An Ikea collector's Item

Imagine a prewar doorman building, your four bedroom apartment that can fit your whole family in it, and maybe  even a small home office.  My experience living in New York as a couple began somewhere on West 93rd Street. We were too busy for a long apartment search so we compromised for a tiny studio in a great location, and in a relatively new development.  $2800 for 475 square foot alcove studio in the Upper West Side.  An outrages price, that  in another country can rent a luxurious four bedroom apartment. But, what I wouldn't do in order to be in the big city, close to urban civilization and all the bohemian centers such as stores, cafes, museums restaurants and Central park.  For two years we spent our money to have that “comfort” and sense of urban life. So when I finally realized that we needed more space we moved all the way up to the Bronx.  

So my alcove studio only had a sleeping area and no bedroom. It was a little shoe box we had to squeeze into, kind of like a hotel room.   As you can imagine, there was no privacy there for a couple.  It took me a while but I figured out a divider for the bedroom "wall". My first choice was a pressure wall, but new buildings in Manhattan follow the city’s fire department laws and do not allow presser walls.  Finally, we blocked the sleeping area with an Ikea "Expedit" bookshelf. A genius invention that can be a wall partition in one side and a wardrobe in the other.  It was so genius that when my mother in law came for a visit, she was very excited about our "space" layout and the high ceilings in our Alcove studio.  

Two month after we moved in, a good friend of mine declared she is coming to couch surf in our living room for a month.  Since she was a close friend, I couldn't say no, and so the three of us spent a whole month sleeping in the same room, technically speaking.  When I think about it today it was crazy of me to allow that to happen.  But, thanks to the "Expedit" I was able to have that friend over as a guest.