NYC Apartment Makeover
This apartment makeover was a long time coming and there’s a huge reason for it.
In the past year, many of us have found ourselves living in unforeseen circumstances. Similar to others during COVID-19, my priorities shifted and I found myself fully embracing the space I had been living in. At the beginning of this year, I felt this wave of unhappiness. I am someone who views my space as my comfort, and for the past 2 months, I was unhappy waking up every day and feeling overwhelmed in the clutter. I’ve lived in my studio apartment for three years now and finally took the initiative to do something about it.
I took on this personal project and made a list of changes I wanted to make. It took a little over a month — started tossing out unneeded stuff, donated 6 bags of clothes and shoes, made a spreadsheet and budgeted out what I wanted to purchase. It’s amazing when you collect so much stuff over the years, what kind of things you’ll actually find. I found a lot of unopened boxes, unopened products, and items that I just mentally labeled as ‘I’ll use it one day.’
Organizing and cleaning up this space gave me the mental mindset to prioritize my clutter as well. I am someone who likes to keep everything for ‘in case’ purposes. But in this case, I had to let go of a lot of things I was holding onto — some that didn’t really have significant value. This helped me let go of a LOT.
When you choose to prioritize happiness, you’ll find yourself taking the necessary steps of action to achieve it. And for me, it was transforming my living space. My home. My office. My comfort.
I now feel so much happier waking up and feel like I can breathe in my own space again. Who knew that changing the environment you live in could make such a huge impact in your life?
I know many of us were / are unable to do this due to financial reasons and a plethora of other reasons. However, there are little steps you can take to still find happiness in the space you’re living in. Whether that’s cleaning your room, making your bed, changing the color of your bedsheets, finding new ways to store your stuff, the possibilities are endless.
Have you transformed your living environment in the course of living in a pandemic? How did it make you feel?
BEDROOM SPACE:
I used to have a regular comforter, but my parents bought me this soft and plushy down comforter when I moved back to New York City after quarantine. Now my biggest struggle is actually leaving my bed in the mornings. 🤪
One of the biggest challenges in my studio apartment is my Queen-sized bed. Even when I first moved into this apartment, I never knew where to put it. It’s such a large size for the space I’m in and I prefer to have the bed away from the windows or the AC unit. That only left me with one option: beside the closet. For the longest time, I was back and forth on rotating it or pushing it closer towards the closet on the left side, but decided to leave it in the space spot and move it a little towards the middle of the room to fit my new dresser. I’ve never appreciated more storage in my apartment until now.
I use this dresser to store all of my t-shirts, workout clothes, underwear, towels, and socks. It’s a little difficult to build on your own — you’ll probably need a second set of hands, but once you follow the assembly instructions, it’s not too bad.
P.S. It’s currently ON SALE!
Anyone else struggle to store their jewelry? I know I always do. Most of the jewelry in this jewelry organizer I found on Amazon is from my college days where I’d wear statement earrings with colorful tassels for college game days, tailgates, and other events. I didn’t want to dispose it because some of the pieces hold sentimental value and memories from my past. Now, I prefer dainty pieces — and I keep those in another separate jewelry organizer on my other dresser. The organizer is a great size, and I’m honestly thinking about purchasing another one.
I bought this alarm clock to upgrade from my pink neon one I’ve had since college. I like that there’s an option to dim the light and it also has two USB charging ports for your phone.
Serious question: do you still use alarm clocks or do you use your phone as an alarm?
I often had trouble waking up in my apartment in the past two years fr0m the lack of air circulating in the apartment. Since the living portion of my studio apartment is shaped like a box, a lot of the air gets trapped in here. My sister bought me this humidifier and I’ve noticed a significant difference in the air. I didn’t realize how dry the air was and how I was breathing in all the dust from the cats and my clutter. Along with the humidifier, my parents bought me this BlueAir purifier. It sits on the pricier side, but if you live in a small apartment like I do, it’s a must-have. As sad as this sounds, I didn’t realize how important it was to breathe in clean, purified air until now. That has also added to my happiness and well-being living here.
OFFICE SPACE:
I completely upgraded my office space. Taking on the mentality that everything I needed had to have storage, I went on a deep hunt for a desk that would fit my needs. 1) a slide-out keyboard so my cats wouldn’t be sitting on my desk sending random text messages to people on a daily basis (for those who don’t have cats… this is a real thing.) 2) a desk that had storage, but was also compact to fit in the space beside my dresser. This desk completely won me over. Not only was it within my budget, but it was also really easy to assemble. It only took me a couple of hours.
This chair swivels. That is all.
Note to self: don’t ever get a desk chair that isn’t actually comfy to sit in. Even if it’s pretty to look at.
BOOKSHELF SPACE:
When you’re thinking about storage for your apartment makeover, you start to think about dressers, cabinets, and shelving units. After discussing with my friend’s sister, who is a talented home organizer, she brought up having white bookshelves to open up my space and also store some of my things without it looking too cluttered. I settled for two of these bookshelves. They were very easy to assemble and 100% recommend if you’re wanting bookshelves that are budget-friendly and make your space look chic.
BEFORE / AFTER
This is the BlueAir purifier I was talking about.
I wanted some sort of organizer to store my sunglasses instead of stuffing them into my dresser, and found this glasses organizer one on Amazon. It’s easy to assemble and fits perfectly in my bookshelf.
LIVING SPACE:
Truth be told: I’ve always wanted a colored couch. For my space, I have pops of green everywhere — and when I laid eyes on this loveseat couch, I knew this was the one.
When looking for an end table, my thought process was this: how can I get a marble table without putting a big dent in my furniture budget?
When I came across this marble end table, I knew I had to have it. I was sold before even looking at the size. That’s when you know.
I had to add this one in here because this is such an accurate picture of what I see on a daily basis. Luna and Pepper both think this is their couch and I’m finding that I’m often on the waiting list to sit here. 🙃
This white coffee table is unfortunately sold out, but wanted to link it here in case it came back in stock.
I now store all my shoes underneath my bed with two of these shoe organizers.
KITCHEN SPACE:
This storage cabinet is one of my biggest lifesavers in this entire makeover process. Many people actually thought I didn’t have a bathroom or a kitchen because I never showed it on social media. SURPRISEEEEE! I do. 🤪
My sister came to visit and her biggest remark was: “how did you find a storage cabinet that fits PERFECTLY in this space?!”
Honestly, I’m still stumped. Since I don’t have a bathroom storage area, I knew I needed some sort of cabinet here. I used to have my bar cart here, and it didn’t really serve a purpose. I love that this one is so spacious and fits my bathroom stuff, Pepper and Luna stuff, and some kitchen essentials.
BEFORE / AFTER
This is the reason I never showed my kitchen anywhere on social media. The space was always so cluttered (see above) and I never knew what to do with it. My table had no storage, everything was underneath, and I didn’t enjoy this space too much. This kitchen island came in clutch — I needed a pantry because I hardly have any kitchen storage space. I love that there’s a spice rack (other side) and a towel rack.
I store all of my pantry and snacks underneath this kitchen island.
BEFORE / AFTER
Oof. I desperately needed to go through my kitchen cabinets and organize some of this stuff. Thanks to this expandable cabinet shelf, I took the initiative to clean it out, organize it, and add more space.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed seeing the new space.
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