all furniture selections are from First Dibs! giving you a general idea of what could be done, perspective might be slightly off because of this as well xx
Yes. This was fantastic. You worked with what was there and didn’t go crazy. Sometimes people are like, “add moulding, paint, put down a fake floor, wrap the kitchen, change all the knobs …..” and it’s like ….. dude. That’s intense. You showed the power of accessories, furniture, and fabric to change the feel of a space.
"and it's like .... dude. That's intense." I feel the same way watching some of these rental makeovers. Do they even realize how damned expensive removable wallpaper and tiles are? I don't think so.
I just started renting a very small apartment in cologne, Germany and desperately need help! I’ll send you a horizontal video ☺️ The space is still completely empty
Paige!! I would really love if you made a video on a curated selection of home basics like laundry hampers, trash cans, small appliances, etc. Stuff we all have that’s usually pretty unattractive unless you search really hard.
Since there's no entry closet, I would turn that little nook off the dining area into one. Add a hanging rod, high enough above the existing shelf to leave room for a drop zone for purses, keys, etc.; then add cube storage below the shelf with bins for shoes, hats, gloves, umbrellas, reusable grocery bags, and the like. It could be concealed by a curtain or even a roman shade. In the kitchen, instead of adding a counter stool on the end of the peninsula, I would add a garbage and recycling bin. That way you don't have to waste cabinet space for them. Why do kitchen designers never account for the trash?
Yes! I particularly thought that nook could have used a nice brass framed mirror and some “landing pad” items like a dish for keys and shoe/hat/glove storage.
I've lived in apartments like this most of my adult life so far and there is so little content like this for ways to decorate that aren't ultra modern, diy, or like a dorm room. I think a lot of people live in a place like this where they can't make big changes or don't want to paint or are trying to incorporate vintage into a modern aesthetic and videos like this are awesome. Great content!
I think this is the most helpful video you’ve ever done. We need more of this! I would love you to do a video like this where you furnish a place with affordable furniture (preferably not thrifted so we can buy it). Like if you were on a really low budget and had to furnish a place and couldn’t thrift anything what would you do?
I’d want to utilize the space in the nook of the entryway for something useful. Coffee station, bar, keep books, drop zone for keys and mail, create storage underneath for shoes, just anything to not let the space go wasted
I haven’t even watched yet but I just moved to a new house that has awful ugly grey floors and there aren’t enough area rugs in existence to erase the drab. So excited to watch
In-laws just bought a condo in FL and my husband and I have our own room there for when we visit that I get to decorate. Well, first thing my mother in law did was put down this exact gray flooring throughout (and painted the walls gray blue, fortunately she agreed to keep our's white) soooo first thing I did was go out and buy the biggest warm toned rug I could find ha. Our bedroom set is also mcm teak looking tone so that helps
So is Paige saying to add a lot of brown tones? I can appreciate the desire to warm up the cool palate, however the browns just seem rather muddy to me. The navy is too cool in temperature I know, but it (plus perhaps some true blue) seems to make a nicer combination with the floors and walls. I'd warm up the blue/grey with a lot of natural wood, warm tone lamp shades and texture.
I would love to see another in this series for sort of bad home styles we sometimes have to work with. For example, my 1990s midwestern house with lots of oak wood and traditional touches.
Yes make this a series! The rendering really helps translate to real life. My parents bought a mobile home and renovated it like these gray apartments 2 years ago 🙃 wish I had this video to influence them back then
Yeah, I hate watching TV with someone’s air fryer blowing in the background while they chop onions. Bring back walls made of brick that you can actually hang things on.
My all mushroom beige sterile apartment has harsh restrictions and two or three inspections a year (with 24 hr notice) to check compliance. I can’t paint, change lighting, hang curtains, put up privacy film, change hardware/any fixtures. I can put up shelves and art though! And I still was inspired by how you made this similar place feel like a home ❤
Are they going for a uniform look among all the windows in the building? You mentioned no curtains or privacy film. Do they provide you with blinds or shades?
It’s almost like you read my mind. This video is so spot on. I went to school for interior design and my apartment is unfortunately one of these horrible sterile apartments and I’ve been struggling SO much trying to decorate and this coming from someone in design. It just sucks the creativity out of you!
My best friend has a condo almost exactly like this. There are a couple of additions I would make to your suggestions. In the living room, there really need to be end tables with lamps. I think too often, people end up with the can lights or flat ceiling fixture and those are never flattering. In the bedroom, it would probably be easy to get a vintage desk that wouldn't fit exactly, but would allow the space to run the various cords for a lamp, chargers etc. No one wants these desks anymore since they don't handle modern office things (if you even have a printer) and it's always a shame to cut a hole in the back of something to run wires. I'd do a combination of a sheer roman blind and heavier curtains, but I'm thinking for a different reason: the bathroom seems very dark (and even more so if someone were to use the dark paint you suggested), so I would consider making that desk into a makeup table at least part of the time. It would make use of the drawers and with the sheer blinds, you'd have natural light to do your makeup. The dark green paint in the bathroom would really distort the color of the light, so it would be less than ideal for makeup anyway.
Yeah, I'm thinking a green cast is not really a color you want reflected around your face when you are doing make up if you only have one bathroom or one area where you get ready.
a tip for your renders - trace the straight edges of the room and other hard edges in the base photo and extend those lines until several intersect like a star burst. this point is the vanishing point, and you can use it to align your edited objects to make them look in perspective and parallel with the room's angles. you may need to distort your added images to align them if they were photographed at a wildly different angle than the BG, but it makes a big difference for things like rugs like at 7:01
*Adding Tuscan to the Gray Prison Box* . Yes, I did enjoy this video, now the long comment. A male family member recently moved into a "gray box" townhouse flip. Built in 1979, vaulted ceiling, cat walk with two bedrooms and bath upstairs. Vaulted wall in pine tongue and paneling in the living room. I think the landlord literally just had every room sprayed with white primer and left it. The flooring is cheap gray laminate, every fixture is brushed nickel. Family member purchased a vintage 1990's huge red leather sectional which I re-configured into a U-shape facing the man TV over a console. I leaned into the red with chocolate brown, olive and black, a few Tuscan style decor elements, art and backlit ficus trees on the paneled wall behind the sofa. I'm on the hunt for an eight foot round rug for the kitchen to hide the hideous tile. Bringing in color made a *HUGE* difference! I thrifted window treatments as well (yet to be installed). It may not be the style "du jour" but dang, it no longer feels like a prison cell. Thanks for your great design inspo Paige.... 😘
This was great timing. Just bought a badly renovated 70s townhouse and don’t have the budget to restore just yet. You have given me some great ideas for covering grey carpet and grey walls.
I love this as a series! Showing how to decorate different types of rentals. Allllssoooo love the idea of taking in submissions for peoples homes or rentals!
Since the office is in the bedroom, I imagine a bar area in the nook! Otherwise can be a gallery area or crafts table (with track lighting under the shelves). Something you don’t use everyday, and I would move one of the kitchen chairs over when needed to reduce floor clutter!
I liked the art, furniture and rugs filling up the room, with your design ideas. I would have loved to see one more large art piece above the headboard, in the bedroom. Definitely fun!
i am constantly thankful that my flat has massive original wibbly wobby beams all throughout. they're left over from when it used to be a barn, and the landlord has them painted black. it might not be a look for everyone, but it saves me from being in a dreaded grey box
Love all the suggestions, I would make the nook in the living room a closet for storage of vacuum and extra shoes and coats. But that depends on if you rent or not of course
Also if you dont want to/cant paint in your apartment there is peel and stick wallpaper which can easily make a space look great and add in your own personal style
Thank you! 🙏 this is so helpful. I’m on my third rental that suffers from this white walled stainless steel minimalist gray hell and I’m at my wits end trying to make the place look unique and interesting
I would do an ottoman/stool in the entry way. 5 chairs looks chaotic and no one will actually sit there. Also could add vintage baskets down there as a place to toss shoes and things you want hidden.
I loved this! I live in a small house built 74’ in the Swedish country-side . It still has some charming details (wooden trims and windows) but some thing are kind of bland. For example the bathroom. Me and my bf will do a bigger renovation at some point but we need to save up first. That’s why I really like this kind of video because I feel like there’s a lot we can do without making bigger changes. Like painting the bathroom and things like that 🌻
This video is so good! We're facing this exact issue in the flat we're renting. Our landlord apparently likes grey. Grey tiles in the hallway, guest bath and full bath. Grey carpet in living room, office and bedroom. Light grey speckled linoleum floor in the kitchen. I basically hate all the floors but changing them would be our costs and it's just not feasible. We've been able to make this grey flat feel cozy over the past two years by working with big area rugs, walls painted in warm and more moody colours, mix of oak and walnut woods as well as lots of texture in textiles used around our home.
When I moved into my boring grey apartment, i literally just painted at least on wall in every room. Best idea i ever had. This brings so much warmth into the rooms and it feels more homey. I also got more wooden kind of furniture. I know in the states a lot of landlords don't allow painting the walls, but in Germany we just paint everything white again if we decide to move out. I really liked the suggestions you gave❤
That was fun! The only thing I would do a little differently is a low bench instead of a chair in that funky built in desk entry area. That way you could tuck it away easily. I love to pretend design, do more, do more!
Just came back from a trip to Mexico, where people definitely aren’t afraid of color. I saw bright pink houses, yellow and mint, purple and orange! I noticed gray there is reserved for funeral homes and prisons.
YES. House shopping, and the "newly updated!" gray everything is awful. As a renter, I'm always looking for inspo bc I can't do a whole remodel of the place and also don't want to dump a bunch of money into a place I don't own. The outdated builder-grade bathroom with no natural lighting is the hardest to decorate imo. 🥴
They are súper popular rn in mexico, I just moved to a house like this for college. The first thing i did was hang a blue painting my mom gifted me because the all white was driving me crazy
I would love to see more videos like this! I feel like this kind of contend is really missing on most interior design pages/magazines. They mostly feature this giant luxurious houses or apartments with crazy architecture and while fun to look at it is just not applicable to the reality of how I live (or probably ever will live). I love that this are hand on tips you can actually implicated.
I appreciate you so much for making this video. I'm moving into a characterless grey apartment soon (plus side, HUGE windows across the whole front of the unit). My design 'style' (if you can even call it that) has always been pretty neutral but I want to get away from that when I decorate this apartment. I also tend to shy away from going big for fear of making the space feel smaller, but you did a great job of demonstrating how that's not necessarily true.. Also, I love that you gave tips on how to accomplish things for city apartment dwellers who may have limited resources. This is my first time living in a city, I had to downsize a lot including getting rid of all my tools so knowing that I can hire work out or have things cut to size at Home Depot is so helpful.
The entry shelf space should be a mirror backed bar area - with a small warm lamp, no chair, and then add a track curtain for the bottom area for storage
It’s so wonderful that I don’t have the same style and aesthetic taste as you but I get so many great ideas. Also I ❤ the green paint in your home! Thank you for helping us stay to out of a gray hole in our decorating!
Paige, as always I luv everything you have done here. One exception, no work space in a bedroom. EVER. It interrupts sleep. Can't wait for your next vid. 😘
I did love this video! I like it more than the zillow shopping.. I agree that I think cutting those videos down and then decorating your first choice would be more interesting. (or decorate a room in each of the top 5 to help decide)
I enjoyed this very much. I like grey and yellow together, so I think your mustard and gold tones are a smart way to warm up the spaces. The bathroom paint color is also fantastic.
I would love to see you trying to tackle a black cabinet kitchen with white/white black marble countertops and silver appliances. I find these type of very sleek cabinets difficult to style and soften up. Just an idea :)
Love this video!! I live in a gray box(thankfully white walls though) and although I would love something with history and character I cannot afford to live in the part of my city where those exist. So gray box is really a huge step up from 80s brown box with tiny windows.
This is helpful. I want to buy a place but lots of homes have the grey floors. It would cost a lot remove and replace. You’ve made a lot of suggestions that draw the eye away from the cooler tones. 👏🏼👏🏼
5 minutes in, and I subscribed. Great video. You give practical and realistic advice, especially for renters, and I love that you’re showing us the creation process instead of just a before and after.
Fun video. Always enjoyable. The desk nook would make a nice bar area or place for music components. Might be able to slide some pantry storage under the "desk." White walls bother me so much, I might wash the walls with colored light, at least temperature adjustable LEDs. Thanks for the Etsy rug tip. I love good quality rag rugs that I can wash. Great ideas in bedroom. I would add open storage shelves above the desk and extend the ceiling-drapery-track all across the room so I could instantly hide a busy desk and straighten the closet wall into a flat drapery wall. Fabric choice so important. In bathroom, I would have painted the white wall space next to the mirror. Then I would look for, or make art large enough to cover the left edge of the mirror.
Conquering ugly ass grey floors one rendering at a time. Seriously loved this!! My best friend now watches your videos and is now moving homes because the once beautiful grey floors are now her LITERAL nightmare.
Yesss! 😩😩 perfect timing, Paige! I happen to be apartment hunting and all the apartments (save for a blessed few) look lile this and it Kills Me. Gray is such a difficult color to match with other colors, especially if you prefer warmer tones (which I do), so I've been stressing about how I'm going to decorate without breaking the bank.
Paige, this was an excellent video! Truly helpful: really illustrates how much role texture plays in creating aesthetic. Texture through fabric, through furniture and shelving. Amazing, thank you!
I moved into a similar grey apartment, except the floors are cool brown and the walls were a VERY cold medium deep grey. I don’t think grey walls are necessarily horrible, but with low natural light and kinda horrible LED recessed lighting, it felt SO depressing. I really felt very uncomfortable until I painted and adjusted the color temp of the LEDs (light quality still is t great, but much better). The difference is night and day! I think you did an excellent job improving this space with without a lot of invasive/high effort DIY projects! It looks much more inviting.
For feng shui I think you’re supposed to have a commanding view in any room. This mean being able to see the doors so that you’ll never have that feeling that someone might sneak up on you. And you’re not supposed to have your feet facing out the door because while you sleep your soul might just float out the door 😹🤷♀️
What a wonderful series!! Love how you styled it so much - was fun to see how you set everything up and what pieces you chose to put inside each space. Definitely would love to see more of these
lol in April I moved to an apartment that is exactly like this and I did (am still doing) a lot of the same things she suggested: light woods, white shelves for books, TV and knickknacks, big colorful art on the walls, pendant lights, track curtains, HUGE rug to cover this cold-ass floor... Guess my place is Paige-approved!
Lol at anyone complaining about this flooring. I bought a house with full (old and mismatched) carpeting, except in a few rooms, including the loft which has parquet flooring like a basketball court, and the kitchen that had faux stone tile in colors that perfectly matched (and therefor camouflaged) my cats vomit. The downstairs bathroom had carpet and under that was linoleum that reminded me of my high schools floor in the classrooms. I didn’t have the money for all new flooring so, we have been living with most of it and slowly replacing what we can.
Loved the video! My last apartment was a big white box like this (thankfully my landlord chose warmer oak looking flooring). Rugs, teak furniture, and Ikea Ritva curtains that I hemmed with nonsew hemming tape did wonders. I also had a nice black leather corbusier style loveseat and the chrome detail fit into the white box vibe while keeping things interesting.
I think I'd use the nook in the entry way as a little bar. Store some nice glassware on the top shelfs and then like a cute tray with some decanters and some decor on the bottom. I feel like you wouldn't use the space as a desk if the dining table is right in front of it, also to have another chair back there might make it feel cluttered.
I lived in apartments with oatmeal wall to wall carpets and cream walls for over a decade.. It's hilarious to me to see Gen Z embracing yellow tones and calling grey ugly. OMG be grateful you don't have ugly carpets to deal with. Not only are they drab but they collect every spec of dirt and you never get your sec deposit back. The grey floors are much better that's why they exist in apartments these days.
Every generation seems to have their own definition of ugly decor and it is apparently in opposition to what the previous generation found nice. It’s fashion, just for houses, so it turns more slowly and people don’t realise they have fallen for trends but instead think this is their own, real aesthetic or that they have grown into it. I’m not saying that to be condescending, it’s just something I have been observing these past years on social media. That aside, I love what Paige did with this grey block! So much cosier.
all furniture selections are from First Dibs! giving you a general idea of what could be done, perspective might be slightly off because of this as well xx
Yes. This was fantastic. You worked with what was there and didn’t go crazy. Sometimes people are like, “add moulding, paint, put down a fake floor, wrap the kitchen, change all the knobs …..” and it’s like ….. dude. That’s intense. You showed the power of accessories, furniture, and fabric to change the feel of a space.
"and it's like .... dude. That's intense." I feel the same way watching some of these rental makeovers. Do they even realize how damned expensive removable wallpaper and tiles are? I don't think so.
@@OldLadyInFLyu😊😊u😊
I lived in one of these and adding warm toned wood and textures really made a difference. The owner was shocked when they saw how good it looked.
You could share with Paige so she can show it if you’re up for it
yes to more videos like this - would also love to see how you would decorate a tiny house or really small apartment!
oooo! maybe I will do a small apartment next! love that idea
Yes! I’d also like to see her take on doing a large open floor plan space.
I just started renting a very small apartment in cologne, Germany and desperately need help! I’ll send you a horizontal video ☺️ The space is still completely empty
Lolol....Let's see ya do a trashed trailer home !! 🤣.,. But seriously, I bought one for 500$... It's BAD
Paige!! I would really love if you made a video on a curated selection of home basics like laundry hampers, trash cans, small appliances, etc. Stuff we all have that’s usually pretty unattractive unless you search really hard.
Yes!
she has already made a video about this if you scroll a while back! :)
Since there's no entry closet, I would turn that little nook off the dining area into one. Add a hanging rod, high enough above the existing shelf to leave room for a drop zone for purses, keys, etc.; then add cube storage below the shelf with bins for shoes, hats, gloves, umbrellas, reusable grocery bags, and the like. It could be concealed by a curtain or even a roman shade.
In the kitchen, instead of adding a counter stool on the end of the peninsula, I would add a garbage and recycling bin. That way you don't have to waste cabinet space for them. Why do kitchen designers never account for the trash?
Excellent suggestions!
I like the kitchen trash bin to be as inconspicuous as possible. They’re almost never attractive. 🗑
Good ideas. 💡
Yes! I particularly thought that nook could have used a nice brass framed mirror and some “landing pad” items like a dish for keys and shoe/hat/glove storage.
I've lived in apartments like this most of my adult life so far and there is so little content like this for ways to decorate that aren't ultra modern, diy, or like a dorm room. I think a lot of people live in a place like this where they can't make big changes or don't want to paint or are trying to incorporate vintage into a modern aesthetic and videos like this are awesome. Great content!
I think this is the most helpful video you’ve ever done. We need more of this! I would love you to do a video like this where you furnish a place with affordable furniture (preferably not thrifted so we can buy it). Like if you were on a really low budget and had to furnish a place and couldn’t thrift anything what would you do?
I’d want to utilize the space in the nook of the entryway for something useful. Coffee station, bar, keep books, drop zone for keys and mail, create storage underneath for shoes, just anything to not let the space go wasted
I was thinking the exact same thing
I would use that as a reading nook or office space. Gives another option besides the bedroom.
I haven’t even watched yet but I just moved to a new house that has awful ugly grey floors and there aren’t enough area rugs in existence to erase the drab. So excited to watch
In-laws just bought a condo in FL and my husband and I have our own room there for when we visit that I get to decorate. Well, first thing my mother in law did was put down this exact gray flooring throughout (and painted the walls gray blue, fortunately she agreed to keep our's white) soooo first thing I did was go out and buy the biggest warm toned rug I could find ha. Our bedroom set is also mcm teak looking tone so that helps
love that you worked with a renderer! just a really good idea too- there are so many sad grey apartments that need rescuing
So is Paige saying to add a lot of brown tones? I can appreciate the desire to warm up the cool palate, however the browns just seem rather muddy to me. The navy is too cool in temperature I know, but it (plus perhaps some true blue) seems to make a nicer combination with the floors and walls. I'd warm up the blue/grey with a lot of natural wood, warm tone lamp shades and texture.
Also sad grey houses, like mine haha
Do you know how she got the decor images in the apartment space? Did she use a program?
@@lifestylebyleenskeep me posted if you find out
I would love to see another in this series for sort of bad home styles we sometimes have to work with. For example, my 1990s midwestern house with lots of oak wood and traditional touches.
Yes! My kitchen cabinets are honey oak!
Exactly! Would be challenging but applicable for those of us that don't have a "contemporaryish" nice blank slate to work with.
Yes make this a series! The rendering really helps translate to real life. My parents bought a mobile home and renovated it like these gray apartments 2 years ago 🙃 wish I had this video to influence them back then
When did architects decide that everyone wants to sit in their living room and stare at their refrigerator? Give me small, separate rooms.
I think it went out of fashion during the pandemic when everyone actually needed their own space for zooms etc. I’ve always been pro actual rooms.
Bring back the rooms!!!
Hello! So glad I live in an old house. I can completely close off the kitchen (from the hallway, dining room, and service porch/laundry room).
Yeah, I hate watching TV with someone’s air fryer blowing in the background while they chop onions. Bring back walls made of brick that you can actually hang things on.
I hate my open floor plan!
My all mushroom beige sterile apartment has harsh restrictions and two or three inspections a year (with 24 hr notice) to check compliance. I can’t paint, change lighting, hang curtains, put up privacy film, change hardware/any fixtures. I can put up shelves and art though! And I still was inspired by how you made this similar place feel like a home ❤
My hell. That's awful. Are you incarcerated?
Like a hotel room that you have to clean yourself? Wtf
Are they going for a uniform look among all the windows in the building? You mentioned no curtains or privacy film. Do they provide you with blinds or shades?
I loved this so much - the place felt completely different. So much warmth in it after those changes!
Love your videos but can we just agree that "comfortability" is not a word... Comfort. It's just comfort.
I’m not a fan of gray. It feels too cold. I’m so glad you provided tips on how to make the apartment feel warm.
It’s almost like you read my mind. This video is so spot on. I went to school for interior design and my apartment is unfortunately one of these horrible sterile apartments and I’ve been struggling SO much trying to decorate and this coming from someone in design. It just sucks the creativity out of you!
My best friend has a condo almost exactly like this. There are a couple of additions I would make to your suggestions. In the living room, there really need to be end tables with lamps. I think too often, people end up with the can lights or flat ceiling fixture and those are never flattering. In the bedroom, it would probably be easy to get a vintage desk that wouldn't fit exactly, but would allow the space to run the various cords for a lamp, chargers etc. No one wants these desks anymore since they don't handle modern office things (if you even have a printer) and it's always a shame to cut a hole in the back of something to run wires. I'd do a combination of a sheer roman blind and heavier curtains, but I'm thinking for a different reason: the bathroom seems very dark (and even more so if someone were to use the dark paint you suggested), so I would consider making that desk into a makeup table at least part of the time. It would make use of the drawers and with the sheer blinds, you'd have natural light to do your makeup. The dark green paint in the bathroom would really distort the color of the light, so it would be less than ideal for makeup anyway.
Yeah, I'm thinking a green cast is not really a color you want reflected around your face when you are doing make up if you only have one bathroom or one area where you get ready.
Also, be careful with matchstick blinds. They provide basically no privacy looking in even though they seem to when looking out.
a tip for your renders - trace the straight edges of the room and other hard edges in the base photo and extend those lines until several intersect like a star burst. this point is the vanishing point, and you can use it to align your edited objects to make them look in perspective and parallel with the room's angles. you may need to distort your added images to align them if they were photographed at a wildly different angle than the BG, but it makes a big difference for things like rugs like at 7:01
*Adding Tuscan to the Gray Prison Box* . Yes, I did enjoy this video, now the long comment. A male family member recently moved into a "gray box" townhouse flip. Built in 1979, vaulted ceiling, cat walk with two bedrooms and bath upstairs. Vaulted wall in pine tongue and paneling in the living room. I think the landlord literally just had every room sprayed with white primer and left it. The flooring is cheap gray laminate, every fixture is brushed nickel. Family member purchased a vintage 1990's huge red leather sectional which I re-configured into a U-shape facing the man TV over a console. I leaned into the red with chocolate brown, olive and black, a few Tuscan style decor elements, art and backlit ficus trees on the paneled wall behind the sofa. I'm on the hunt for an eight foot round rug for the kitchen to hide the hideous tile. Bringing in color made a *HUGE* difference! I thrifted window treatments as well (yet to be installed). It may not be the style "du jour" but dang, it no longer feels like a prison cell. Thanks for your great design inspo Paige.... 😘
This was great timing. Just bought a badly renovated 70s townhouse and don’t have the budget to restore just yet. You have given me some great ideas for covering grey carpet and grey walls.
I love this as a series! Showing how to decorate different types of rentals. Allllssoooo love the idea of taking in submissions for peoples homes or rentals!
Since the office is in the bedroom, I imagine a bar area in the nook! Otherwise can be a gallery area or crafts table (with track lighting under the shelves). Something you don’t use everyday, and I would move one of the kitchen chairs over when needed to reduce floor clutter!
Great ideas!!!
I love to add a small bookshelf in the kitchen under the counter. It’s a great place for pretty glasses and dishes with cookbooks.
I liked the art, furniture and rugs filling up the room, with your design ideas. I would have loved to see one more large art piece above the headboard, in the bedroom. Definitely fun!
i am constantly thankful that my flat has massive original wibbly wobby beams all throughout. they're left over from when it used to be a barn, and the landlord has them painted black. it might not be a look for everyone, but it saves me from being in a dreaded grey box
Love all the suggestions, I would make the nook in the living room a closet for storage of vacuum and extra shoes and coats. But that depends on if you rent or not of course
Also if you dont want to/cant paint in your apartment there is peel and stick wallpaper which can easily make a space look great and add in your own personal style
I was thinking about that too!
Thank you! 🙏 this is so helpful. I’m on my third rental that suffers from this white walled stainless steel minimalist gray hell and I’m at my wits end trying to make the place look unique and interesting
I would do an ottoman/stool in the entry way. 5 chairs looks chaotic and no one will actually sit there. Also could add vintage baskets down there as a place to toss shoes and things you want hidden.
I loved this! I live in a small house built 74’ in the Swedish country-side . It still has some charming details (wooden trims and windows) but some thing are kind of bland. For example the bathroom. Me and my bf will do a bigger renovation at some point but we need to save up first. That’s why I really like this kind of video because I feel like there’s a lot we can do without making bigger changes. Like painting the bathroom and things like that 🌻
This video is so good! We're facing this exact issue in the flat we're renting. Our landlord apparently likes grey. Grey tiles in the hallway, guest bath and full bath. Grey carpet in living room, office and bedroom. Light grey speckled linoleum floor in the kitchen. I basically hate all the floors but changing them would be our costs and it's just not feasible. We've been able to make this grey flat feel cozy over the past two years by working with big area rugs, walls painted in warm and more moody colours, mix of oak and walnut woods as well as lots of texture in textiles used around our home.
Such a good topic - you're killing it with your content 👏👏👏
thank you!!
This is also really handy if you just bought a home but can't afford/don't have time to immediately renovate
When I moved into my boring grey apartment, i literally just painted at least on wall in every room.
Best idea i ever had. This brings so much warmth into the rooms and it feels more homey.
I also got more wooden kind of furniture.
I know in the states a lot of landlords don't allow painting the walls, but in Germany we just paint everything white again if we decide to move out.
I really liked the suggestions you gave❤
That was fun! The only thing I would do a little differently is a low bench instead of a chair in that funky built in desk entry area. That way you could tuck it away easily. I love to pretend design, do more, do more!
I lived in this kind of apartment. My solution was get colorful things and warm tones and rugs which changed it a lot. That worked really well.
Just came back from a trip to Mexico, where people definitely aren’t afraid of color. I saw bright pink houses, yellow and mint, purple and orange! I noticed gray there is reserved for funeral homes and prisons.
YES. House shopping, and the "newly updated!" gray everything is awful. As a renter, I'm always looking for inspo bc I can't do a whole remodel of the place and also don't want to dump a bunch of money into a place I don't own. The outdated builder-grade bathroom with no natural lighting is the hardest to decorate imo. 🥴
They are súper popular rn in mexico, I just moved to a house like this for college. The first thing i did was hang a blue painting my mom gifted me because the all white was driving me crazy
That couch is awful- wood sides, the drapes? Paige I never would think you would have decorated this living
I would love to see more videos like this! I feel like this kind of contend is really missing on most interior design pages/magazines. They mostly feature this giant luxurious houses or apartments with crazy architecture and while fun to look at it is just not applicable to the reality of how I live (or probably ever will live). I love that this are hand on tips you can actually implicated.
I appreciate you so much for making this video. I'm moving into a characterless grey apartment soon (plus side, HUGE windows across the whole front of the unit). My design 'style' (if you can even call it that) has always been pretty neutral but I want to get away from that when I decorate this apartment. I also tend to shy away from going big for fear of making the space feel smaller, but you did a great job of demonstrating how that's not necessarily true.. Also, I love that you gave tips on how to accomplish things for city apartment dwellers who may have limited resources. This is my first time living in a city, I had to downsize a lot including getting rid of all my tools so knowing that I can hire work out or have things cut to size at Home Depot is so helpful.
The entry shelf space should be a mirror backed bar area - with a small warm lamp, no chair, and then add a track curtain for the bottom area for storage
I can’t believe you made that sad cold place into a warm welcoming vibe.
It’s so wonderful that I don’t have the same style and aesthetic taste as you but I get so many great ideas. Also I ❤ the green paint in your home! Thank you for helping us stay to out of a gray hole in our decorating!
Paige, as always I luv everything you have done here. One exception, no work space in a bedroom. EVER. It interrupts sleep.
Can't wait for your next vid. 😘
i love it!!! the renders made it 1000 times better❤
I did love this video! I like it more than the zillow shopping.. I agree that I think cutting those videos down and then decorating your first choice would be more interesting. (or decorate a room in each of the top 5 to help decide)
I enjoyed this very much. I like grey and yellow together, so I think your mustard and gold tones are a smart way to warm up the spaces. The bathroom paint color is also fantastic.
Thank you for this!! As someone who lives in one of these and has been struggling to decorate - it was soooo appreciated!!!!!
I would love to see you trying to tackle a black cabinet kitchen with white/white black marble countertops and silver appliances. I find these type of very sleek cabinets difficult to style and soften up. Just an idea :)
Would love to see you decorate a nursery. It’s so hard to find inspiration when everything is so themed or minimalist.
Agreed!!
Yes, more of these, pleeeeeease! So satisfying to watch it all come together in your professional perspective!
Love this video!! I live in a gray box(thankfully white walls though) and although I would love something with history and character I cannot afford to live in the part of my city where those exist. So gray box is really a huge step up from 80s brown box with tiny windows.
i dont usually like my workspace to be in my bedroom but i think it looks nice regardless!
This is helpful. I want to buy a place but lots of homes have the grey floors. It would cost a lot remove and replace. You’ve made a lot of suggestions that draw the eye away from the cooler tones. 👏🏼👏🏼
I love your choice of window treatment for the living room. The bookshelves are nice too.
I love this concept. My area only has super recent builds like this, unless you’re buying and have a $750k budget. So this is so helpful. ❤️
5 minutes in, and I subscribed. Great video. You give practical and realistic advice, especially for renters, and I love that you’re showing us the creation process instead of just a before and after.
Fun video. Always enjoyable.
The desk nook would make a nice bar area or place for music components. Might be able to slide some pantry storage under the "desk."
White walls bother me so much, I might wash the walls with colored light, at least temperature adjustable LEDs.
Thanks for the Etsy rug tip. I love good quality rag rugs that I can wash.
Great ideas in bedroom. I would add open storage shelves above the desk and extend the ceiling-drapery-track all across the room so I could instantly hide a busy desk and straighten the closet wall into a flat drapery wall. Fabric choice so important.
In bathroom, I would have painted the white wall space next to the mirror. Then I would look for, or make art large enough to cover the left edge of the mirror.
This made the apartment feel a lot warmer actually which I enjoy so you did great
One of your best videos in my opinion!
Conquering ugly ass grey floors one rendering at a time. Seriously loved this!! My best friend now watches your videos and is now moving homes because the once beautiful grey floors are now her LITERAL nightmare.
You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you to do a video like this 🥲🥲🥲 Would love more of this series!
I bought a similar type condo, been slowly trying to add interest. Very helpful ideas, would definitely like to see more of this type of content.
Yesss! 😩😩 perfect timing, Paige! I happen to be apartment hunting and all the apartments (save for a blessed few) look lile this and it Kills Me. Gray is such a difficult color to match with other colors, especially if you prefer warmer tones (which I do), so I've been stressing about how I'm going to decorate without breaking the bank.
Loved seeing your vision come to life. Let's end the grey era
Paige, this was an excellent video! Truly helpful: really illustrates how much role texture plays in creating aesthetic. Texture through fabric, through furniture and shelving. Amazing, thank you!
I moved into a similar grey apartment, except the floors are cool brown and the walls were a VERY cold medium deep grey. I don’t think grey walls are necessarily horrible, but with low natural light and kinda horrible LED recessed lighting, it felt SO depressing. I really felt very uncomfortable until I painted and adjusted the color temp of the LEDs (light quality still is t great, but much better). The difference is night and day!
I think you did an excellent job improving this space with without a lot of invasive/high effort DIY projects! It looks much more inviting.
You are so fun to watch, I wanna be you when I grow up ❤ You are so intentional and thoughtful, more designers should follow suit.
This is fantastic!! I want all of these videos 🥰
For feng shui I think you’re supposed to have a commanding view in any room. This mean being able to see the doors so that you’ll never have that feeling that someone might sneak up on you. And you’re not supposed to have your feet facing out the door because while you sleep your soul might just float out the door 😹🤷♀️
We wouldn't want THAT to happen!
So that's where my soul went 😂
@@Bobochee maybe sleep with your head towards the door and it will float back in? 🐒
Loooove this!! I find empty rooms quite overwhelming so hearing your process and reasoning is very helpful!
Yes, yes this is my situation and your ideas helped a lot. Thank you.
After the chicago hunt all those textures brick stone wood mixed made me appreciate my white canvas home
absolutely loved this, if you made it a series i’d watch every video
This was FANTASTIC. I just moved into a gray box and now I have so much inspo!!!!
Love this video, need a complete serie! I struggled a lot when I first move in alone without not knowing how to make my place look like a home
Yes do this more! Not just the rendering but the showing us how you would decorate it
What a wonderful series!! Love how you styled it so much - was fun to see how you set everything up and what pieces you chose to put inside each space. Definitely would love to see more of these
I liked this video. Yes, I care that you don’t miss Sundays. I care very much. Love your channel.
this was a good one! would love to see this as a series with random, blank apartments and/or viewer submits.
The content the people needed, nay, deserved!
Benjiplant did one of the best decorating jobs I’ve seen in these modern/stark apartments
lol in April I moved to an apartment that is exactly like this and I did (am still doing) a lot of the same things she suggested: light woods, white shelves for books, TV and knickknacks, big colorful art on the walls, pendant lights, track curtains, HUGE rug to cover this cold-ass floor... Guess my place is Paige-approved!
Lol at anyone complaining about this flooring. I bought a house with full (old and mismatched) carpeting, except in a few rooms, including the loft which has parquet flooring like a basketball court, and the kitchen that had faux stone tile in colors that perfectly matched (and therefor camouflaged) my cats vomit. The downstairs bathroom had carpet and under that was linoleum that reminded me of my high schools floor in the classrooms. I didn’t have the money for all new flooring so, we have been living with most of it and slowly replacing what we can.
Lol Paige's grumpy face in every thumbnail. So cute.
I love this series! I hope you keep doing it!
I loved this video!!!! The visualization really brings the whole picture into life
this is so helpful! Thank you for making this
Loved the video! My last apartment was a big white box like this (thankfully my landlord chose warmer oak looking flooring). Rugs, teak furniture, and Ikea Ritva curtains that I hemmed with nonsew hemming tape did wonders. I also had a nice black leather corbusier style loveseat and the chrome detail fit into the white box vibe while keeping things interesting.
I think I'd use the nook in the entry way as a little bar. Store some nice glassware on the top shelfs and then like a cute tray with some decanters and some decor on the bottom. I feel like you wouldn't use the space as a desk if the dining table is right in front of it, also to have another chair back there might make it feel cluttered.
Moving this week and this video was legitimately exactly what I needed. Wow and thank you.
Enjoyed this concept so much! Thanks for sharing Paige! I was honestly so surprised you didn’t put a tiny lamp on the kitchen counter 🤗
Yes please do more of these!
Loved this new series. Haha!! Yes, we want this to be a series.
3000 views in an hour! Paige you are soaring! 🎉happy for you because I enjoy your channel so very much!
I lived in apartments with oatmeal wall to wall carpets and cream walls for over a decade.. It's hilarious to me to see Gen Z embracing yellow tones and calling grey ugly. OMG be grateful you don't have ugly carpets to deal with. Not only are they drab but they collect every spec of dirt and you never get your sec deposit back. The grey floors are much better that's why they exist in apartments these days.
Every generation seems to have their own definition of ugly decor and it is apparently in opposition to what the previous generation found nice. It’s fashion, just for houses, so it turns more slowly and people don’t realise they have fallen for trends but instead think this is their own, real aesthetic or that they have grown into it. I’m not saying that to be condescending, it’s just something I have been observing these past years on social media. That aside, I love what Paige did with this grey block! So much cosier.