A bachelor's rental dilemma—

I’m stepping in to solve another bachelor’s design dilemma. He finds himself in a situation many people in New York are in. He’s been wanting to buy a place for a long time. But prices in NYC are insane, the stock market is unstable, so a lot of potential home owners are doing just what he’s doing…waiting…and renting.

Here are some Iphone images I took. Most rentals in big buildings have pre painted linen white walls, which is the standard rental color, forget trim it all goes one monotone color. You’re allowed to paint the walls but you have to paint them back again when you move out.

Hmm…should you spend money doing that?

Time flies as we all know, and life goes by very quickly and you want to come home to a place that cheers you up. Yet you’re unsure how long you’ll be living there….

How much do you do spend to improve the place?

I’m going to follow this make over with before and afters on the blog. A lot of people ask me what to do when they’re renting a place. I think it’s an interesting dilemma. Most New Yorkers are used to renting, and used to sacrificing space to be able to live in this exciting city. This apartment is very sunny with good space, and has lots of windows, which is a great. Then again you’re going to need a lot of blinds…fit to size…And you can’t take those with you right?

A lot of issues to figure out and solve.

This bachelor is a business man, with an artistic side and passion for rock n’ roll. So I want to create a space that really represents who he is and makes him happy to come home to without spending a lot of money. He likes green, and blue, and is not afraid of colors… and dresses really well.

The ocean blue velvet couch from Plantation LA is the only previous purchase I helped him with a while back. So I’m taking my cue from that…. and I’m taking style cues from….

…a Peacock! I’m going to take all my color cues form this amazingly beautiful animal!

And rock magazines….

…inexpensive mid century vintage pieces that can be reinvented…or stay as is…

…NY designer Ryan Korban’s apartment….

A couple of inspiration pictures….

Design by Madeline Stuart.

I’m going to redesign lots of vintage stuff and search out great inexpensive buys from sites and store. I love to take on the challenge.

Got any great ideas for me?

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11 thoughts on “A bachelor's rental dilemma—

  1. Jill, great post! I'm looking forward to the makeover photos! I love the blue sofa and the peacock as inspiration. Have a look at <a href="http://www.cityissue.com” target=”_blank”>www.cityissue.com for great Danish midcentury modern furniture here in Atl (maybe you have to come visit??). The prices beat NY even with shipping, and the selection is beautiful.
    There is a lot of great furniture down here at much better prices than what we are all used to in NY!

  2. There aren't enough posts out there like this–sometimes you really don't want to invest your time and money in an apartment, and even decisions like whether or not to splurge on painting the walls are huge! Great post, and I can't wait to see how you go about it!

  3. so excited for this project. love the color choices, and using a peacock for inspiration. love ryan korban. like i said so excited. can't wait to see the afters

  4. Love the inspirational photos and can't wait to see the before and afters. So far the peacock blue sofa is a fabulous start!

  5. This would be so fun to do! I think your inspiration is great and the mid-century piece- so nice with that couch. Maybe you don't have to paint if you get a good rug. Maybe one of those Beni Ouarain rugs like Adler used at the Parker? I just think something like that would be great with all this inspiration you pulled. Plus he can take it with him when he goes and use it again with any color combination. I'm seeing graphic photography.

  6. Wow, it will be amazing to follow your progress. My mother also loves to renovate and she is great at it but I tend to be more interested in the pictures than all the intense work that goes into that process!
    Good luck with your renovating and Ill be sure to check out the rest of your blog!

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