230 Sq Ft Cozy Minimal Studio Apartment Makeover

- This video is sponsored by Brooklinen. Hello guys, welcome back to my channel. I'm Alexandra and you're watching Studio Fix, the series where I take on small

apartment

s under 500 square feet and show you how to make them beautiful, stylish, and organized. I think it's so funny that I'm doing this with my skirt, you have to change your image to do it. Wow, that looks impressive. Oh Lord. Let us begin. (upbeat background music) We're steadily climbing to that one million subscriber number, I'm so excited. It feels, it feels close. But I need your help, so hit the subscribe button.

If you're watching on your TV, you can go to my little face in the circle, click on it and hit subscribe. If you're on your phone, it's even easier. In fact, I've been getting a lot of direct messages on Instagram recently about how so many of you have been following me since my Chatelaine days, which is absolutely crazy. And if I could get them all in one room for a big collective hug, I definitely would. I actually got goosebumps thinking about it, that would be amazing. My hair was like. Today I'm helping Nadine. I'm going to take a call with her, get to know her and her space and see what her dream space is like. - This seems very surreal.

It was my birthday last week, so I feel like this is like the cherry on top of a really good birthday. - I'm so excited for you, congratulations on winning a

makeover

with us. - Thank you so much. - To start, I would love to know how long you have been in your

studio

. - This year it will be 11 years. Yes. - In the same

apartment

? - In the same apartment. I moved here with the intention of living here for a couple of years and then buying a place, but I honestly can't afford to move. It's too expensive in Toronto unless you win the lottery.

This place has become for me a space of transition, a big break, a huge career change. So this is like a new year for me with my birthday last week, and now in my eleventh year, am I going to renovate my space? I'm not tied to anything, do what you want. - That is incredible. - I welcome this new adult energy that I feel I have. - You've lived here for a long time, so you know what works for you and what doesn't. - Yes. - Just tell me what you want me to change in that regard as far as the function is concerned. - During COVID, I had to, like most of us, work remotely, so I'm here like 85% of the time. - I understand. - I have managed, but like every time I make video calls, which are all day, it is like this and I am sitting at an angle so that the sunlight hits me.

But if I sat comfortably at my desk, you could see my entire house. - That makes a lot of sense, yes. - This configuration is not ergonomic. The desk I have here is so small that I feel like I don't even have room for my arms and sometimes I spill my coffee. In fact, I often overflow it. - So we will try to find another solution for that. But that brings me to where your TV is, because I feel like that corner is really nice, does your TV work there for you? - I love being there, this is my favorite part of my space. - The layout you have really works for the space. - That's good. - I know you mentioned that you don't have much preparation space. - My mom doesn't know how I cook here. - I don't know how you're doing either. - I bake, I cook, sometimes I use the stove as a prep space.

It would be nice to have a little more space to get ready, but I love that airy feel of

minimal

ism and I also wouldn't want to clutter this space just to have that. - Yes, as I mentioned, the flow of your space is nice. Although the kitchen is narrow, I love that you are a little separated from it. It's at the end of your bed, but it still feels a little hidden, which is nice. - I eat on my couch and I just put it like a pillow on my lap. - Yes. - I have this table that I slide to the side, but I'm small so it doesn't fit me well.

You come to like it here. And I only use it when people come and say, "You can use it to eat." - Obviously it's not realistic to bring a dining table, but maybe a coffee table that expands. So when you have people, they can get together. Something more functional before moving on to your inspiration? - Yes. Like storage within my space because I know the Calix will most likely go away. - Yes. - My storage for my makeup is also overflowing like crazy. - Could you have a system in which, if everything was well organized, you could transfer it to the mirror? - Yes, good. - To be honest, while you're saying this, half the time I pull out like a drawer from the organizer and take it to the couch to face the sun.

I understand. - Let's move on to Inspo. Definitely very light, airy, neutral, like many neutrals out there. I feel like you don't love a lot of colors, but you love so much texture and warmth. - You basically did it. The words I wrote were literally what you said. - I know we're not necessarily leaning towards color for this one, but are there any colors you don't like at all? - I think soft is comfortable for me. - Completely. - Brown, cream green, those kinds of colors. - I love your Inspo because I think it is very warm, very

cozy

and your space is very nice.

I just think it's really conducive to the style. - The other thing that I don't have a lot of here, but I think I could add more of that color would be some plants. I've killed every plant I had, but I'm willing to try. - Ok I have it. Well, thank you very much for taking this call. I'm very excited and I'll see you on reveal day. - Oh my god, it feels so surreal to hear that. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you so much. - I'll see you soon. - Okay, sounds good. Bye bye. - Bye bye.

Nadine's Inspo is very bright, very neutral, but with tons of texture. These Inspo images give me a kind of cool California bohemian vibe. I'm here for it. This is what I'm thinking. The function is very important in the

studio

. And although the design is simple, the pieces I'm going to add will be a game changer. I want to install an additional kitchen island so Nadine has more space to prepare. I'm thinking about storing it in a DIY media cabinet. More on that later in the video. I also want to bring in a coffee table that has storage so Nadine can store her makeup there and she can do her makeup while she's sitting on the couch, which she likes to do.

I want to bring in a desk that opens up and is L-shaped. I think that will solve the problem Nadine had with placing her computer awkwardly diagonally when she takes her calls. So all of these functional changes are going to be really big priorities. But I also want to keep the design really

minimal

ist, very bright and very airy, and texture will be very important to make the space feel

cozy

and warm even with all these neutrals and different wood tones. I'm bringing some beautiful neutral linen bedding for Nadine from Brooklinen. I have used Brooklinen sheets in my own home for the past three years.

I've used them on countless

makeover

s and really can't recommend them enough. This month is actually Brooklinen's 10th anniversary. (crowd applauding) You can also see that their website has a hundred thousand plus five star reviews, more than any other online background investigation company. Linen is 100% linen made in Portugal and is their lightest and most breathable fabric. I personally love linen because it gives a very relaxed feel and the texture looks very beautiful. I'll keep the bedding neutral for Nadine with cream bedding, but you can also mix and match over 20 colors and patterns in one pack. Brooklinen kindly sent her her bedding package, which includes a duvet cover, sheet set, and extra pillowcases.

Brooklinen also sent their duvet, down pillows, and this textured blanket in sand. Whether, like me, you've been a long-time Brooklinen supporter or you're just hearing about them, now is the perfect time to visit their website and take advantage of their 10th anniversary sale. It only comes once a year so you don't want to miss it. Then I knew we had to give Nadine's studio a new paint job. I chose the color Benjamin Moore Cloud White because we were going for a fresh Boho California feel. I wanted an off-white paint color that was bright but inviting. Dave is painting this entire studio.

And man, he looks so good and so fresh. (upbeat music) Hey guys, we're here doing some repair work in the studio. We haven't done a studio fix in what seems like forever and I think we already know what small studios can be like. Dave did a great job painting it, so it looks very bright here. I love the creamy white of the walls, but let me show you how many boxes there are. It's kind of out of control. Well. That's all. This is the studio. There's Dave. Alan. This is like the kitchen hallway situation. As you can see, there's basically no room, and yeah, we're going to have to figure it out like we always do, right, team? - You know it. - I don't know if we will do our usual unboxing.

I think we're going to try to start installing things to free up some space. But yes, small spaces. Graham and I will start with this feature wall right behind me, and we'll use pole wrap from polewrap.com to create this drum-like texture effect, which I'm really excited about. So first let's try Brad nails. I'm not sure they will accept the concrete wall. If not, we have anchors and screws as a backup, but ideally we have small holes. First we are going to cut this wrapper off the pole, it is a little long, and we will try to cut it already rolled up, which will save us some time.

We will only install this wrap up halfway up the wall because then we will bring in a media unit that will cover the entire bottom half of the wall. This type of appearance is called a tambourine effect. And usually you would use little pieces of wood like this, cut them like a million and install them with a bunch of veils. This stud wrap is a trick because it gives you that drum look, but you don't need a million holes in the wall or saw a million pieces. Now we're going to start installing the post wrap and like I said, we'll try the brad nails first.

Wish us luck. - Good luck, all the best, good luck, mua. We are both wearing sunglasses because we don't have safety glasses. These are our safety glasses. Safety comes first, people. Seriously, when you use a stapler, goggles. It's a Brad nailer. (upbeat music) The wonderful thing about using Brad Nails is that. - Wait, you are something incredible. - The wonderful thing. The amazing thing about (everyone laughs) (constant beeping) When Nadine knocks us down, she only has to plug small holes and not many. Imagine if we had installed them piece by piece of wood. There would be so many Brad nails on the wall. (loud hum) (upbeat music continues) We're going to use wood filler.

We'll use our fingers to make sure the wood putty doesn't get everywhere. We want it to be really precise on the nails. Well, normally you would wait for this to dry and then go in and sand it. Graham and Dave just gave me some great advice. They said to use a damp rag and just go over the wood filler. Well, do you see it's lumpy? Oh. And he stays in the hole. Okay, next we're going to install the Graham cabinet, DIY. I asked him to make a multimedia unit and I asked him to make a multimedia unit, and he did it.

Since the cabinet is being built entirely around this Ikea kitchen cart, Graham had to build the cart first and make a couple of modifications. The Ikea cart already comes with two wheels, but in order for Nadine to be able to move the cart in and out of the cabinet easily, she knew we needed four swivel wheels so she could move in all directions. Graham purchased these black two-inch swivel stem wheels from Amazon. He is cutting the existing Ikea wheels off the cart using his miter saw. He is drilling a small hole in the center of the bottom of each leg and gluing in some threaded inserts, so the caster wheels will easily thread into them. (upbeat music) In order to get this cabinet to Nadine's study, Graham has to make it in several pieces.

It will consist of two identical sized cabinets, four doors and a solid MDF cover for concealment. the seams. A good tip from Graham: MDF is cheaper and provides a much smoother finish than plywood. Graham is cutting the MDF using his chain saw and table saw. He is gluing all the pieces together with wood glue and securing them with wood screws. For the left side of the cabinet, he wanted a couple of shelves, so Nadine could also use this cabinet for storage. Graham is cutting two shelves from scrap plywood and MDF and covering the front edges of the shelves with a dowel he cut in half with his table saw.

Graham is using a KREG shelf pin jig to add columns to the shelf pin holes on the left cabinet so Nadine can easily move the shelves up and down if she wants to put larger items on the shelves. Finally,Graham is cutting a small hole inside the cabinet. This is where we are going to add a power outlet extender so Nadine can power her TV. Now to the doors. Graham is cutting four identically sized pieces of MDF. He is using some extra IKEA hinges we had from a previous project and using a Forstner bit to cut the holes for the hinges to sit in.

He is rounding the doors with a round router bit, so the doors don't look too square. . For the front of the doors, Graham is making a semicircle router template to cut a perfect semicircle on the front. He is priming and painting all of Benjamin Moore's Cloud White in his advanced paint line. I asked him to go into the semicircle with Bone from Farrow & Ball, just to give the cabinets a little contrast. Graham has made the countertop on this cabinet a little larger, so we can fit it perfectly into the space and so he can cut it to fit the contours of the wall for a perfect fit.

I'm screwing the front of the two cabinets together so they sit nice and flush. (soft music) Nadine has an exit back there that we need to access for the TV. So this is a desktop output. You can get them on Amazon, at the hardware store, and they're basically supposed to sit on top of your desk. and then once the top is on, we're going to drill a hole so the plug can drop down and plug into this outlet. Okay, so Graham and I are going to work on installing the doors, we're going to work on installing the top.

There are many things we need to do. It's actually quite nice down here. It's like taking a break, you know? (soft music continues) So now we're going to install the top of this cabinet. Graham has created this really cool method to help guide a perfect fit because the walls are never straight, they are never at a 90 degree angle. So if we were to cut this top beforehand, there would probably be gaps and it just wouldn't be a perfect 90 degree fit. (soft music) - Like we can still lift the sides and fill any space. But this will make it as tight as possible. - Yeah, so we've pushed these two side pieces all the way to the sides.

We're going to screw this guide in and then we're going to put it on the corners from top to bottom and then we're going to cut it on the sides. Hurrah. These look so good. We just upped their storage game and this nook now looks very intentional. - I think another person could fit here. (soft music) (constant beeping) - This is what I've learned about piercing. You have to get in there, you have to give it power. (bell rings) (drill hum) Oh. (soft music continues) - Otherwise, not otherwise. Like doing a 180 and then another 180, but spin it like a fidget spinner.

Okay, Graham, look. Graham? Graham? - I'm looking for. Yeah, look, he's clapping, he's clapping, he's clapping. - No, that's satisfactory. - He's applauding. Everything looks very good. Tomorrow I will reveal the cabinet in all its splendor. Because Carla will be here filming, so I want to take a good beauty photo. But yes, she looks very good. Great day of preparation and I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning. Hello guys, it's the next day. I already spilled coffee on my leg. Then ignore. We will start by renovating this area of ​​the bedroom. We need to bring the bed frame, mattress, headboard and side table.

We need to lay everything out to make sure there is enough room for everything to fit, before installing the headboard on the wall. Let's do it. Sorry not to interrupt your picnic here. - We shared a granola bar. - It looks like they're on a picnic date, you know? (soft music) But you guys need to move, sorry. This bed frame is from the article. (soft music) Okay, hanging this article header. I love this because you can buy it in queen and king sizes and you can also buy expansion packs that come in a set of two.

Then you can make like a whole wall of these, which is really awesome. Gorgeous. Also, I just want to say that I'm not sure how she appears on camera, but there is plenty of room for Nadine to walk around the bed and get to her closet. Just as before. Now I'm making the bed with our Brooklinen sheets. Also, don't worry, I'm going to give them a good steam, but first I'm going to make the bed. (soft music) Oh my God, how cozy. I'm going to jump here. - It looks very cozy. - It is not like this?

It's like a cloud. Okay, since we are working with such a small space, this side table will be used when Nadine is in bed, but also when she is on the couch. It will unite the two spaces. It's from Article and there's storage in here so you can put blankets and anything else you want to store, which is fantastic. So if you live in a space like Nadine's, where there is absolutely no division between spaces, rugs are a great way to add visual division, which is why we're adding this one to the living room. Should we open it?

I know this will appease all you rug lovers out there. This mat is very slippery and slippery on the floor. So I think a mat will help give it a little grip. Okay, hear me out on this rug size. If we're following a rule book, you'll technically want this rug to be much longer. We want it to almost touch the media cabinet, but we had to go with a smaller size because Nadine's desk is right in that opening. That's why I wanted her to be able to easily roll her desk chair across the hardwood floor. Good, because we're actually working with a very neutral style for Nadine's space, choosing a textured rug, meaning one that has an interesting pattern.

In this case, there are different colors, different shades of neutral colors. It's adding interest to the space. So we don't like to keep it sterilized in all white. We go for creams, blacks and this jute texture. Lots of visual interest. I love this rug. It's from Rugs USA. It's couch time. Graham. (crickets scream) Graham? - Yes. - We're unpacking this beautiful sofa from Article. This never goes out of style. It's always so exciting. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. (soft music) This is a lot of space for Nadine to rest and we're working on it like it's a little studio. - What do you think? - Awesome.

Somehow the living room now seems 10 times bigger and we have a bed in there. As if the studio seemed much bigger. So not only can Nadine use this as a dining table, but she can also eat while she watches TV. Luxurious. If she wanted to work on her couch, she could use it as that space. But Nadine had also mentioned to me during our call that all of her makeup was next to her bed. She took up valuable space, but she said she puts on her makeup by the window every morning. So I thought, let's add a couple of organizers here.

She can have a mirror here and do her makeup by the window in the morning. This piece is great. I'll leave her with even more organizers on this side and she can organize her makeup however she wants. I will post this beautiful art print below. This is from Minted, bloody, magnificent. Again, I love the texture of this art, but it has different colors, so it keeps the design feeling layered and not just like all white, you know? We're going to lower these blinds because we're adding a beautiful Roman blind. Go away, plastic blinds, go away. (soft music) (beep) Who would have thought you could find a scalloped Roman blind?

It is so beautiful. I'm going to hang this ribbon here so I can store the cord. Now we are changing all the lights. These are from Mitzi. Do you want to flip the switch? - Not really, but it's okay. - Excellent. So we are exposed, incredible. Awesome. (constant beep) - Okay, I'm going to place this sconce on this side of the bed. Since it's a small space, we need all the light we can get. So Nadine can have this on when she gets some light sleep. He is so cute. I need one of those. We added an electric bar under her bed connected to the outlet behind the headboard, so Nadine has plenty of charging outlets, and I'm also going to plug in this wall light down there.

Nadine asked for more desk space, so I brought her more desk space, but I also have another solution for a problem she had, which was that she was sitting on her side, cramped, because she didn't want the people on duty to see Your bed. , which I totally understand and we've given it this beautiful backdrop. I bought this table from Ikea and it has this little extendable piece, so you can put your laptop here and have meetings comfortably with that backdrop, which is great. I realize this is a big desk in a small space. I understand that the furniture is grouped together, but that's what it's like to live in a small space and I feel like we've solved all the functional issues I had and because everything is cohesive, it really works well together. (soft music) Completing your desk setup with this ergonomic branch chair.

My partner Noah works at Branch and they have great ergonomic chairs. This is his new faux leather chair. We have chairs in the office, except they are pink. Nadine can just pull this out when she has a meeting, put her laptop here and that will be the background. It looks beautifull? Does she do it? It doesn't even have style yet. This totally solves the problem. Before she was here and had a strange angle. So this is great. (nails hitting wood) And at the end of the day, when she's done with all her meetings, she can just put it back.

This is as far as she can go, but it's still okay. So. It has a compact desktop. - You wrote a lot. - Sorry, I'm hearing the sound of my own nails. (nails hitting wood) I told them we would reveal the cabinet to them. It looks so good. It looks like a built-in wardrobe. So much space, so much storage that I'll get into in a second. But first I'm going to finish this wall with some molding. There's a little white space up there. We just want it to look pretty and perfect. That's how elegant it is. (soft music) I started putting these beautiful VdeV knobs on.

They are these cute leather poles. They look so good. So this side of the cabinet has a lot of shelves. I'm going to put baskets there. Too much storage for Nadine. Graham also made this like an Ikea piece and put holes along the sides so Nadine can raise or lower the shelves if she needs them to be different heights, which is great. And on this side, to solve Nadine's problem of not having enough space to prepare the kitchen, we left everything open so we could put a kitchen cart here. This is great. So we put the island on wheels so she can move it around easily.

There is also space for some luggage here. You know I love luggage storage. I think it would be a good place to store luggage. - In the comments, let me know if the luggage fits here. - It left me speechless too. I love this so much. I'm going to bring up the television next. Alright. For the cables, I will put them all through this hole. And then remember that desktop outlet that we added here, this is where everything will connect. I think we'll end the day here. We'll be back tomorrow for the finishing touches and reveal.

Very excited. Hi guys. It is the day of revelation. I'm so excited to show Nadine her new studio. We start the day making a small change. I'm going to swap out the Branch chair we had here for this Branch chair. It's a lighter color, it's the same chair, it has vegan leather, which I love, but I thought it would go better with all the furniture we have here. And the great thing about having a boyfriend who is Branch's head of furniture sales is that it means there are a lot of options. And I saw this one in the showroom and I thought, wait, I think we should use this one instead.

So I brought him here today. It looks so good. In this closet I give Nadine some baskets to organize. I just can't get over the fact that we added so much storage instead. Okay, I want to add this butcher block to the top of the kitchen cart. And I thought I'd show you where I imagine this stroller will go when Nadine is using it. So when she's preparing food, she can just pull it out of this cabinet and I think she'll just stay here and create kind of an L shape for her in her kitchen with a lot more prep space.

And then when she's done, she can wash the cutting board, put it under here, and then just bring the cart back here. Easy peasy. Also amazing, I know. Next, let's add some plants. I say some. We are adding two. It's a small space. I'm going to make a reel, a fake one. Mingle. You only have to take care of one plant. Let's bring in the giant tree. Sorry, you'll have to move. These fake birds of paradise are from HomeSense. Honestly, HomeSense has been killing it lately with artificial plants. They seem so real. And I love this touch of green in the corner.

Now I'm hanging this pathetic plant and the goal is for it to grow long and draping. (soft music) Okay, now it's time to put the finishing touches on it. Starting with these beautiful Tonic pillowsLiving room. (soft music) I'm steaming the bedding and adding this Brooklinen quilt to the foot of the bed. I'm adding some books and dried flowers to her side table. Place a cozy green blanket on the couch and add two works of art from Kalm art studio above your desk. Shout out to Kay and her beautiful work. Place a table lamp instead of a traditional desk lamp to give your office a more homey feel.

Adding some books, a vase and a candle. Next, place this art print behind the TV and add more decoration. I am putting art on television only through a YouTube channel. (soft music) And lastly, place this runner in the kitchen. It's time to bring Nadine in for the reveal. - Well. You are excited? Highly strung? How do you feel? - All previous. - Okay, I would love for you to explain to me what your space was like two days ago. - It was very minimal. - Yes. - It lacked functionality with the work-from-home lifestyle. - Yes. - And it lacked the style and personality to match this person I've become, over the last 10 years of living here. - Okay, I'm very nervous.

Are you ready on the count of three? One two three. (soft music) - Oh my god, it looks so cool. - Like instant tears. - Wow guys. It looks so good. You did the wall thing. - Yes. - This is very functional. It feels so big. - I know right? - But it's cozy and it wasn't before. - Completely. - I finally have a real coffee table. - Yes. - Woo. It looks incredible. I feel like this is so me. - You agree a lot with the vibe. Like your whole outfit matches the vibe. - I look like this house.

That's a real desk. I literally feel like a boss already. Thus, this desk gives energy to the boss. Tomorrow, when I go back to work, people will say: what happened? - Where are you? - Thank you so much. - You're welcome, it's a pleasure. - It literally looks so good. - Thanks again to Brooklinen for sponsoring this video. Be sure to click the link below to get 20% off your order. Next, I'll tackle a living room and give it a granny chic look. I think this might be one of the most colorful and mismatched pattern makeovers we've ever done.

So be sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss our next upload. And see you next time, goodbye. (everyone laughs) - Someone needs to open it, okay? It wasn't good at all. - I have just been informed that it is not level, rather rudely. Yeah, I think it's actually Graham's hanging job. - It scratched the wall quite a bit. - Yes, we just need to repaint the entire wall.