Introducing Jess’s Makeover Takeover…All 363 Square Feet of It

***Written by Jess Bunge

Hi everyone. It’s me, Jess, Senior Market Editor and Official EHD Spotify Playlist DJ (that of which I am completely unqualified for). I can’t believe my fingers are actually typing this post because it feels like 5 years since I started to design my apartment. I think Emily, the team, my friends, family and the guy at the liquor store would all agree with that timeline. KIDDING about the liquor store. Design hasn’t driven me to drink…yet. It’s just been a long process. I’m pretty sure Emily teased my MOTO in the beginning of last year. BUT this apartment is SO special to me and getting it right was non-negotiable. It’s 363 square feet (so SMALL) of pure cozy heaven. Guys, it’s my first no roommates/no boyfriend place. I mainly blame this on the fact I have lived in San Francisco and New York…cities that are not very budget friendly to the non-professional creative person’s income. I also lived with great people but I like to have options and living alone wasn’t one of them until LA.

So when I got the job at EHD and was on salary for the first time, I started the search for my new sophisticated and adult-like coop. Like Emily, I was/still am a reluctant Angeleno. While sitting in my Brooklyn apartment I actually used to say that it would be my dream to work for Emily but I’m never moving to LA so that dream is never coming true. Well, the universe had a different plan. Like moving to Australia with my boyfriend of two years, breaking up (on good terms) then moving back to Southern California into my dad’s apartment for a few months to try to figure out my life. Ya, my life flipped upside down hard. But I couldn’t be more grateful as I still am in disbelief that I get to have this life. Still, it’s extremely hard to shake that New York pride when you move to LA. But unlike New York, in LA, you can get a small place without going totally bankrupt and get this…sign a lease without a co-signer. If you’ve ever lived in NY, you get what a HUGE deal that is. So getting my dream job and living on my own has massaged this “calling LA home” reluctance a bit.

But we are here to talk about design. Let’s do that, shall we? About six months after starting at EHD, Emily told me if I wanted, I could start designing my MOTO (Makeover Takeover for anyone new here). When the initial wave of excitement/panic subsided, I got to work. This was about a year and a half ago. Yep, 18 months to design not even the entire 363 square feet, but just living room and kitchen. But when you’ve been dreaming of having your own place since you were little and you are given the best gift of all, fantastic companies that want to gift you decor, a little thing called Style Paralysis likes to visit and hang out. I wanted it to feel like me but also inspire me. How exactly was I going to do that?? My plan was to find pieces that were a little outside of the box from what I had previously considered my style. Fun fact: That takes an annoying amount of time and mental agony. So before I embarrass myself and show you some of my first moodboards, I want to show you the space. Let’s start with the living room.

I know she doesn’t look like much but as soon as I walked in, I knew it was perfect. I called in asking if I could be late to work (the answer was of course) and ran to the bank to secure it. City living has prepared me for the war of apartment hunting. You have to be prepared and take no prisoners in the process. I actually can’t fathom a world in which I would be given the option to take my time to think about whether or not I wanted to rent a place. Maybe in the afterlife…or a normal/not as overpopulated city.

I loved the light, wood floors, tall-ish ceilings, the location and the fact that even though it’s technically a studio apartment, the kitchen and “bedroom” (more of a bed nook) are in separate rooms (again, that is a loose term). The ceiling fan/light wasn’t great and the varied shades of “apartment beige” needed to go but I knew those were easy fixes. Changing lights is something I have done in every rental I’ve lived in. It personalizes your home instantly and isn’t a huge landlord red flag (as long as you keep the original fixtures or offer to leave them). The only real bummer was that wall-mounted gas heater and the fact that there is only ONE outlet in the entire main space. I guess in 1920, they didn’t predict our lives would be taken over by technology. But I do have internet access so I’m going to stop complaining and get into my design inspiration…

image sources: top left | top right | bottom left | bottom right

I would call the style I wanted as So Cal meets Modern European. Mostly textured neutrals with pops of color, curved furniture, geometric patterns and a TON of art (mixing modern and classic styles). Oh and so many books. Looking well read is essential to achieving this look. I’m not kidding. Over the course of working at EHD, I quickly became obsessed with that laidback, cool kid Euro/Parisian look. I know it’s all the rage currently, but I don’t care. I love it. It’s refined, collected with a hint boho. Plus, my actual life goal is to live in Barcelona surrounded by iconic architecture, old tiles, modern design and all the wine. But that will only happen if Emily opens a Spain office…Emily, thoughts?

My living space is smaaalllll which means finding super unique furniture pieces that are the right scale are hard to come by. Fine. Instead of getting mad, I got even and by even I mean I begged my very handy dad for help. He agreed, rightfully with hesitation (I might be a picky client) and made this from a drawing I designed. May I introduce you to the beginnings of my wraparound low shelf bench…

Since it was impossible to make this one singular piece of wood because of its large size, he added holes and dowels where the two pieces meet. Then in his creative genius (which I normally disagree with…did I mention picky client??), he put two latches underneath to secure the two pieces together so they wouldn’t separate. It also makes it super easy to take with me to any future apartments I live in.

Now let’s move into my small but mighty kitchen…

My heart stopped when I saw that open shelving. I thought, “this is my chance (*cough* justification) to buy only beautiful things I love…or spark joy because I will be looking at them every day.”