New Girl features a group of three guys and the young woman who infiltrates their group when she moves into their loft in Downtown Los Angeles after seeing their ad on Craigslist looking for a new roommate. Throughout the entirety of the series, most of their scenes take place in their loft – also known as Apartment 4D.
All of the little details and intricacies that went into designing the set of the loft are things that could easily be missed. Even random trivia from the show about the loft might be long forgotten by even the most devoted of fans. So for those who want a refresher or new intel on the making of the set design for this show, be sure to read this list of The 10 Things About The Loft You Never Noticed on New Girl.
Their Rent Would Barely Be Affordable For Them
When looking at a loft such as this, you have to realize that it must cost a pretty penny to live there. With its floor-to-ceiling windows adorning three different rooms, the humungous kitchen and dining room, and the fact they have four separate bedrooms, this clearly is not an easily affordable place to live, especially in Los Angeles.
Back in 2014, an article was published detailing just how much rent would cost on an apartment such as this and the answer is a hefty one. Apparently, it would cost at least $2,159-$3,191 a month to live there. While this may be split four different ways, it would still be cutting it close for this group of friends to make it.
The Exterior Was Shot In The Arts District Of Los Angeles
While the inside of the loft was clearly filmed in a Hollywood studio on a set, the exterior shots of their apartment building were shot in a very specific location in Downtown Los Angeles.
This building is known as the Binford Lofts and is in the Arts District to the east of Downtown LA. When looking at the available apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows, they actually only offer one-bedroom apartments with that luxury.
So technically, only Schmidt’s apartment he briefly lived in in the building would actually be a reality, but it is still a beautiful building with luxurious apartments and lofts.
A Lot Of Their Utilities Barely Function
This was briefly touched on in the first season when Jess began dating an older, rich man named Russell. They also referred to him as a “Fancyman”. During this episode, we see the roommates try to “fix” different appliances and utilities in the loft in odd and extreme ways.
This also calls back to the fact they don’t like to have their landlord, Remy, help them with these issues because he’s very mean, and as Jess eventually learns, also incredibly creepy.
How the roommates made it through living there all of those years with barely functioning utilities is truly baffling.
Jess Had An Annoyance Bowl
One of the most iconic props in New Girl’s history was Schmidt’s “douchebag jar”. He would have to put money in this jar every time he said or did something that was offensive or particularly “douchebag-y”. Needless to say, this jar came in handy for them a number of times.
But in season 2, we see the addition of an “annoyance bowl” for Jess. She has to put money in every time she annoys her fellow roommates, which apparently, is often. She sees no issue with it, though, and does it with glee.
We don’t see this annoyance bowl of her’s again, but its brief mention is enough to have us wondering just how often she had to use it.
We Don’t Know Where The Money Went From Schmidt’s Douchebag Jar
Only once was the money from Schmidt’s infamous douchebag jar put to good use, at least that we know of. In the season 2 episode titled “Bathtub”, Jess and Winston accidentally ruin all of Schmidt’s suits. To fix the issue, they decide to use all of the money from Schmidt’s douchebag jar to repair the damage.
But after that point in time, the jar is still used time and time again by Schmidt, so the question is, where exactly was all of that money he was donating going to? Why didn’t the gang figure out some positive uses for it for their apartment’s problematic utilities or a variety of other issues? We will never know.
Schmidt Briefly Moved Out
In the third season of New Girl, after an intense breakup with both Cece and Elizabeth, Schmidt decides to reflect on his poor decisions and “douchey” ways by removing himself from the loft…and moving into an apartment in the same building.
This was a short-lived storyline, so it’s not always remembered by everyone, but a lot of interesting things happened once Schmidt moved out. It caused chaos between Jess and her wild sister, especially when said sister started dating Schmidt. It also meant Coach could move back into the loft now that he had broken up with his long-time girlfriend.
But peace was fully restored once Schmidt joined his roommates and best friends back in Apartment 4D.
The Set Design Reflects All Of Their Backgrounds
The fictional factory turned loft that was the New Girl apartment had a lot of different inspiration behind it. The main vibe was the early-20th-architecture of their loft mixed with modern and eclectic styles.
This was meant to reflect all of the characters’ different backgrounds and income levels. The results were very satisfying and perfectly helped us to better understand each of these incredible characters.
From the indoor basketball hoop to the duct-taped board games, this easily shows what it’s like to live on your own with roommates who aren’t the best at adulting quite yet but are trying their damndest.
Nick’s Room Was As Chaotic As He Was
Much like the overall set design and layout of the loft, the bedrooms were also specifically designed to better emulate the characters’ backgrounds and interests. There was no better example of this than Nick’s room.
Anyone who knows Nick’s character knows he’s irresponsible, lazy, and his life is always all over the place. Yet we can’t help but love him regardless. His disheveled life and chaotic nature are easily reflected in his room, where there are clothes and different personal items strewn about everywhere.
If you’ll remember, Jess even found an old pretzel he had half-eaten in his bed. That should give you a good idea of just how ridiculously out-of-hand his room was.
The Kitchen Chairs Were Mismatched On Purpose
If you think back to the time in your life when you were just starting out and living with a bunch of roommates, you’ll probably remember how things rarely matched or even went with a theme in your apartment. It was mostly just whatever you could afford or even things you happened to find along the way.
This is exactly what the set and prop department on New Girl was going for…even with the kitchen chairs. If you’ll notice, they’re all mismatched, and there’s even a rolling office chair at the head of the table. This is definitely something Nick or any of the guys would bring in to go along with their other kitchen chairs.
Zooey Deschanel Wanted Jess’ Room To Have Certain Props
Turns out that star of the show, Zooey Deschanel, also had some input on what to put in her character – Jess’ – room to better emulate her characters’ interests and career.
While the set designer had some input from the creator of New Girl, Liz Meriwether, on things like adding sea pods to her room since she is a science teacher, Deschanel also had a few ideas of her own.
One of them being that she wanted Jess to have shadow boxes in her room. This gave her style further uniqueness and looked amazing. She also wanted neutral sheets to go with Jess’s brightly colored floral bedding. Her notes were taken into consideration and put on the set not long after.
