Looking toward the windows
Evening after moving in
An Adventure in Upscale Interior Design: How to Makeover Your SF Bay Area Apartment In A Weekend
As a Realtor, I have many clients and friends in the SF Bay area who long for an alternative to the generic interiors they often find in the high end apartment buildings where they take up residence. If you are like them, you probably think that very little can be done to customize the décor in your unit, but you should know that with a little creativity and time, your apartment can be easily transformed into a place that you will really enjoy coming home to.
A makeover of the main living space in your apartment can be easily accomplished in a weekend, as I recently helped one of my clients do. Our budget was around $3,000, which is close to a month’s rent in the area where my client lives. We created an ultra upscale look for the money spent and used materials that can be easily removed whenever my client decides to move out to another rental apartment or transition to owning a home of hisown.
My client was inspired to make a variety of non-permanent alterations to the main living area in his apartment for several reasons. An overall bland look in the living area was the primary reason for the project. The presence of a wall with floor-to-ceiling mirrors also triggered my client’s interest in our weekend redecorating project, since this feature had the effect of diminishing a fabulous view of the city skyline that his apartment has to offer. Our decorating project took the best feature in the room, a wood & tile trimmed fireplace, and really made it stand out, by using a high quality strip-able wall paper that features a striking design from Graham and Brown. We took an extra measure to ensure that this decorating enhancement will be easy to undo when the time comes to move, by applying wallpaper primer on the walls before installing the wallpaper. My client is pleased with the fact that the wallpaper not only makes a bold statement, but also serves the purpose of distracting the eye away from the mirrored wall. A more appealing neutral paint color was applied to the walls, giving the living space more ambiance than what existed before. The windows in the room were also dressed with 96” linen panels from West Elm, which adds visual interest and a dramatic effect that really showcases the series of full length windows that open out to the backyard veranda. The last part of our weekendinterior design project was decking out the living area with various accessories. Mock animal heads from Z Gallery, lacquered tables from West Elm and stylish table lamps from Lamps Plus were some of the items that my client used to add a touch of luxury and sophistication to his living space. In the end, my client was very happy with the results of our weekend decorating project.
Before
As a Realtor, I spend many hours touring homes of all kinds, including some of the finest apartments the SF Bay area has to offer. Helping my client transform the interior of his living space made me remember why I love being a Realtor so much and why it’s the best job in the world: I have the pleasure of helping my clients and friends find great places to call home.