Apartment Makeover - Cozy Living Room With Bold & Colorful Moments - House To Home E04

This video is the fourth episode of the house to home series, where I'll be transforming the living area of this two-bedroom apartment in Sydney's inner west. Follow along as I take you through the design process, all the way to a final tour of this space. The apartment itself has a total internal area of 79 square meters, with a small study separated from the kitchen and living area. This resulted in a compact living area, measuring 4 meters by 3.5 meters from the end of the kitchen. It has a full-height west-facing window, which gets pretty intense sunlight in the late afternoon. The clients have a great eye in picking out colorful pieces, together with a beautiful collection of plants. However, the space does not feel as comfortable and cohesive as they'd like, and lacking a few elements such as lighting, which I am tasked with. They also have a gorgeous cat named Peg, who likes to wander around the space. Before I begin, I wanted to briefly thank today's sponsor, Milanote. I have been using Milanote for quite some time, to organize and gather my thoughts in a visual way for my projects. From specifying products, all the way to creating a mood board, you'll see how I've used it throughout this project. The first step is setting up a visual language by gathering a few images on Pinterest. This helps me understand the vibe that the clients are drawn to. The board is full of colorful artwork and objects, but also restrained in a way that doesn't feel cluttered or overwhelming. We also discuss things that isn't working well, such as the white sideboard that they're not a big fan of, and the lack of storage in the current entertainment unit. With this in mind, I then laid goals and aesthetics for this makeover. One of the most important things is to retain the bold and colorful moments around the house, without feeling overwhelming. I started by suggesting a few couch options to replace the current one. We sticked with this similarly sized couch, and one that has legs to be used as extra storage underneath. Between the fabric and color options, we decided to go with this forest green suro fabric from Custlery, as it is more exciting than a boring gray couch, but still easy to work with other colors. The soft touch polyester is also perfect for pet owners, as it doesn't attract as much hair compared to a velvet fabric. We also replaced the existing rugs and entertainment unit, as they were too small and look really awkward in the space. As the clients wanted to have bold and colorful artworks, I suggested a few sideboard ideas, one of which is a simple DIY in neutral gray beige, to provide a neutral base where we can go bold with the artworks and decor. The half closed half open shelving also adds interest and endless styling possibilities. Once we decided on all the major pieces, we finalized the concept and slowly replaced existing furnitures. I then began working on the sideboard, which is made of two Ikea Ivar cabinet. On its own, the raw pine wood is not as attractive to look at, but with a little modification and styling, we'll transform this piece into something that will elevate the space. I started by removing the doors on the right cabinet to create an open shelving. To avoid knots from bleeding through the paint, I used the Zinsser shellac-based primer to cover up the knots, and spread the excess with a roller to prevent drip marks. The next step is to prime the remaining surface using a water-based primer. You can also opt to use the shellac-based primer to cover up the entire surface, but it produces a strong smell which is not exactly pleasant to use indoor. On the door edges, I used a small brush for extra position to make sure all visible surface is covered. Once it dried up, I began painting. Earlier in the process, we narrowed down to six colors in the gray beige category, but ultimately went with the gray pebble hull from Dulux, as it is warm and subtle, which perfectly complements the overall space. I got the paint in a low sheen finish, as I didn't want it to reflect much of the sunlight. A good tip when painting is to apply multiple thin coats with thorough drying time, rather than one thick coat that will take forever to dry and possibly form a drip. Bare wood is very thirsty and will soak up paint, especially when it's a lighter color like this. I ended up applying two to three coats in certain area, but the final result is worth the effort. Once I have everything installed, it is now time to put on some finishing touches. One aspect that I always place a huge focus on my project is lighting. We opted for a floor and table lamp with diffused globe, strategically placed on opposite sides of the room to evenly lit the space. I paired them with Ikea trot-free bulbs, to be able to adjust the brightness and temperature while keeping cost to a minimum. For complete control of lighting condition, we left the existing roller blinds and added a sheer curtain to get a soft and filtered natural light. We went with the illusion range sheer curtain in pearl color, due to its soft and delicate texture that perfectly complements the natural oak and forest green couch. We also opted for two separate tracks that is joined in the corner, to avoid bunching everything up on one side. The final step is adding the core to give life to the space. The clients have lots of beautiful plants, books and objects, which I utilize in combination with some additional vases and flowers to tie the space up. This was such a fun project as I get to play around with so many quirky items. With everything completed, it is now time to take a quick tour and some before and after of the space. What was previously a disjointed living room, has now been transformed into a warm and inviting space with bold and colorful moments that reflects the client's personalities. This beautiful couch in forest green acts as a great centerpiece with gentle curve that adds a sophisticated simplicity. It is elegant when viewed from the front and back, together with a separate ottoman, which makes for a perfect piece in the middle of the living room. We also opted to get one with legs to give a lighter feel and to double as extra storage underneath for Peg's toy. We paired this with a neutral wool rug to allow the colors to pop while giving a sense of larger space. The rounded texture gives an elegant but slightly playful feel that works well with the wooden floor and oak tv unit. As the clients needed more space to store games and consoles, this tv unit is the perfect choice with its generous storage and provides a clean look with recessed doors. The boxy upper body is contrasted with curved legs that balance out the hard edges. On the other side of the room, the warm gray cabinet provides a neutral backdrop and allowed the gallery wall to be the centerpiece. The half open shelving also adds visual interest, allowing for endless styling possibilities. Throughout the space, you'll find colorful books, vases and fun objects that gives the space a more personalized feel. This, together with all the greeneries that the clients own, makes for a very warm and welcoming space to be in with a seal of approval from Peg. Finally, the addition of sheer curtains give the space a beautiful diffused daylight while adding texture and filtering out the harsh afternoon sunlight. We paired this with the existing roller blinds to allow for complete control of the light during the day. As the sun sets down, the warm glow of both the table and floor lamp gives the room a warm and cozy feel that is perfect to wind down to after a long day. And that wraps up this makeover and tour. Everything shown in this video will be linked in the description below. For more ideas and inspiration, you can check out past episodes of the house to home series in this playlist. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section below and I'll try my best to answer them. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.