Dating a design content creator has its benefits. Phoebe Kut, who has nearly 200,000 followers on her TikTok account @pbjdesign, used all the tips and tricks she shares online to completely upgrade her partner's 30-square-foot New York rental apartment on a tight budget. She did DIY projects, purchased secondhand pieces and selected multi-purpose pieces to accomplish the transformation for just $5,000.
Luckily, Kut had a beautiful canvas to work with. The compact one-bedroom apartment is over a century old and features original brick walls, exposed wooden beams and ornately carved window trim. “It has this historical charm,” she describes. “I believe the building dates back to the early 20th century. The kitchen and bathroom had already been renovated.”
The first thing Kut did was warm up the living room with a coat of Benjamin Moore's Texas Sage, a muted olive shade. “Everything used to be white, so we painted this accent wall to give it some color and character,” she explains. “Green is very cozy and homey, but we didn't want a really dark color because it would make the room feel a little closed in. This is a medium, balanced sage.”
For the sofa, Kut chose a modular light gray Burrow sofa that tucks into the corner for comfortable lounging and transforms into a single bed for overnight guests. “[My partner] “I wanted to have guests over,” she says. “In New York there are always people who want to crash, and you are hosting them. So that was something special that we ended up finding a really great piece for.”