Room of the Day: Quick Turnaround for a Studio Apartment
In just 4 days, a designer takes her daughter’s college pad from plain to posh with furniture and fresh paint
Designer Ania Omski-Talwar had four days to decorate and help her daughter, Mika Talwar, move into her first studio apartment. Omski-Talwar bought and assembled furniture, and painted every wall, in the under-200-square-foot space in Chicago, much of the time without electricity. She wanted to treat her daughter to something nicer than the typical college apartment. “She’s always been fiercely independent and never asked for much. It was a pleasure to do this for her,” Omski-Talwar says.
AFTER: The redecorated studio features new furniture and freshly painted walls. With permission from the landlord, Omski-Talwar painted the walls two slightly contrasting shades of gray to provide a neutral but dramatic backdrop. “If there’s an opportunity to paint, I will take it,” she says. Paints with built-in primers saved time. White curtains hung high above the only windows frame the room and enhance its brightness.
A cohesive color scheme was Omski-Talwar’s driving force. She balanced function, style and her daughter’s preference for gray and geometric patterns. Working with the stores and resources available to her in Chicago, the California designer selected complementary, clean-lined furnishings that fit the size of the space. She ordered other items ahead of time from retailers such as CB2 and The Container Store.
The artwork above the bed was the first item Omski-Talwar brought into the space. It influenced the rest of the decor and punched up the neutral color palette with gold. “That particular piece combines organic with something very sleek and modern,” she says.
Floor lamp: West Elm; nightstand lamp, duvet and geometric vase: CB2
The artwork above the bed was the first item Omski-Talwar brought into the space. It influenced the rest of the decor and punched up the neutral color palette with gold. “That particular piece combines organic with something very sleek and modern,” she says.
Floor lamp: West Elm; nightstand lamp, duvet and geometric vase: CB2
The studio’s size and configuration limited the furniture layout, which simplified Omski-Talwar’s decisions. There was really only one wall she could use for the bed, and she nestled a desk against the small wall opposite.
A round dining table provides Talwar with a spot for eating and studying with friends; it also serves as an extra kitchen counter and fills the dead space in the middle of the studio. “I was initially hesitant about it because I thought it would make the room even smaller, but I ended up loving it,” Talwar says. The round table makes circulation easier, and the clear chairs visually recede.
Desk lamp: West Elm; round table: Ikea
A round dining table provides Talwar with a spot for eating and studying with friends; it also serves as an extra kitchen counter and fills the dead space in the middle of the studio. “I was initially hesitant about it because I thought it would make the room even smaller, but I ended up loving it,” Talwar says. The round table makes circulation easier, and the clear chairs visually recede.
Desk lamp: West Elm; round table: Ikea
An awkward bump-out that had previously been underutilized is the perfect nook for a full-height bookcase.
Slightly offset from the end of the bed is a desk where Talwar also can study, although it is a tight fit. “The desk and the space below are used for storing a filing cabinet, printer and office supplies, and the round table in the room offers more space for studying,” Omski-Talwar says.
Bookcase: The Container Store
Slightly offset from the end of the bed is a desk where Talwar also can study, although it is a tight fit. “The desk and the space below are used for storing a filing cabinet, printer and office supplies, and the round table in the room offers more space for studying,” Omski-Talwar says.
Bookcase: The Container Store
AFTER: Talwar, pictured at right with her mom, is a student at DePaul University and will be heading to medical school in the fall. What with waking up at 4:30 every morning for crew practice and spending more than 20 hours in class each week, she has long days and limited downtime.
“It’s nice to have a place to come back to in between classes,” she says.
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“It’s nice to have a place to come back to in between classes,” she says.
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Studio at a Glance
Who lives here: Mika Talwar, 20, a senior at DePaul University
Location: Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago
Size: About 166 square feet (15.4 square meters), not including the bathroom and a walk-in closet
Designer: Ania Omski-Talwar of Ania Omski-Talwar Interior Design
BEFORE: Another student had lived in the studio before Talwar moved in. Though the previous setup had worked, and the apartment was in fine condition, the layout wasn’t the most efficient use of space.
Talwar had already been going to school in Chicago when she found this apartment. Before she headed home to California for the summer, she took precise measurements of the space to share with her mother. “My instructions to her were to buy a measuring tape, draw a basic floor plan and measure everything,” Omski-Talwar says. The dimensions, along with photos like this one, helped Omski-Talwar draft an accurate plan to use in designing the space before her daughter moved in.
Omski-Talwar ordered most of the furniture from California, where she lives. Knowing that it would fit the space, and timing it to arrive when Talwar would be moving in, enabled the designer to meet her four-day deadline. “It was a speedy process,” Omski-Talwar says.