single best decision I made. “When packing fragile fragrances or glass cosmetic bottles, the biggest priority is preventing movement inside the box to avoid them from hitting each other and cracking; wrap each bottle individually with packing paper and pay extra attention to caps and lids to prevent leaks,” says Najah Ayoub, Piece of Cake’s Chief Marketing Officer.
Once my mattress, too many clothes, and all my beauty products arrived safely at point B, well, that’s when the fun actually started. I moved into this space determined to make my home (and bed) feel—and smell—like a luxury hotel room. I was hyper-focused on finding the creme de la creme of candles, diffusers, detergents, and soaps. I needed a bed that felt plush, crisp, and most importantly, very cool. And I obviously had to maximize my bathroom storage. That was the fun part.
Finding furniture that works in a small space—and provides storage— was not an easy feat. I’m in a studio apartment, so every inch matters. Add that to the fact that I was adamant about achieving a modern Parisian vibe without any crown molding in my rental, and I had my work cut out for me. But after going through, well, every home website that ever existed, I firmly believe I’ve found the best kitchen, bathroom, and apartment products of all time. My guide to stocking a new home, ahead.
Signature Scent
I’m a big believer that an olfactory personality doesn’t stop with my physical person. My home is a reflection of my personal style, and I want it to smell as such. I switch out my diffusers pretty frequently, but the end goal is the same: to feel like I’m entering an oasis the second I open my apartment door.
The same way I layer perfumes, I layer diffusers. I normally have a mix of three reed and electric diffusers going at once, but this is the scent I put the most stake in. It smells rich, warm, and inviting. Plus, it doesn’t lean too summer or too winter, so it holds its spot on my dresser year-round. When people tell me my home smells just like me, this is what they’re referring to.
If this brand isn’t already on your radar, it deserves to be. All of their scents (including Nette fragrances) are incredibly unique and have this cool-girl vibe that I knew I wanted in my home. The name of this candle is what got me hooked, but the creamy, surprisingly fresh scent is what keeps me restocking.
This is my secret for when I’m having people over. I keep it plugged into the wall 24/7, but I can control its pumping system via the app on my phone. If I know friends are coming by to see my new space, I turn it on high. Without fail, they tell me my apartment smells incredible. The Santal Vanilla scent is my current favorite, but there are endless options to choose from.
Naturally, I own the detergent version of this. That being said, I much prefer the linen and room spray—the scent is much stronger and lasts longer. After I wash my sheets, I always give them a nice coating of this. It makes getting into bed an even lovelier experience (and I didn’t think that was possible).
The Ideal Hotel Bed
I always have the best, best, best night’s sleep when I’m in a fancy hotel room. The comforters are fluffy, there’s an exorbitant amount of pillows, and the sheets feel cool, crisp, and temperature-regulated. After much trial and error, I’m convinced this assortment of products is a recipe for a perfect night’s sleep. (And that’s coming from a terrible sleeper.)
My mattress was the only item I brought from my old apartment, but I still wanted to make it feel new. This down alternative topper is the perfect plush-to-firm texture, doesn’t set off my allergies, and makes my bed feel like a floating cloud. I’ve slept like a baby since adding this to my mattress. It’s perfect—no notes.
I despise putting on a duvet cover more than anything—and I know I’m not alone. It’s unequivocally the world’s most annoying chore. I feel very passionately that this is the most ingenious bedding innovation. Instead of crawling inside my duvet cover, I just lay it down flat, place the cover down, and snap the top layer into place. The whole shebang takes three minutes, and my duvet doesn’t budge. Bonus: it’s perfectly fluffy.
I’m a hot sleeper, so cooling sheets are non-negotiable. I’m currently using the Percale Set; they’re airy and crisp, and they don’t get wrinkly while I sleep. But most importantly, they feel like they're on my body and keep my body temperature in homeostasis.
In my search for the perfect pillow, I came across this brand, and now I won’t shut up about it. All you do is fill out a survey of your preferences (medium support, fluffy pillow) and personal stats (height, weight), and the brand custom-makes a pillow to help you get the best night’s sleep. It’s a game-changer—I fall asleep in under five minutes.
Chic Cleaning Supplies
I’m definitely a bit neurotic about keeping a clean home. It’s a shoes-off household, and I’m very strict about no outside clothes on the bed (and couch). That being said, I refuse to have my space smelling like bleach, so I’ve stocked my home with the most elevated detergents (if you know me, you know this is my biggest obsession) and cleaning supplies.
If you know me, you know that I refuse to have boring laundry detergent. I’ve tried dozens of fancy ones—Dedcool, Homecourt, Maison Francis Kurkdjian. But Laundress’s Isle scent remains my favorite. Oh, and don’t sleep on their cleaning products either. 10s across the board.
It makes me feel very adult to love my vacuum more than anything in the world. I genuinely vacuum four times a day now just because it sparks indescribable joy. I love that this is cordless and uber slim—a huge pro when I’m trying to clean a small space (and store it). The light-up feature shines a light on every speck of dust and hair in my apartment, so sucking ‘em up is pure satisfaction.
I use approximately 10 products per shower (I’m a beauty editor—you can’t blame me), so it’s only natural that my shower has to contend with a decent amount of product buildup on the tile. This handy tool makes my Sunday reset so much easier. And thanks to the handle, I don’t have to get on my hands and knees for a thorough clean.
As part of my home’s scent profile, I’ve designated the bathroom as the Tomato Leaves section of the apartment. I keep my hand soap there—as well as a diffuser—and every time I have a guest over, they make sure to comment.
Kitchen Staples
My kitchenware predated my college graduation, so it was time for a Big Girl refresh. But I also wanted to make sure the apartment's feminine, modern vibe carried into my kitchen, so I was pretty picky about the color of my pots, the shape of my plates, and the design of my utensils. Oh, I even went so far as to have my gray countertops covered in Taj Mahal peel-and-stick wallpaper from Amazon.
I really wanted my kitchenware to feel like a natural extension of my apartment—not a sterile, generic set. From a practical standpoint, these check all the boxes: dishwasher, microwave, and freezer-safe, plus they’re made of industrial-grade porcelain. It’s the design elements—the scalloped edges, high-shine porcelain finish, and versatility—that make look forward to plating a meal or entertaining every week.
Because my plates are a bit funkier, I wanted to keep my silverware classic. This is also one of the most comprehensive silverware sets I was able to find (obviously I need everything to match), with normal dinnerware, serving pieces, and teaspoons.
I have very much been a target of the Our Place Instagram and TikTok ads. I’m happy to report that they 100 percent live up to the hype. They’re genuinely non-stick, so clean up takes all of five seconds. But the ceramic, non-stick base is still able to sauté and brown my veggies.
I love these containers probably as much as my vacuum; that’s high praise. They’re huge, sleek, and seal so tightly (I never, ever worry about spillage in my work bag. My fruit and leftovers stay fresh for so long courtesy of the Air Release Technology and the special condiment containers are a game changer for packing salad dressings and dips. Honorable mention to the baking sheets, too: my cookies finally don’t have burnt bottoms.
Bathroom Basics
For the past five years, I’ve been doing my makeup at a vanity with a massive Glamcor mirror. But it kind of ruined the vibe of my new apartment, so I’ve transitioned into getting ready in my bathroom. Storage has been very important, as have towels and robes that make the whole process feel calm and cozy.
My bathroom was another opportunity to maximize the hotel feel of my apartment and that obviously started with plush, oversized towels. I’m a bath sheet girl—I want to be bundled up post-hot shower—and these are by far, hands-down, without a question of a doubt, the best on the market. They’re a cotton-and-bamboo viscose blend that maximizes absorption and stays fluffy through hundreds of washes.
I thought I was really going to go through a mourning process after parting ways with my four-foot-long glam mirror. But I’ve actually been very pleased by the powers of this Simple Human Mirror. It gives me LED light (I need to make sure my bronzer is blended), offers 5x magnification (for when I need to examine pimples), and is compact enough to fit on my counter.
I recently got one of the brand’s cosmetic cases—mine is red crocodile print with pink initials—and now I stare at it in admiration every single day. It holds a shockingly large amount, so I can fit almost my entire routine inside and store it neatly in my cabinet.
As a robe snob, I can confidently say this baby is top tier. It’s extra fluffy and cozy, but I never overheat—which is the true tell of a well-made, year-round robe. Unlike a handful of other Very Popular Plush Robes, I find this one to be very flattering and slimming.
Cozy Details
It was much more difficult than I anticipated to execute a modern Parisian aesthetic in such a small space. But I was adamant about making my apartment feel like a snapshot of a luxe Paris hotel, so it became imperative that every single item in my home be intentional and serve a very specific purpose—especially the little details. “It’s really about effortless sophistication. It needs to feel warm and timeless, elegant yet unfussy,” says Kathy Kuo, the founder of Kathy Kuo Home. “The key to getting it right is restraint: Every piece should feel intentional and slightly storied, as if it's been in the apartment for years.”
The hype about this blanket is incredibly well deserved. I’ve tried all the dupes—nothing is as soft, as weighty, or as cozy as this guy. Plus, the color range is unbeatable. I have the Carmel ‘n Cream color.
This brand is probably my favorite discovery from apartment decor hunting. The French antique feel to this rug grounds my space and really, truly ties everything together. It has dimension, gorgeous color gradients, and functions as a neutral despite the intricate detailing. It’s hand-tufted and doesn’t really shed, which is a huge pro for a wool rug.
It’s not lost on me that having outdoor space in NYC is like winning the lottery. Even though my balcony is tiny, I still wanted it to feel cozy and polished. That’s where these pillows came into play. They’re plush, incredibly durable (the wind constantly takes them down), look so much more expensive than they are, and are super easy to spot-clean—just use a towel with some cold water.
I'd say majority of my home is from Lulu and Georgia—they make the best pieces, especially if you're someone who is chasing a girly, feminine aesthetic. In my experience, they really excel at playing with textures and prints that are truly unique and don't just look like a variation of something you've seen a million times before. I propped up two of these pillows on my couch—the square and the lumbar—and they added instant warmth to my space and are incredibly comfy and plush.
I'm sorry, but have you ever seen anything cuter?! I love, love, love that the brand is constantly collaborating with different tastemakers, because at the end of the day, your home is just an extension of your fashion sense. These little vases, which I plan on propping up on my nightstand, are part of a collaboration with LA-based interior designer Sarah Sherman Samuel. They're dainty, different, and delicate, all wrapped up into one.
I love, love, love my lady. Hand-painted in Austin, she came hand-painted on a matte canvas and already bound in a wooden frame. The dusty rose color caught my attention, but the silhouette's texture sold me. It manages to be a focal point and serve as a neutral in my apartment all at the same time, which is exactly what I was looking for.
Small Space Furniture
My tape measure is my new best friend. But! Every single item fit perfectly into my home. “The secret to making a small space feel bigger is to make the most of its footprint. I don’t mean filling it to the brim with lots of furnishings and objects, but choosing pieces with the right proportions and utilizing vertical real estate,” says Kuo. “The idea is to use design elements in a way that naturally moves attention to the boundaries of the space and makes it feel more expansive.” I played with textures, multiple mirrors, and height to make the space feel much larger than it actually is.
I personally found it deeply overwhelming to scroll through the thousands of pages on Wayfair, Joss and Main, and Perigold. But after hours of wasted time, I figured out that the most efficient way to shop for furniture on these big websites is by filtering for a specific brand that you like. I had huge success with Four Hands—they do a phenomenal job at playing with texture—they have so many linen pieces, lots of rich-looking wood, and hand-painted pictures—and have some of the smallest dimensions, which come in handy when you live in a little apartment. This standing lamp is so beyond stunning and adds height to my space without taking up too much width. It was also incredibly easy to assemble.
Tov is another furniture brand discovery I can't get enough of—and their pieces are often on mega sale on the bigger retailers like Wayfair. This piece looks so much more expensive than it is and is pint-sized enough to be used as a statement piece on top of a dresser or nightstand. I went with the ivory, but it comes in three other colors.
I had max 20 inches to work with when choosing a nightstand—and let me just say, there are not that many items within that dimension that have drawers. But as a beauty editor, storage is probably the most important thing to me (these fragrances and moisturizers have to go somewhere). This is truly the best compact bedside table I could find online—and doubles as a perfect home for my exorbitant collection of under-eye patches. Plus, the raffia finish is the exact texture play I needed in my space.
Ordering furniture from Amazon can definitely be risky, so take my word for it: this is a great find and truly deserves five stars. It requires some easy assembly, but the burl wood has a gorgeous, expensive-looking finish, as do the brass handles, making it well worth some time with the Allen wrench. It's also pretty narrow (it's only 15 inches deep), which is a big win for a small space. But fear not: this houses all my pajamas, workout clothes, and socks.
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