19 Millennial-coded items from my 2016 NYC apartment
Do you want the house tour?
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This letter was gonna go out last week, but I was in my new allergist’s office figuring out what the hell is going on with my immune system. (TBD.) Pitbull’s “Hotel Room Service” was blaring at full volume when I walked in, which made for a positive and energetic atmosphere, followed by Panic! At The Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” and Kesha’s “TikTok”. Meanwhile, on the internet, people started doing a sort-of 10-year challenge, sharing pics from 2016. I NEVER thought I’d be nostalgic about the 2010s – and I’m largely not – but here we are.
For every positive sentiment about 2016, there seemed to be an inextricable caveat or a negative one intertwined. It gives the same vibe as a teenager doing a Christmas haul on TikTok and reminding their audience, “First of all, I wanna say how grateful I am for the privilege of getting these things and thank you to my parents…” It’s a moot point, because saying whether a year was “good” or “bad” is subjective (although after the election, things got worse for a lot of people on a macro and micro level). But what’s interesting about the internet is that commonplace communication is a cognitive distortion. Information is interpreted in terms of all-or-nothing or black-and-white thinking, platitudes, generalizations, rage bait, and context collapse. People walk on eggshells because they anticipate not only that what they say will be taken out of context, but that what they say represents an extremely specific, limited POV that neatly fits in a hashtag-able, SEO-able searchable, algo-approved binary. If they recall positive memories of 2016, someone else will remind them of the negative, and vice versa. Why are we like this? So instead of arguing why 2016 was good or bad and why we should or shouldn’t romanticize it, I would like to focus on how the macro and micro sociopolitical happenings of the time (i.e. broadly and individually) impacted my interior design choices.
Do you want the house tour?
A little backstory: I moved to New York City in December 2014. I loved my 181 square foot, strip club-adjacent Times Square studio apartment. I lived across the hall from a talented opera singer and pretended the nightly 10pm applause for the Kinky Boots performers was for me. I had a cool and fun entry-level job in the fashion industry, where I met great people and traveled a lot. There was only one problem – I ran out of money. I was paying $1800/m in rent on a $45k/year salary, and the math was not mathing. So in December 2015, I moved to a 1 bedroom flex with my dear friend from college, the only person for which I’d concede on my “I must live alone” rule. I called up my boys from Wall2Wall and they set me up with a temporary wall that divided our living room in two. And voilà! I was ready to start 2016 on the right foot.
The walls were stark white and my room on the Southeastern corner of the 10th floor got tons of natural light. I had a wonderful view, including the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. (Incredible for selfies, terrible for noise pollution and drunk Rangers fans howling nightly at 11pm.) Pinterest still dominated this era, with my distinct design sensibilities complementing the Millennial-coded macro trends of the time. Let’s get into it…
1. The Clarendon Instagram filter
Ahhhhhh, the filter of optimism. This was the filter I’d use to make everything look better and brighter – not because it necessarily looked bad, but because simply taking a picture in natural hues didn’t do my vibrant life justice.
Clarendon might have been initially used to signal in the Instagram Influencer 1.0 Era that set unrealistic expectations for even the most ordinary people, but to me, it also represents being in your mid-20s and living your dream life in the big city. It’s a mix of naivety, hope, and joy from not being jaded (yet) and realizing, Yeah, my life is kinda like Sex and the City, actually.
2. The deer antlers
Everything was white and gold!! And these antlers were hanging onto the wall for their dear life by a single velcro Command strip. Despite the feminine touch of glitter, its rustic hipster aesthetic is so “Stomp Clap Hey” I can’t stand it. Deer antlers were like my equivalent of a mustache motif or owl necklace. Now, it’s giving Hobby Lobby.
3. The Queen poster
You can tell so much about a person based on their music-themed decor. This is my dad’s poster that he’s had probably since before I was born. I feel badly for cutting it to fit that frame, which I think has been since relegated to my parents’ basement. Super iconique though. This was the only apartment I had from age 22-34 that didn’t have decorative vinyl records on the walls. This was the point where things from my childhood were still considered obsolete and not readily available for purchase (e.g. Britney and Spice Girls vinyls).
4. The world map
I had this poster in my apartments from 2013-2016, which was peak #Wanderlust era. Millennials, getting the shit end of the stick per usual – graduating college during an economic recession, housing market collapse, ZIRP era, unprecedentedly gargantuan student loan debt, etc. – were really sold on the idea of “experiences versus things”. This map didn’t represent places I’d been or could afford to go, but rather the idea of them.
5. The DIY glitter shadowbox
I’d DIY’d a couple different pieces of wall art to celebrate moving to New York City. I don’t think I have this anymore, but to me, it represents how resourceful, driven, scrappy, and self-starting you need to be in order to get by. In your mid 20s, there’s a ‘fake it til you make it’ ethos that comes into play as you climb up the proverbial ladder. As Frank Sinatra (and me in my preschool graduation) once sang, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere!”
6. The motivational quote poster
I originally had a portrait of me done by an artist at the Hermès Manhasset store opening party hanging here (as you can see below), but I replaced it with this one from a now defunct Brooklyn printing company. REMEMBER WHAT YOU ARE. A MOTHER F#*%ING SUPERSTAR. Motivational!
I remember my Grammy seeing this in my apartment and she read it aloud, uncensored, in a matter-of-factly voice. I wanted to do great things, and this poster reminded me I needed to have thick skin in order to get there. I also miss the days before “Fuck” was written on everything. Like you should not be able to get a Rae Dunn mug from Home Goods with that word on it.
7. The Y7 yoga poster
When I tell you I loved Y7, I am not exaggerating. I put my hair in a messy bun, put on some gangsta rap, and handled it. (Or whatever that Pinterest meme said.) This poster was one of their very early pieces of merch, referencing Kendrick Lamar’s song “Swimming Pools (Drank)”. Clever, though the studio would have a fall from grace – at least temporarily, in 2020 – because of their pretty egregious appropriation of Black culture. But from 2015-2016, I was still really into nailing inversions and challenging asanas, feeling relaxed by blaring hip hop music. (In 2017, I got certified in restorative yoga, and now all I wanna do is lay down under a blanket and lay in Supta Baddha Konasana for 45 uninterrupted minutes.)
8. The quatrefoil mirror
Why were these mirrors so popular? The world may never know. Put one of these babies next to a bed with a teal damask curtain or a black and white Paris-themed room and you were the epitome of class, elegance, and sophistication. For some reason, I needed to have every square inch of my walls filled, including this secondary, largely useless mirror. (My full-length mirror and giant Ikea closet is not pictured.)
9. The shitty Ikea lamp
I hated this lamp so much and yet there are still times when I find its simplicity charming. This is probably because I remember that lamps are expensive. Millennials really rode the wave of Planned Obsolescence, where we kept buying more, yet shittier quality, stuff. I should’ve just gotten one $500 lamp and called it a day.
10. The fake flowers and real plants
This was around the time when Millennials started becoming “plant moms” and whatnot. I somewhat understood the trend – we were the first generation to normalize childfree living in favor of plants, pets, vacations, etc. – but I was still too young to be in this life stage myself. I was also too irresponsible and forgetful to not kill my plants. I had a few cacti, as pictured here, because they did not require watering. (Solutions!) The fake flowers were my attempt at looking romantic and darling, but now I prefer real flowers and fake plants.
11. The champagne bottle vase
One thing about me is I’ve always loved prosecco. My friend had given me the print behind the vase. “I only drink champagne on two occasions: When I’m in love, and when I’m not. - Coco Chanel” Lmao soooo me.
The cheap Freixenet bottles were very cute – black and gold was IT in my book – and made great vases for my fake flowers. Their chalky texture matched the human skull decor which I also cherished. (I got it at TJ Maxx in the post-Halloween clearance section. Where was Pluto in 2015-2016?! Something dark was happening.)
12. The gold dinosaur
Another fun DIY project. It’s giving “Rawr XD” and once I got a hold of the gold spray paint, I absolutely could not be stopped. Me spray painting with the windows closed on several occasions explains a lot…
13. The Urban Outfitters record player
I originally bought it in 2012, and my mom asked me a couple months ago if she could FINALLY get rid of it. It was such bad quality, sounded horribly, and probably warped any record I attempted to play on it. However, I thought this tomato red record player was the epitome of style. When my friends saw this, they would know that I was super into music!! (As if me playing music 24/7 was not already a strong enough signal.)
I would not recommend this cheap retro electronic to anyone, but I am fascinated by its nowstalgic purpose. These record players were targeted toward young people – those who had not yet crossed The Chasm™ and realized the full completion of a 20-year trend cycle – who’d never had a record player of their own. Now, post Chasm, I think it’s super charming that kids want iPods. History keeps on repeating…
14. The Buddha piggy bank
I got this from a very cute gift shop in Hell’s Kitchen because it was so cute I refused to leave the store without it. Being a very earnest person, it was probably the first time I truly started to understand irony. 2016 was the last time I was apolitical, and for obvious reasons, that all started to shift post-election. The irony of a Buddha piggy bank is not lost on me now.
15. The minimal amount of books
I’ve read an average of 25 books per year since 2019, but before then? I’m not gonna pretend like I was well-read. I’ve always been into pop culture, fashion, music, art, and biographies of public figures in those spaces – this has not changed. But the sheer lack of volume is hilarious to me now. Simon Sinek’s Start With Why was an extreme hyper-fixation of mine, and I’ve read everything by David Sedaris. But now, I’m glad I actually read books – and engage with them critically and/or enthusiastically – instead of primarily using them as shelf decor.
16. The terrarium
In the same vein as #12, the real plants, I have no idea why I needed a terrarium. Why would I want dirt about 2 inches away from my bed? Reckless. But geometry was in! Honeycomb patterns and geometric shapes were en vogue! (As you can see in the previous picture, I had an empty gold geometric picture frame as shelf decor.) Gold was in; I definitely spray painted that gold teddy bear too. I think it was a gummy bear jar.
17. C. Wonder representation
I got my little Aries and N candles (been an astrology girlie since 2002…) at C. Wonder in Columbus Circle during their liquidation sale after they filed for bankruptcy. Forget sample sales, now THAT’s a deal! The brand was started by Tory Burch’s ex-husband when he was still the Chairman of Tory Burch, which was a problem for Tory Burch (the brand and the woman). I miss when personalization culture was more primitive in this way, when you could just get a candle with your initial on it, in contrast to our phones surveilling our conversations in order to deliver eerily topical advertisements every waking second of every day.
18. The fashion references
While now I find my obsession with fashion (as a concept, not an industry) funny and a bit cringe, then, my environment was ASPIRATIONAL!!!!! I remember getting that “don’t quit your day dream” tree log thing at Housing Works for $2 and sincerely taking that message to heart. “It’s not just the dress but the life you are living in it” (a Diana Vreeland quote) meant everything to me. I was high-key obsessed with Alexander McQueen, Diane Von Furstenberg, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, and other historical and contemporary fashion designers. I wanted to make a career in fashion, and that’s what I was doing. “She believed she could, so she did!”
19. The Pamela Barsky canvas bag
I didn’t need any more bags, so I filled it with stuffing and made it into a pillow! I still have it somewhere. It says, “new york makes me want to rip off my clothes and dance down the street screaming i love this place and have no intention of ever leaving.” Dramatic and true!! That is exactly how I felt about New York in 2016!!!
I did end up leaving for a couple of years, kicking and screaming, because it was May 2020. I had no idea my previously imagined plans would fall apart the way they did. But now that I’m back (nowhere near Penn Station this time LOL) “I have no intention of ever leaving” rings true once again. I am becoming the truest, happiest, most fulfilled, most actualized, best version of myself, and despite the ups and downs, twists and turns, trials and tribbies, New York is home. 2016 was good and bad, but so is every year.
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Thanks for the shoutout!! OMG looking at your apartment takes me straight back to the early 2010s! I have no idea where the pics of my apartment are from this time, but I definitely had plenty of plants that I accidentally killed and at LEAST 2 champagne bottle vases. (I stuck fairy lights in mine and kept them in my kitchen.) RAWR XD omg I didn't need to be reminded of that loool
This is so incredible and real as hell. Those girlboss millennial trends had their grip on me tooooo. I also worked in Times Square around that exact time and cannot imagine what it was like living there. Make a little commotion for the post work happy hour days. I would push tourists out of the way if it meant I could get a $6 gin and tonic and a shitty quesadilla.