Jennifer Laing

The term “penthouse” is bandied about rather freely these days to describe almost any apartment on a high floor.

Renovations are never easy, and we're always on the hunt for stories of New Yorkers who manage to spruce up their homes while keeping their bank accounts and sanity intact. Over at Brownstoner, one intrepid Brooklynite has been chronicling the overhaul of a Bed-Stuy brownstone, an undertaking that the blog describes as a "budget renovation financed with a 203K loan," a federal program that finances home improvements with energy

Combining all the affordability of a single-room apartment with the separation of space of a one-bedroom, the alcove studio is a pretty brilliant invention. Drop one of these places into an amenity-filled building, and you’ve got yourself a pretty nifty pad.

White cabinets, countertops and appliances make the kitchen appear larger

Last week, we blogged about an apartment hunter who took the unusual step of posting “Condo Wanted” signs all over the Upper West Side in an attempt to find himself a studio or one-bedroom with outdoor space for about $500,000. It was a tall order: most of the listings we unearthed lacked private outdoor space (even if there was a shared roofdeck) or were outside the neighborhood.