My First Apartment and Inspiration: Ace Hotel and Minimalism

Yesterday, I moved into my first apartment on the second floor of a Victorian house. Complete with leather wallpaper, the house was built in the teens as a single-family house and converted into a two-unit house in the late fifties. A built-in cabinet, closet and dresser furnish my 100 square foot room. I picked this room because of my recent interest in efficient spaces and simplistic minimalism. I envision the limited closet and dresser space forcing me to further thin my wardrobe and thus help reform my consumerist urges. (I strive towards minimalism however I still need to find space for my three garbage bags full of shoes).

Growing up, I shared a slightly larger room with my brother up until the age of thirteen. Everything in this room was built in, including the beds (and dressers underneath them).
Last summer I swung by the Ace Hotel in downtown Portland (Oregon). Their minimalist rooms with built-ins furnishings are awesome. During my time at Rogues Gallery, I flipped through many architecture and sailing books looking for rustic rooms for brand inspiration. My recent trip to the Wharton Esherick house over Thanksgiving reiterated affirmed much of my architectural and interior design taste. For example, I am going to put my mattress directly on the floor sans box spring or frame.

Here are some photos from the Ace Hotel in Portland Oregon and other minimalist dwelling that I hope will inspire my new room. Unfortunately, I imagine that these photos will merely expose contradictions between what I do and what I want.