About Me

Hi, I'm Melina.

After living in Los Angeles for most of my adult life, I threw caution to the wind and moved across the country to start a new adventure in NYC in 2016.

5th Floor Walk-Up started as place to share the creative inspiration I found in my new home—a cozy West Village studio in a not-so-cozy, yet magical city. It’s a new girl's guide to NYC. A blog for anyone who has ever fumbled through uncharted territory, trying to make a home somewhere new.

I’ve since moved apartments, and am now making a new home with my partner in a slightly larger (but still cozy!) 3rd floor walk-up in Brooklyn. I run my own social media advertising agency—Cornerlight Digital and teach digital marketing. While my creativity comes in waves, as you’ll see in the ebbs and flows of posts on this site, I’m always looking for new ways to express myself whether that be through stream-of-consciousness writing on Instagram, developing my green thumb with indoor gardening, scoring the internet for vintage furniture, or simply designing my home in a way that brings me joy.

-M

P.S. if you're curious what I was up to circa 2011-2015, here's an old friend of mine.