A Room-by-Room Guide to Making Your Apartment Look Like a Grown-Up Lives There

Anjelika Temple

As Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Brit + Co, Anjelika Temple brings her voracious consumption of all things creative and colorful to DIY projects, geeky gadgetry finds and more. When she's not DIY-ing her heart out, you'll find her throwing dinner parties with friends or adventuring with her husband David, their daughters Anokhi and Indira, and their silly dog Turkey.

Full Bio

Apr 11, 2016

A Room-by-Room Guide to Making Your Apartment Look Like a Grown-Up Lives There

How many times have you said to yourself, this is the year I’m going to finally decorate my apartment? Each year since my husband David and I moved here five years ago, we’ve vowed to reserve a few weekends to actually put art on the walls, figure out where to store our champagne flutes and unpack those last finicky boxes (yes, we really had boxes that hadn’t been unpacked since NY in 2011). But we’ve never found the time. Until now! :)

a nine-part series

Lowe’s to transform our dull and drab apartment into a beautifully styled and coordinated space that reflects both of our personalities. Even if you rent (like we do), there are tons of simple, DIY ways to give your space more style without investing too much. Check out the video below to see how the apartment came together, and read on for a room-by-room guide on transforming *your* apartment, home or studio.

Is it even possible to transform your space without just tossing everything you own? If you’re a renter, can you customize your home without saying goodbye to your security deposit? The answers to both are YES. And you can do so in a coordinated, personalized and eclectic way. My apartment is living proof of that fact!

We’ll go ahead and show you an epic before and after to really drive this point home.

AFTER // COLORFUL + COORDINATED

BEFORE // BEIGE + BORING

Scroll on to see how it all came to life.

First things first, we cleaned up the house and took a cold hard look at some of the items we haven’t used in years. We donated about a dozen giant bags of clothes and household items to Goodwill! Then we hit up Lowe’s to stock up on tons of paint, tools and coordinated decor pieces. If you haven’t gotten lost in a paint chip section, you haven’t lived! But for real, I was mesmerized by all the colors and suggested color palettes in this section of the store. I ended up gravitating towards Lowe’s HGTV HOME™ by Sherwin-Williams Paints, mostly because they offer a ton of different pre-curated color palettes that make it easy to coordinate colors room to room.

PREPARE YOURSELF (AND YOUR APARTMENT!)

My husband David and I pored over all the paint samples I collected and came up with a color scheme. We love spending time outdoors so we were naturally drawn to different shades of blues and greens. We kept this consistent throughout the house to make sure the whole space was coordinated. And also so that when we listen to that 1999 dance classic “Blue” by Eiffel 65 we can think of that week when our entire apartment was painted… blue ;)

I also created an Apartment Makeover Pinterest board to gather interior design inspiration, to save favorite products and to see how it might all come together.

coat rack

shoe racks and added a rug. Instant organization, and it makes the apartment feel cozy from the moment you walk in. You can check out all the design details and DIY tips right here.

THE ENTRYWAY

Next up, the bathrooms. Even though we live in a one-bedroom, we somehow lucked out and ended up with two full bathrooms. This is crucial because we almost always have houseguests.

THE BATHROOMS

mirror

shelf! We also added an extra towel rack, which is a great place to hang up clothes if you want to steam out any wrinkles. On the right is the master bath, aka the rainforest.

I wanted to create a nature-infused space to start the day. I wanted it to feel lush, green and alive — hence, the tropical rainforest theme. We put plants EVERYWHERE. On the window sill, on the wall and on the shelves. We also added on-the-wall jewelry storage to keep everything within arm’s reach. Check out how to make your own handy dandy wooden jewelry organizer here. It’s as simple as sanding, drilling and painting.

bedroom

bright white nightstands and, to create more space, we installed wall sconces instead of lamps.

THE BEDROOM

wooden ones

shoe rack to keep the floor space organized as well.

Now onto the living room, which is now a straight up art gallery! I’ve been collecting art for well over a decade, and have never really hung it up. So we decided to make the most of this space and create a gallery — I could stare at this wall all day; it really is the highlight of the entire transformation. To add more dimension, we added small shelves, geometric wire accents and a wall clock. As you’ve likely gathered, I’ve got it bad for power clashing, pattern mixing, whatever you want to call it. Patterns and me are tight, and my home is no exception. I made sure to coordinate colors and patterns in a way that still felt comfortable and homey, not busy and cluttered.

THE LIVING ROOM

this patterned rug

is a really good sport.

<i>needs</i>

shelves, bins and racks are for. To organize DIY supplies, we spray-painted mason jars to hold pens, pencils, paint brushes and more.

THE WORKSPACE

We also got actual office chairs! They match, they have wheels and they look dang good in this bright white work space.

The centerpiece of any apartment is the kitchen. It’s where gatherings happen, where you set up shop when you’ve got a crazy deadline and a ton of work to do — it’s the heart of your home. So naturally, we wanted to create a centerpiece-worthy wall to match. We also mixed a ton of different textures on the table to create a coordinated and unusual look. Polka dots, stripes and pottery all made it onto the table.

THE KITCHEN

This geometric statement wall was a crazy but totally doable undertaking. The key is painting a different color each day so you’ve got ample dry time to create seamless color blocks. Check out the full tutorial here.

drawer organizers

bulletin board to house a mix of recipes, photos and wedding invites.

Very serious painted walls call for very serious family portraits, don’t you think? ;)

before and after transformation

graphic black and white carpet, a huge Indian tapestry, an antique-style pendant light and hung a pair of vintage skis on the wall. Our “coffee table” is actually a bench that came with our dining table — it’s great for pulling up extra seating to the table.

THE DEN

The other side of the den is Turkey’s palace, as it were. A lime green crate, a dresser filled with treats and even some succulents and greenery to liven up the place! We also installed a shelf above the dresser to house books and other knick-knacks.