A maximalist 450 sq ft walk-up on the Upper East Side
Actor Jillian fills her pre-war Manhattan walk-up with gilded mirrors, oil paintings and street finds, almost all of them secondhand.
Jillian is an actor and model, and she calls herself a maximalist. Her 450 sq ft apartment on the Upper East Side holds gilded mirrors, oil paintings and vintage glassware. She says almost all of it is secondhand. She finds pieces on the street, at flea markets and at estate sales.
On her first day, she took a sledgehammer to a set of shelves that blocked a corner. She had asked the landlord about removing them during the viewing. Her other changes can come out when she leaves. In the kitchen, she laid peel-and-stick tile over the floor and contact paper over the stained beige cabinets. She added a subway-tile backsplash and swapped out light fixtures.
The bathroom had a beige paint job and a crumbling ceiling. Jillian painted it green, and she and her landlord fixed the ceiling. A Facebook Marketplace light fixture hangs there, and its twin is in the kitchen.
Some pieces carry family history. A large gilded mirror came from her grandparents' house in Washington, D.C. A dresser from her parents' basement got paint, new handles and hairpin legs until she finds a mid-century one she loves. One blank wall turns into a set where she films herself for casting calls. She hides the lights and backdrop in the tall closets.
