Paige Wassel was doing work as a freelance prop stylist in Los Angeles when she made a decision to transfer again to her hometown of Chicago and buy a 700-sq.-foot apartment. “I needed a little something modest that essential some work—not a entire gut renovation—so I could renovate it on my individual and with some assistance from my dad, who employed to flip homes with buddies as a pastime,” she says. Inspired by the procedure of it all, Paige started out a YouTube channel on inside developments and celeb homes, and even experienced her boyfriend pitch in on carrying out some of the get the job done with the renovations. The most complicated activity? Being inside a stringent funds.
“When I first moved in [in 2019], my financial institution account was drained, so I didn’t commence renovating for about six months,” Paige claims. “Even then, my spending plan was restricted, so the renovation occurred in phases.” The artistic prop stylist uncovered a way about that, employing YouTube to learn how to acquire out the toilet sink and install a new one particular, and training herself how to tile a backsplash and substitute light fixtures. For the perform she could not do herself, like putting in wooden flooring, for case in point, she uncovered persons to help through Craigslist.
Upcoming up, Paige put a large amount of operate into locating enjoyable, quirky details in secondhand retailers. “I identified an aged cupboard for my office, knobs for drawers, fabric for a Diy headboard, and chairs to be reupholstered,” she claims. “Almost all the things in my area is secondhand and, if not, I shopped at IKEA. My sources integrated Craigslist, Facebook Market, Etsy, OfferUp, classic and antique retailers, estate income, Goodwill, Salvation Army, and many others.” —Kristen Bateman
For five many years, Robin Anderson labored her way through her clients’ historic Victorian residence, place by room. The rebuilt carriage house—the first was destroyed by ice dams—was the project’s incredibly past ingredient. In the new style and design, the bottom portion housed a a few-vehicle garage and the leading, a 1-bedroom condominium. “They have all the rooms they have to have, so this is a bonus house, say, for girls’ evenings. [It’s also] the place her moms and dads remain when they take a look at,” the designer says.
Because it’s different from the main home, Robin reasoned, this didn’t need to have to be a clone. In its place, it feels like a mini holiday location. Her style of selection? An up-to-date choose on French region. “The shoppers are additional modern day, but they are into whatsoever I have acquired heading on at the minute,” Robin suggests. “I experimented with a French vibe applying typical and modern things that come to feel European.”
A greige-and-ivory checkerboard tile flooring greets guests in the vestibule, then works its way up the stairs to the kitchenette in the airy terrific home. “The tile provides a lot visually and divides the kitchen from the dwelling place,” Robin points out. “It will help it experience like its very own room.” —Marni Elyse Katz