3BR, Washington Heights

Jessica Joy Dyer, 23, bartender and actor; Cassie Ricalde, 23, human-relations professional; Allison Sundstrom, 25, event planner
Rent: $1,800
Broker's fee: None
Broker: None
Moved in: May 2011

THE SEARCH: "I knew I was going to have to live in upper Manhattan," explains Dyer, after limiting her search to that borough. "I think there's this notion that once you get past the 140s, the neighborhoods turn really bad. That was my impression, being someone [from Ohio]. I looked at so many places in the lower hundreds, and we couldn't afford anything. I was desperate. After a while, [we looked farther uptown] and stumbled upon this amazing apartment by sheer, dumb luck. I found it on Craigslist; it didn't even have a picture. It was in a decent neighborhood, so I went and I just thought, This is home. My roommates hadn't even seen it, but I said, I'm going to put in an offer. You just have to trust me on this. [Laughs] It was the perfect fit."

THE SETUP: "One bedroom is significantly larger than the other two," says Dyer. "I think it was originally meant to be a dining room, but we don't need that. Our living room is our main hangout area; it has a couch from Ikea, a futon and hardwood floors. And we have our kitchen, which is a separate room."

THE DECOR: "A lot of our items are things that we've thrifted to try to save money," says Dyer. "We have an old '50s dining-room set that we got in Ohio. My bike is stored in my bedroom, and that was bought at a thrift store as well. It's a vintage bike from the '50s that I fixed up with my dad. My desk is an old cast-iron sewing table for a Singer sewing machine. Our whole apartment is kind of eclectic; it's filled with whatever we can find."

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