DESIGN CHALLENGE #1- BOSTON APARTMENT

I am back in NYC after a whirlwind trip to Boston to help a friend decorate her new place! I love a design challenge and in less than 24 hours, we transformed her apartment from a mess of boxes and newspaper to a seriously cozy living space. Best of all, we used most of her existing furniture and accessories, just rearranging them to give her more space.

Here are some of the before and after pics and some techniques we used...

Kitchen before...

Couches before... 

My friend had a red couch and a love seat from her previous apartment. When she moved to a smaller space, she didn't want to part with these, so we needed to make them work. We created an L-shaped set-up, placing the couch on the wall opposite the window to help open up the space.

Couches After... 

My friend had a lot of tall furniture. A high table and chairs, medium sized bookcase, and a high console table. I wanted to break up the amount of furniture in the living room, so we took the console and created a bar set-up in the kitchen. Perfect for parties.

We ditched the bulky TV stand from her previous apartment and placed her TV on the bookcase, colorblocking the books and pictures underneath.

Finally, we dragged all of her artwork onto the floor and created a gallery look to go above the red couch.

In the morning, we hung curtains, laid down a rug and sat back enjoyed her new living space.

Have you tackled any home redecorating projects recently? I'd love to hear.