350 Sq Ft Studio Apartment Makeover Filled With Ikea Hacks! | Studio Fix S2 E1

Hi everyone, I'm Alexandra and welcome to my Studio Fix series where I show you how to transform your small

studio

into the most beautiful, organized and cozy home you've ever lived in. I'm going to continue decorating, they have a

makeover

. To do it, Carl, are you ready? We finally have a new episode of Studio Fix for you and this one is really special because I'm renovating the entire

studio

apartment

of Elena, my production assistant. Elena works very hard here at Team Ag to give everyone else

makeover

s. So it's finally time to treat her to a complete makeover of her

apartment

.

If you're new here, be sure to hit the subscribe button. I post makeovers every Saturday. A big shout out to Squarespace for sponsoring today's video. We'll talk more about them later, but for now, let's move on. it started so elena and her boyfriend jordan live in this little studio in downtown toronto and atlanta hasn't done anything with her apartment yet i mean they just moved in and i've always told her that like she's too busy getting things done from other persons. The houses look nice and she hasn't had the time or energy to make hers look nice.

Elena has this old bed and couch that she inherited from friends and family and I'm going to completely upgrade these pieces for her. A really fun Ikea hack: we'll get you a new bed and simply elevate it. I will get her a new sofa to replace this old one and make her feel much warmer, cozy and elegant here for her. and jordan, so the first thing we did was send a painter to paint the entire apartment white, it was tenant beige, you know I always say don't renter beige, it was the color when they moved in and he just did the Walls feel a little dated and it's a standard color, I get that, but I feel like the white makes it feel a lot brighter and fresher here.

The next thing Alana and Jordan did was take out her bed and her couch. I'm pretty sure the couch is right on the sidewalk. It looks so lonely sitting on the side of the road, but that's where it belongs. I shouldn't say that shadow, honey, this couch was old, it just needed to go and we're ready to go. cut, it's makeover day, I'm so excited, Elena and her partner Jordan have been working hard to prepare this studio apartment. This is how it looks now, a little chaotic, the walls look so good, it looks brighter here and so on.

It's cooler, but this is the fun part because now we can put everything together and make it look super pretty, so the first thing I'm going to do is hang some curtains. Elena didn't have curtains and she said no. bother her like the light doesn't wake her up in the morning, but I'm adding curtains because I think she'll make this apartment feel a lot cozier and warmer. It was really difficult to find a curtain rod that worked. to attach to each side of the wall, which I think is common in most condos, so a little tip for you, I actually have ceiling brackets that we have mounted to the ceiling and we are simply attaching the rod the curtain through the brackets and sit really nice that way, I bought these linen curtains, they're really beautiful, they're kind of an off-white color again, which makes it feel a lot cozier in here, so now that we've hung the curtains, it's time to take care of this blank space. wall and we are putting a lot of art in the living room so I knew I wanted to have some type of shelf on display.

I feel like shelves are great in an open concept home because they act as storage but also as a place. to put all your fun decorative things because of the work that Elena does, she collects, you know, a lot of antique pieces, a lot of art, so she actually saved the shelf that I'm going to hang, it will be a great place to put candles. and other decorative elements later in this makeover, so the next thing I'm going to do is make a DIY headboard for Atlanta. This is a really exciting Ikea hack, it's very simple and this was the inspiration for this headboard, so I feel like "We've all seen these beds right now, they have wicker headboards, but the thing is, they're very expensive.

This one costs almost 2000 so I thought I would do a fun Ikea hack I bought the tarva bed from Ikea it's really cheap I think it might be the cheapest bed they have and if you want a little spanking you can get it at Amazon or at your local craft store like, I'm done and you also want a staple gun and all you do is Super simple is just staple the cane to the back of the headboard This looks great and like you don't. we would do, I feel like you would find this in a home decor store and you would like what a trick, such an easy and super cost effective DIY, okay so I'm going to build the rest of the bed frame, put this on the bed, This headboard looks amazing, these curtains really warm up this room, but before we style this side of the room, let's move on to the living room and I'm going to unpack this awesome sofa from the item.

Many thanks to the article for donating this beautiful sofa to Atlanta. I know she will be very surprised and in love with this sofa now the way I am placing it. It's the way she and Jordan had it before, so it goes right next to the patio door and will really act as a divider between the bed and the living room, so try to create some separation. It's also the perfect size, which is another thing I love. about the sofas in the article is that oh hey Kelso, they have regular size sofas, but they also have these really nice ones in smaller sizes to fit in your little studio or your condo, Kelso approved, hey, do you like it?

I feel like I've said this many times in this series, but in a studio apartment, everything outside should count, should make a statement, which this sofa definitely does, so next I'm actually tackling this wall , so this is the The wall that is attached to the kitchen is right next to the sofa and Jordan and Elena need a place to eat or work like a small table and in a studio apartment a folding table is the way to go, It saves space, it's super functional and when not in use it just folds up and then when they need to use it they just lift it up which is an amazing item.

She also sent us these beautiful leather stools, they are very stylish and will complete this small dining room. corner perfectly, I hope you're enjoying this episode of Studio Fix, but I wanted to take a quick break from the video to talk about this week's sponsor, Squarespace, and talk about a really exciting new company that I've launched on my website. I have launched a Virtual Design Service for five people each month. Basically, I'm offering virtual design packages, which means you send photos of your space, you send measurements of the room you'd like to design, and I basically send you a package with product suggestions and a room plan. and then you can call me to chat about the design, which is really exciting.

The reason I mention this along with Squarespace is because my website runs and functions through Squarespace and I love it, it's a really easy platform. to create a blog, a website, a store and there are also many features on the back-end that help you track analytics, which blogs are performing well, which email campaigns you can also send email campaigns, which is great and also for someone like me who is a small business owner and I am busy being able to easily create my website on Squarespace, I make adjustments to it. I always update it and add new things.

It's been really amazing and I know right now you know a lot of people are trying it. to find out what the future holds for you and if you are a small business owner and maybe want to, I don't know, try writing a blog or starting a small store, squarespace is a great place to start, especially if you have no knowledge of how create a website, how to code, how to use html, all that. Squarespace makes it really simple and easy to build your website without having to even think about all that technical stuff, so head over to squarespace.com to sign up for a free trial and then use my code to get 10 off your first website or domain.

Also, if you didn't get a spot in September for my virtual design service, don't worry, you can sign up for the waitlist so you can be notified immediately when the October spots are open, okay, let's get back to the makeover from the Atlanta studio, so to complete this little nook in the dining room, I'm hanging some art and the first thing I noticed when I walked into the Atlanta apartment is that she didn't have any art hanging. the walls and I find that in such a small space art always adds a lot of color and pattern, even if you don't change the furniture like we have, just adding some art can make a big difference now if you're looking at this. channel, you're probably on a budget, you're probably looking for ways to beautify your space without spending a lot of money and that counts for art too, so I've talked about this before, but I bought this print at Juniper Print Shop. and they sell downloadable art, meaning their art is sold at a fraction of the cost of what it would normally cost.

This print was 20, we downloaded it and then printed it at this really large size and then we just framed it in a really inexpensive

ikea

framed printable and downloadable art like this one is great because you can have gallery worthy pieces in your home for less than fifty dollars, which is incredible, oh no, Kelso, no, on the new couch, I was trying to scratch it. Even think about it right now, this makeover is being achieved slowly but surely, what a difference already, but now it's time to focus on this side of the living room, so we take the TV off the stand because I want to make a wall gallery in this. wall and I was going to include the TV in that, but it's kind of an eyesore and doesn't look very good, so I think I'm going to buy legs for it so it can sit on top of the console I have. here but now we're going to take him out of the shot because I don't know what's going on with him.

Alana also had this little drawer here. She wanted to give it even more storage because this wall is quite large and in a studio storage is limited, so I bought her this beautiful dresser. I painted it an off-white color, it's called wicker white, it's kind of vintage, it matches her neutral color palette that she likes, so I'm going to place it against this wall. It's really nice to style, but it also gives you a place for a lot more storage, guys, how could I forget that I have beautiful gold legs to put on the bottom of this dresser?

Another fun Ikea hack, it's really simple, just order some likes on Amazon or at the hardware store put them on the bottom and suddenly it's raised and it just looks sleeker, fancier and you can clean underneath and Carla says you can clean underneath, yeah, so I wanted to put leather knobs on the front of this dresser. but they come with this silver stud that you have to attach the screw to and I didn't like that look especially since we have gold legs so we just cut the top of the knob like this and then you want to take a gold screw and just drill it through the leather and inside the dresser, I think this way they look much more rustic and much more put together than the pretty silver one.

I'm going to add even more color and decor with a gallery wall above the dresser. So since Elena and Jordan don't have a TV stand yet, I'm designing this gallery wall as if there isn't a TV here, that's because Elena is obviously perfectly capable of creating a beautiful gallery wall, so once that have a stand and a television. If they like it, they could improve theirs, so she can redesign the gallery wall with the TV in mind so that the TV doesn't block the art, but for now this is the next best solution: a really big piece of decor that was missing in Atlanta.

The apartment was a rug and rugs are great for not only dividing a studio apartment into different sections but also adding a lot of warmth, so I'm going to bring this huge rug and put it under his bed and this just divides the bedroom. from the living room without actually creating a physical division. I love peach colors. The vintage vibe again we keep it neutral with soft colors, but it still makes an impact. Elena loves everything related to ceramics. She loves the color terracotta. I thought how cool it would be to take a bowl, turn it upside down, add some fairy lights to it, and hang it next to your bed like some mood lighting, so I was in a thrift store in Prince Edward County It's a small town in Ontario and I literally found the most perfect bowl to make a light.

I made a hole in the top with a diamond drill bit and then all you want to do is grab some rope from the dollar store. This wasliterally a dollar and you want to pass it through your tie. a knot at the bottom like this and then you want to stick some fairy lights on. I also found these at the dollar store and then you want to take your fairy lights and literally weave them into the inside of the bowl. To add a little hot glue and hold them in place, you can also use a puck light if you want a stronger amount of light, but want to make sure the puck light opens from the front so you can change the battery.

Check it out. flip the light over, tie another knot and then you just want to hang it above your bed. Now we're designing the shelves, my favorite part, so now it's time for those finishing touches. I'm bringing a lot of greenery here with some pretty plants. beautiful golden light for her living room and then a lot of cute accessories because accessories are really what create a space and tie everything together okay before you open your eyes I just want to tell you elena that you are a very loved member deTeam a.g I am very happy to be able to do this for you and Jordan.

I want you to imagine what your apartment was like before. Super ugly. Super ugly. Not welcoming. I needed a lot more love. And you give love to so many other people's spaces except yours. so I count to three, I'm so nervous, I want you to open your eyes, okay, okay, one, two, three, oh my God, it looks so good, this is unrecognizable, oh my God, how beautiful, oh my God, This is a new brush update. and classy cool and classy your cute little light is like a completely different move yeah I thought it was a battery light for a plant stand you guys are classy can we talk about the couch like oh my gosh but the other couch needed to work everything It does not matter? perfect, it's so cohesive, it looks so much like your tone, yes, the oranges, if you guys have been looking, you know I've been dying for an orange tree and there you have it, oh my gosh, the rug looks so good, it look as good as I can.

I can't believe you're going to live here. Thank you so much. I love it. I'm very happy to hear it. Thank you all so much for watching this episode of Studio Fix. I love this TV show. I'm very glad that you like it too. This makeover was. intense, it was transformative and I'm so glad I was able to do this for Atlanta. Many thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this video. If you want to start your own website or blog, be sure to visit squarespace.com to get started. Try it for free and use my code which will be here to get 10 off your first website or domain purchase.

Thank you all again for watching, you are the best and we will see you next time, bye.