EXTREME LIVING ROOM MAKEOVER! | Mid-Century Modern + Industrial Style For My Boyfriend

Hello guys, welcome back to my channel. I'm Alexandra and I'm very excited about today's video. I've been counting the days until I can share it with you. I'm remodeling my

boyfriend

Noah's

living

room

, from start to finish. Top to bottom, big shout out to Squarespace for sponsoring today's video. I love working with Squarespace. We'll talk more about them later, but for now let's get started, so before you jump into this video, make sure you give Noah a big thumbs up first. Yay, Noah. an inspiration to all of us, I have tons of content like this that I upload every week on this channel every Friday, so make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any episodes.

Many of you have asked for a space that feels a little dark and moody, a space that strays from my usual aesthetic, which is very bright, very airy, lots of colors, lots of pom poms and I thought what better opportunity to do this in my

boyfriend

's space, so Noah lives in this cute little one. apartment in downtown Toronto it has a lot of character a lot of bricks and it has a lot of really cool pieces it already has this amazing bookshelf it has these amazing lights this one is from ikea it's a simple silver floor lamp and then this one is angled from the wall to the floor and I think it's really cool and unique.

He has this couch that was passed down to him as two different people. I think it's an old sofa. You're thinking about getting rid of the couch and investing in a new one. one, it also has this amazing tv stand. I love that it's an overall light birch color, like I have some really cool pieces in this space, but nothing that really ties it together cohesively. This is a good example of spaces that You guys may have spaces that feel totally right, but you need those other elements to tie them together and make them feel stylish and cozy, so I'm going to walk you through the journey of remodeling this space.

I'm going to walk you through the whole process, a look behind the scenes, how I plan a space with someone. I really hope you enjoy watching the entire process of this space come to life. Okay, so this is how I feel. This is a really good example of what I was imagining: super dark, super moody, but then like pops of color or we could go super bright and airy with dark accents. I feel like it will end up being in the middle. How are things? that you like your life because your apartment is great the bookshelf is good ooh I like the bookshelf can you tell everyone about your bookshelf so early in the pandemic before we met but when I was looking at your instagram or something I guess it was? inspired to color color organize my books on one of our first dating calls you were like look at my bookshelf oh yeah I did it, I showed it and told it for my fan, I showed it and told it for my apartment, but just so it stays clear.

Didn't you follow me before we were introduced? No, it's okay, because you just made it look like you were looking through my Instagram. One of your followers did introduce us. Okay, sorry, I'm interrupting you. What is the sofa? I guess it's the most comfortable and I feel like the ottoman is kind of wasted space, like it's being used as a coffee table but it doesn't really function as one. I also feel like you've told me in the past that your

style

skews more of an

industrial

feel, you like things to be

modern

, like metal pendants, a lot of metal details on the legs of the table and chairs, but you also like like the color, that's a bit contradictory, it's like you love the

industrial

style

, but you also like the color.

You have ordered a distressed rug like a vintage distressed feeling

living

room

rug that is not industrial. I think they are some industrial details, but not dark. If you could have the living room of your dreams, can you tell me something? of the items that would be there I feel like I can't put it all together completely, I mean, they would have a new couch, okay, there would be a place to put my bike because right now it's like in the middle. It's actually a good challenge for me, I've never liked it, yeah, I've never tackled bike storage before, so I'm not going to touch the sideboard, I'm not going to touch the bookshelf, I'm not going to touch the two lights on. on either side a bike storage solution is fine, a new sofa and then try to find a middle ground between an industrial feel and also cozy and warm, but without pom poms or pink, what if there was a small pom pom on a pillow or something what did it look like? a pom pom maybe ok, my work was enough for me, I mean I'm sure you can figure it out fine, I'm not so sure and the cut and scene was great, you weren't awkward at all.

I've been working on Noah. living room for so long, probably around 15 mood boards. I don't normally share this process with you, but I thought it would be cool to see behind the scenes and how much work goes into these

makeover

s, but I also thought it would be comforting for you to know that it's so normal to go through a massive process when you're designing a huge room in the sense of questioning things, changing things, going through a million different options, but I wanted to share them. with you, starting from my first mood board, you see there's a green velvet couch, a black and white rug, a print that she actually has in her bedroom that I thought we could bring into the living room, sort of of coffee table with an outrageous feel and then This kind of hanging lamp with a bistro feel I liked it at first but I said no this is not industrial at all and it doesn't really have much color and that's what he asked for so I moved on to mood panel two.

I decided to change the art to something that was really bright to give it that color and then I brought in a rug and a velvet couch and then I thought I could paint her wall this navy blue to match the couch, but again it just didn't feel right. and it actually felt like a traditional feeling, so in the next mood panel I got rid of the art completely because I felt like all the art matched that artwork and I thought I'm really not that in love with that artwork , so I found this piece that is by a photographer who lives in the United States and her art is incredible, her photography is incredible and then I went with the color on the couch. rug with a bunch of patterns on it, I thought this was the one and then I sat on it for a couple of days and came back and thought it's not right, that brings us to my final mood board, and I say, thank you.

I finally got it right it feels like it clicks so I want to paint it navy blue then I found the couch which is royal blue so I love how it will stand out against that navy wall it's a little different but it blocks Two colors. then you have the industrial elements of the frame around that artwork and the lights that noah already has which have a very industrial feel and then i bought him a rug that looks vintage and worn but has tons of color so it really adds life and color in this space I finally have it, I'm so happy and it's just proof that sometimes you have to do like 15 different mood boards to get it right, that's the moral of the story, it's time I tidied up these products, start getting ready for this

makeover

I can't wait until the day of the makeover, I'm so nervous I was going to say I'm excited, I am, but I'm also really nervous because what if he hates it?

On that note, I see you on makeover day, so it's the first day of Noah's makeover. I'm so excited. I have a lot to do today. I'm here alone. I really want this to be a surprise for Noah, like all my makeovers. So he's staying at my house for a couple of days. The main thing. I'm going to tackle the painting, which is why I have my painting overalls on. I also wanted to mention my friend danny berger, she has this amazing line of products where she sells these t-shirts that are made to get dirty, the idea is that even if you get paint on them or whatever you're doing with, it will look great and It's going to be a piece of art in itself, which I think is very clever, but the first thing that's going to happen today is that Noah's old couch is going to be disposed of.

Now I wanted to chat about this a little bit because Noah and I were discussing whether or not we wanted to buy from him. a new couch because his couch was in pretty good condition, it was passed down to him through different roommates, so it's definitely a couch that has been loved a lot, but there was nothing wrong with it and we both said we didn't want it getting rid of a couch to throw in the landfill, so I did some research and found this amazing company. It's called a furniture bank, they serve Toronto and the GTA basically what they do is send a couple of people to come pick up your furniture.

It's not a free service, so you have to pay, but this service costs less than 200, so removing a sofa is like. His condo or like Noah, he lives on the top floor of a building, so there are many flights of stairs. The best part about this service is that the furniture goes to families living in poverty or displacement, so by hiring a furniture bank we knew that this sofa was going to someone who really needs it, which is amazing, so I'll link them below thanks to furniture bank for coming to pick up Noah's couch so let's get painting.

I decided to go with hail navy blue, the same color I used. The corner of James' office. I love how rich it is and I think it will look great. Color blocked against the velvet sofa in the item arriving today. In fact, the color below is somewhat similar, but it's much grayer. Where this is definitely blue, there is one thing. Today I learned that you should get a painter's pole that will lengthen the handle of your cage. I'm a little embarrassed I haven't used one of these before. I applied three coats to this wall. I probably didn't need to do it. three coats, but I can't emphasize enough how using a stick on my paint roller made a difference as this was not only fun to do, it was very easy and I think it was a much cleaner job than without the extender.

I just took a lunch break and sent Noah a tick tock. He responded by saying I like it, but why are you on tick tock? And I said, no, no, ma'am, no, ma'am, excuse me, I'm taking a lunch break. This other side of the wall to do it is like that wall, so I'm going to do that and then I think I'm going to roll out the rug and unpack the couch. Look at the wall, it's so beautiful, I'm very happy with it. I love it Noah asked about the color I feel like rugs are a great way to incorporate that color and pattern into a room and already with the blue wall and this rug it feels so much warmer in here oh yeah now I'm going to try to bring this couch in here and unpack it myself.

I stare at the box. It's huge. Okay, that's one way to do it. I wanted to say a big thank you to the article for donating this couch. A sofa is something you should do. Definitely invest in it, I know it's not possible for everyone, but if you're saving for a couch, spend your money on furniture. It's so beautiful, so durable, they are delivery people and their customer service is always impeccable and you get free shipping. orders that cost $999, which is amazing, is the end of the first day of Noah's makeover. He made a lot of things and I'm very excited with how everything turns out.

I put your lights back up just to see how they look and they look amazing so I'm going to see them bright and tomorrow morning we'll finish the space and reveal it to Noah so before we start the second day of this makeover I wanted to do a Brief pause and talk to you. about this week's sponsor, Squarespace. If you don't know, Squarespace is the one-stop shop for all your small business needs. It is where they can create a website for their brand. Create a store or a blog. Everything is in one place. Literally. I run a lot of my business using Squarespace, so I have my virtual makeover packages, that's all done through the website, so I send people their virtual design packages, I set up meetings, it's all done in one single place and it's very easy for me to navigate. small business owner, I have a press section where I put all the articles I've been included in, I have my ted talk on the brands I've worked with for me, it's like a portfolio in many ways, there's no no html coding needed, super easy to use for someone like me who is a small business but has a million things to do if you are interested in starting a website, a blog, a store, all of the above be sure to check out squarespace .com. and use my code in the description box and it will appear on the screen for 10 off your first website or domain.

Thanks again to Squarespace for sponsoring this episode and let's move on to day two of Noah's makeover. I don't know what this means. but let's get into it, okay guys, it's day two of Noah's living room makeover, so last night you saw that I put the rug on the couch and a couple of light snow was already here, so the first thing I I'm going to tacklehanging up his bike, I'm not sure if you guys saw his bike in the previous shots, but believe me when I say he was in the most annoying place ever, it was like in the middle of the kitchen hallway and I just tripped.

Always a great way to solve bike storage in a small space is to maximize wall space. You can find so many awesome bike racks or hooks on etsy, so I found this one for Noah. He is an industrial style bike hanger that I have hung. It's on the wall and I'm hanging Noah's bike here and it fits perfectly, oh god no, no, and this is an amazing solution and I feel like it adds to the vibe of this space. The idea is for Noah to put his bike down and then when I put it up he'll just lift it off the hook more gracefully than I can but look at these guys it looks so cool so now that the bike rack is up it's time to put a new hanging light in here and I'm very excited because unfortunately Noah had a boob lamp in his living room.

Can we take a moment of silence for the boob lights? Waiting for a moment of silence is a good thing, right? Take a moment to just don't like boob lights. This is the point at which you choose a pendant lamp. You can go. You know so many different routes. You can choose a really big one. In fact, I think a pendant lamp can never be one. big in a space I recently saw this photo on Instagram where this light was huge in this corner of the dining room. I'll put it here if I can find it, but for this room I chose something medium sized because I wanted to get it. on a budget so these ikea pendant lights were 20 and I just gave it a quick coat of black spray paint which will go great with a couple of black accents I have here you can see some from the basket below and it does that the light feels really textured and I love that it looks kind of weathered and definitely like I didn't give it a quick coat of spray paint yeah it looks so good so next thing that's going to happen Above is this incredibly beautiful piece of photography by Theresa Bear.

This photo is from Minted. I looked up Teresa's work because she was very intrigued by it and she does many sessions that blend like plants with people. Her art is really great. I'll link it. this piece below and Theresa as well so you can see more of her art if you want and if you live in a small space just like with lighting, don't be afraid to go with big pieces of art, it fills a wall and I. I feel like they are more impactful than a small piece of art, the bigger the better, it looks so good I framed it in a champagne silver frame and it goes so well with the two lights on either side which I like I am so excited to show it to Noah, yay, oh yeah, this is the last piece of furniture coming here.

It's also from the article. I fell in love with him when I saw him. It's a very interesting piece visually and it's really big, which is great because before we were. Eating food on Noah's ottoman just wasn't a good time even though he has a dining table, but who doesn't eat dinner in front of the TV? I'm right, so now it's time to add tons of texture to this sofa, right? Remember Noah's sad, sad pillows on his couch, that's cruel. I just put them in a new cushion cover and that's a trick. If you have ugly sofa cushions, don't get rid of them, just buy a new cover, put it over the old cushion and go. you have a new pillow that is amazing, so usually my rule of thumb is to use two solid pillows and then maybe two patterned pillows or two different types of textured pillows, but the more texture, the better this pillow will look.

I am obsessed. linked below and then I also bought velvet cushion covers so you'll notice I didn't do an oatmeal cushion on the right side so I matched it with this indigo throw on the other side alexandra yeah I can't stop yeah and now for the finishing touches a tray to corral books and a candle a nice side table that Noah already had with these beautiful dried olive branches and a last plant on the other side of the sofa and finally I am going to change this plant that looks like it needs a little of attention.

I don't know how Noah didn't inherit the plant-keeping gene because his mother is literally a gardener and his sister has thriving plants inside him. an apartment like this is just sad, let's take care of you poor thing, I'll replace it with this cute one, if anyone knows what this plant is called let me know in the comments below. I found it in a store near Noah's house. and I love it, I'm very excited about how this space turned out and I'm very excited to reveal it to Noah. He's never changed the face of a significant other before and he feels special, so he'll be here any minute.

We'll bring it in and reveal the space. You have to close your eyes. Okay, but I'm going to trip. No, he just closes his eyes. You will not know. I swear to god. You will not know. There's the ladder. Yes. You have notes. Just stop here. okay, why do I feel so nervous? you are excited? Yes, thanks for trusting me, you're welcome, I'm excited. I want you to imagine what it was like before, so you had your used Ikea sofa, all gray. The wall was also gray, everything mixed together and the bicycle where I was standing, the bicycle that I always tripped over and it was like in the can of three, I want you to open your eyes, okay, okay, okay, one, two, three , wow, wow, that looks so good on the The bikes here fit perfectly look so much better, right?

Yes, so I painted the wall navy blue. I'm going to try the sofa. I kept your side table much better, but outside of the pretty color of the plant on the rug, I added this light I feel. I like it adds texture it looks so good you like it yes yes no don't kiss on camera thanks gg but you like it yes I'm so glad it's so good I'm so excited with how this space turned out . I'm filming this video about a week after I renovated the space and it feels different, like it's a place you want to hang out, he was actually reading the newspaper on the weekend on the blue couch and I was like this, what? since when do you read the newspaper? one physical newspaper, but two, this vibe looks good, it looks like you should be sitting on this blue velvet couch reading a newspaper.

A big shout out again to Squarespace for sponsoring this video. Be sure to visit squarespace.com, sign up for free. try and then use my code to get 10 off your first website or domain. Make sure to give this video a thumbs up, subscribe, you won't want to miss more videos like this, and as always, I'll see you next week. bye