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[Oznell]

They're on opposite ends of the country--  San Diego, and New York City.   And two different "moods"!

Designer Mary Ann Pickett's sister Teresa downsized from a house she had shared with her late mother, and Mary Ann helped her decide what would make the cut, and what new pieces to get for a smaller space.

The San Diego apartment is nice and airy, if not large.  Mary Ann's sister wanted to keep:  the pretty wool rug, the vintage mirror, her mother's Paris prints, and an antique Asian vase, (glimpsed in the mirror), among other things.

I think the couch is the "Jake",  from Pottery Barn.  The rug was a little small for the living room, so they layered it on the jute rug.  Her original coffee table was too big for the new space, so an easy-to-navigate CB2 round marble one was purchased.

She was lucky enough to get "performance" fabrics for upholstery, so could indulge in lighter colors.

White leather recliner has clean lines.

A bench from her former master bedroom was repurposed as a practical entryway bench, spruced up with a comfortable lumbar pillow.

She definitely had to downsize her dining area.  The mirrors help to expand a feeling of light and space.

But lucky Teresa has access to the apartment complex's convivial 'common room', that all residents get to use.  That really helps, when your individual apartment is not that large.   All in all, she seems to have made a liveable, sleek, "transitional' space.

Sarah Lyon is a freelance writer who lives in NYC in a tiny one bedroom.   Her style is more traditional, and I'll describe her little living room as a room that 19th century Sherlock Holmes would be comfortable in.

You do have to enter the apartment through the kitchen, but as Sarah says, that's New York City!

Sorry that the pictures have to be so choppy!  The photography in this Homeworthy video might have been hampered by the small spaces.  Love her marble worktop, and the black and white tile floor, a timeless classic.

I do think that by having a handsome antique lawyer's bookcase in the kitchen, to display her glassware, she has upscaled her kitchen, made it less kitchen-y and more a cozy part of the entire apartment.

Her mirrored dining space, between the kitchen and living room--

Slim dining chairs show her eclectic side--

She brought that heavy marble mantelpiece with her, and in fact, has one in the bedroom too.

On the other side of the fireplace, she has floor to ceiling bookshelves.

It's too bad-- the stills show everything more squinched than it really is--  in the video, the room doesn't look that crowded!

Love her brass trunk--  storage and table-top in one. 

Little touches, like the single, one-of-a-kind pillow on the couch, bring richness.

Love the moody, tiny lamp on her bedroom mantel.  Clearly, having vintage fireplace surrounds in the apartment was more important to her than saving wall space for more practical storage items.   While I wouldn't necessarily make the same decision, I respect the resulting ambiance that she is able to create--

I haven't been able to do justice to Sarah's space with these stills.  If you want to see a cute jewel box of an apartment on video, just google Sarah Lyon apartment Homeworthy.

For some design lovers, it's more about the aesthetics!

What do you think about that?   Do you think that younger people tend to dwell more in a "magpie" mindset, while older, more seasoned ones prefer to streamline?  It's a generalization that I think has a lot of truth to it.  And these two apartments seem to point that up...

I enjoy both, for different reasons.

[DSD2]

Another excellent, beautifully conveyed posting Oznell!

Love, love the San Diego living room painted blue with everything in it, particularly the couch, pillows and rug. White leather chair was always a wishful (but impractical) purchase for me.

The bench is perfect.

I'm thinking the dining room space is not quite as tiny as it seems, but I think I would want something where you could fit at least four dining room chairs.

I like some elements of the NYC apartment including the fireplace and couch.  I really like the marble table but having to put it so close to the stove would be a no for me.

The zebra sofa and animal print ottoman are not my taste and don't seem to fit here, nor do the dark drapes.

The San Diego living room is my favorite by far.

[Effie54]

Wow! All I can say is I love both apartments! Beautifully decorated. 

[PA Mom-mom]

@Oznell  Love the colors of the San Diego, but not really a fan of the white leather chair. I guess I just don't like leather upholstery unless it's sparingly used in a library or study.

[OKPrincess]

I prefer the San Diego apartment. Love the colors. The etching framing the mirror is really nice.

I could live there 😊

[AuntG]

Both are lovely, although the first one is more my style. I have a relative with two studio apartments in two different big cities. Works full-time but in a profession in which going in to the office is rarely required. I've concluded that many younger professionals are more interested in the world outside their apartments so a convertible sofa and some raised seating at the counter that separates the kitchen from the living area is all that is needed.

[Oznell]

Uh- oh, I never thought of marble being too close to a stove as a hazard, @DSD2 --  I might not be as practical as I'd like to think!

The etching makes that mirror for me too, @OKPrincess -- just darling.  My one reservation about the San Diego apt. is that it could lean not all that "personal" or individualistic.  But touches like that mirror, the rug, pillows and old prints warm it up for me... 

@AuntG ,  you may be right about young professionals in general.  I wonder if at a certain point, a "nesting instinct" will kick in, even with these later generations, and then they get more interested in their home surroundings....   I have a nightmare that, at the very end, I'll be confined in a bleakly impersonal and un-private institutional setting....   But in my head I'll still be dreaming of intricately designed castles in the sky, ha... 

[On It]

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@PA Mom-mom wrote:

@Oznell  Love the colors of the San Diego, but not really a fan of the white leather chair. I guess I just don't like leather upholstery unless it's sparingly used in a library or study.

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I am chuckling because every chair in both my houses is leather. I have terrible allergies and am highly allergic to dust mites. Leather is easy to keep dust free.

[kindred cats]

Can't say anything is really speaking to me in these photos.  Unusual to have that response. 

[DREAMON]

I am in love with the blues used in the first apartment. It is so soothing and peaceful.

My only dislike is a rug over a rug. I would remove one and be happy. I prefer the Jute Rug....but don't really dislike the the top rug. I just don't like them layered.