Tips

It’s been a thrilling week here at MakeSpace. Over the weekend, Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, posted on his blog about how to use “travel-caching” to never check luggage again

If you’re tight on space and looking to give your New York City apartment a rustic feel, DIY pallet furniture may be just what you need to improve your pad. Here are a few of our favorite ideas made from easily acquired wooden shipping pallets:

If you’ve ever spent time trying to make sense of the assembly instructions for a bed or dresser from Ikea, you’ll be able to appreciate the genius of SOAPBOX‘s line of snap-together tables.

Cooking and entertaining in your minuscule kitchen, teensy living room, and a dining room that straight up doesn’t exist can be an exasperating process. In order to keep your dinner party happy and your sanity intact, there are a few precautions to take to guarantee that you’ll always be the host or hostess with the mostess.

Whether you’re adopting a dog, or just fostering the pooch until they can find a “forever” home, taking care of an energetic animal in a small apartment in New York City requires a whole lot of work in exchange for a little puppy love

Summer in the city isn’t always so pretty. There’s nothing like a sweat-drenched, sleepless night on flannel sheets to make you facepalm yourself for not buying an AC unit. Even if you don’t want to spend the cash, or send your electricity bill spiking dramatically upwards, there are some measures you can take to make sure that your cozy little home doesn’t feel too toasty.

People like to joke about freelancers working from bed in pajamas, but to truly crush it as a freelancer, you’ve got to find a spot where you feel comfortable and productive. In New York City, where space is at such a premium, it can be tough to find a comfortable workstation around your apartment. Here are a few ways to upgrade your work station:

With some of the longest commutes, the craziest real estate prices, and the most expensive lunches ($15 for a sandwich!?), New York City is one stressful place. If you’re looking to reduce stress, why not try a little indoor gardening? Working with plants has been scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, and you’ll feel great about yourself when your garden looks amazing!

You’re paying a lot of money for your apartment in New York City. If you’re lucky enough to have a decent view (or a window at all, for that matter), the last thing you want to do is block out the skyline with a noisy, ugly, fifty-pound air conditioner

Bike theft has become an obsession across the Internet. When it comes to locking up bikes, every tech and gadget website, athletic blog, and online store practically stages a nuclear war to test out the best of the best. And we’re not talking a 300-word list of “Bike Lock Dos and Don’ts.” We’re talking an extensively-researched, multiple-part, investigative article which tests the top bike locks against their ultimate enemy: the thieves themselves.

There is something unmistakably horrible, awful, and in every way excruciating about the particular sticky heat that seeps in through the cracks of your apartment and nearly suffocates you every summer in New York City.

It’s the kind of heat that makes you wonder if they’ve opened an illegal Russian bathhouse in the apartment below yours. The kind of heat that forces you to shower three times a day. It’s that 200% humidity, 99 degree heat that can only be combated by your trusty air conditioner. Veteran Brooklyners, Manhattanites and the like know that oscillating fans alone just won’t cut it.

When it comes to living in NYC, you have to get a little thrifty. The average rental price in Manhattan is over $50 a square foot! Rather than curl up in a ball on your love seat and cry, you might want to get smart about what you do with your extremely valuable space.