Jerry’s ‘Seinfeld’ Apartment Sucks, According to Interior Design Expert

There are a number of odd things about Jerry’s apartment on Seinfeld — from how it reaches bootleg VHS porno collection was never once commented on in early episodes of the show. 

But there’s another issue with Jerry’s bachelor pad in 129 West 81st Street: the layout is completely nonsensical.

Throughout the show, Jerry illustrated that he was concerned with his apartment’s interior design on more than one occasion. Like the time that he splurged on a brand new sofa, only to have it ruined by a puddle of urine. 

Then there was the episode in which he paid to have a contractor overhaul his entire kitchen space, even though he seemingly rented the apartment. Apparently his landlords, who dictated the type of showerhead he was allowed to use, were totally cool with Jerry tearing out and replacing all of his cabinets.

But at least one expert isn’t happy with most of Jerry’s choices. Architectural Digest recently spoke with interior designer and Feng Shui practitioner Julie Khuu, who pointed out that there are “a lot of things wrong with the design of Seinfeld’s iconic apartment.” 

For starters, she criticized Jerry’s dining table location, arguing that it ideally wouldn’t be “aligned with the front door” and instead should be situated in a “more private area” where meals wouldn’t be in constant danger of being interrupted by Kramer’s aggressive entrances. Also, while Jerry’s table was behind his couch, the dining area should really be “as close to the kitchen as possible.”

Khuu also overhauled Jerry’s seldom-used workstation, and recommended that he try an angular couch, preferably with no pee stains. She also envisioned building out the wall next to the window, where Jerry could mount his TV, and repositioning all of his bedroom furniture. And presumably he’d be safe to get rid of that hanging bicycle that never once got used in nine years of the show.

Of course, even though it might be better in the real world, with its extra walls and angled sofa, the new and improved version of Jerry’s apartment would be an absolute nightmare to shoot a three-camera sitcom in. Plus, the original version of the apartment, for all of its flaws, is beloved by fans, many of whom turned out in droves to visit Hulu’s promotional replica of the location in 2015.

If interior decorators don’t like Jerry’s design choices, we can only imagine how they feel about Kramer’s decisions to put a hot tub in the middle of his apartment and devote the bulk of his living space to the discarded Merv Griffin Show set.