For five years, acclaimed chef and cookbook author Natasha Pickowicz has called a cozy 500-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn her home. Like many renters navigating the realities of transient city living, Pickowicz initially resisted fully investing in the space, hesitant to hang art or make lasting cosmetic changes to a temporary residence. Over time, however, her perspective shifted. Realizing that this was where her life was unfolding in the present, she decided to embrace the space and make it as comfortable, personal, and functional as possible.
The result is a masterclass in small-space living, blending personal history, resourcefulness, a deep-rooted appreciation for fresh ingredients, and a lush, jungle-like outdoor sanctuary.
Entryway
Upon entering the apartment, visitors are immediately greeted by a deeply personal family tradition. Hanging in the entryway is a vintage rug paired with a childhood portrait of Pickowicz painted by her mother, an artist. In the painting, Pickowicz is roughly eight years old.
Growing up, Pickowicz’s mother maintained a steadfast tradition of painting a birthday portrait of her daughter every single year. Today, her parents still reside in her childhood home in San Diego, where Pickowicz’s old bedroom remains filled with the collection—a display that she fondly describes as feeling like a "weird shrine." When she relocated to New York, she brought a few of her favorite pieces along to anchor her new space with memories of home.
Kitchen Area
Given Pickowicz’s professional background as a chef, the kitchen serves as the beating heart of the apartment, despite its compact footprint. Operating out of a small space with a modest refrigerator and a front hall closet converted into a pantry has fundamentally reshaped her approach to cooking. Rather than executing large, overwhelming grocery hauls, Pickowicz relies on a leaner method: shopping every couple of days and engaging directly with neighborhood purveyors.
This philosophy extends directly to her meal planning. Professional restaurant kitchens taught her to build meals around core ingredients rather than frantically searching for a completely different dinner recipe every single night. If she craves chicken, for instance, she will purchase a whole bird and poach it, securing a rich, flavorful batch of homemade stock in the process. That stock then becomes a nourishing morning staple, served simply with rice and steamed greens.
Her culinary domain also requires a degree of ingenuity when it comes to cohabitation. Her cat, Tini, mastered the art of opening a kitchen cabinet door to help herself to stored food and treats. Pickowicz’s clever, pragmatic fix? She simply slanted the door. While the cabinet door is admittedly crooked, it successfully outsmarts the determined feline.
When it comes to produce, Pickowicz holds a definitive culinary preference, naming nectarines her absolute favorite summer fruit. Citing their softer skins and superior acidity compared to peaches, she champions their versatility, noting that they shine equally bright when tossed into salads with dark, bitter greens like spinach and escarole, or rendered down into rich jams.
Living Area
The living area balances comfort with clever budgeting and a profound sense of history. While shopping for a sofa at Pottery Barn, Pickowicz found a piece she instantly fell in love with and prepared to order. However, following a suggestion from her boyfriend, they asked the sales staff if they could purchase the exact floor model instead. The store agreed, selling them the sofa at a substantial discount.
The layout of the living room also reflects a deliberate choice to disconnect from modern digital distractions. When Pickowicz first moved to New York, her previous apartment was simply too small for a television, and she wanted to avoid having screens dictate the aesthetic of her home. After a couple of months, she realized she did not miss having one at all. While she will occasionally stream a movie or show on her laptop if a specific desire arises, her preferred evening wind-down routine involves reading, drawing, or puttering around her plants.
This peaceful domestic rhythm is deeply rooted in her childhood. Growing up, her parents maintained a steadfast ritual of eating dinner together every single evening, followed by a walk around the block. That formative habit instilled in her a lifelong love for walking. Today, strolling through her Brooklyn neighborhood after a nourishing meal serves as a grounding nightly ritual of feeling at home.
The dining space similarly reflects a curated, resourceful aesthetic, featuring a West Elm table paired with thrifted chairs and artwork by Mike Paré.
Bedroom
Upstairs, the bedroom functions as a serene retreat that Pickowicz affectionately compares to a treehouse. With stairs leading directly down into the backyard, waking up in the morning feels akin to stepping into a secret garden.
Lighting in the space was initially a point of contention until a visit from her mother, who declared the existing lighting situation "inadequate." To solve the problem without violating rental restrictions, her mother gifted her battery-operated wall sconces that adhere securely to the surface using double-sided tape—an ideal solution for renters.
The bedroom also highlights the family’s shared love for hands-on creativity. Pickowicz, her boyfriend, and his son crafted miniature dioramas inspired by camping trips they took together over the course of the year. Reflecting on her mother, who transformed their childhood garage into an art studio, Pickowicz notes how deeply fulfilling it is to inhabit a home that continually inspires creative expression for herself and her loved ones.
Garden
The crown jewel of the living arrangement is undoubtedly the outdoor garden. Following an exhilarating but exhausting two-month book tour across the United States and Canada for her cookbook, Everyone Hot Pot, Pickowicz experienced a sharp post-travel comedown upon returning to New York. To recalibrate, she poured her energy into rehabilitating the backyard space.
She planted a thriving array of fruits and vegetables, including purple okra, kale, husk cherries, cucumbers, bitter melon, and an abundance of tomatoes. The design leans intentionally into a chaotic, lush aesthetic, favoring vining plants that grow big and bushy, go to seed, and transform the yard into a wild jungle.
Among the plantings are passionflower vines, chosen specifically because they remind her of home. Passion fruit grows widely across San Diego, and the large, unusual flowers of the vines offer an instant connection to her Southern California roots.
The garden also doubles as a playful space for entertaining. Drawing inspiration from competitive culinary television programs like Top Chef, Pickowicz frequently sets up blind taste tests for guests. Friends are blindfolded and given samples of various herbs plucked straight from the garden—such as Thai basil, lavender, and lemongrass—to identify by taste alone. Watching confident guests miss the mark provides endless amusement for the group.
Reflecting on the restorative outdoor project, Pickowicz expresses deep satisfaction with what she and her partner built in the backyard, leaving her eager to see how the space will evolve through future seasons.