Internet Obsessed With Tiny 275 Square-Foot New York City Apartment Revamp

Looking to give your tiny apartment a glamorous revamp but don't know where to start? One interior designer's chic transformation of a cozy apartment in New York City has stunned users on TikTok.

Footage of the one-bedroom apartment before its stylish facelift was shared in a viral video by Phoebe Kut (@pbjdesign), a 29-year-old full-time content creator focused on illustration and interior design who is based in Vancouver, Canada. The video has had 1.3 million views since it was posted on March 5.

Kut told Newsweek that her client's apartment, located in the Lower East Side/Chinatown area of Manhattan, has one bedroom and one bathroom. She added that the apartment is "actually closer to 300 square feet after re-measuring."

The pre-war apartment (an architectural style of apartments built before World War II) lends a modern medieval feel with exposed brick walls, wooden beams, and frames. It features "ornate window casings, which contrast with the updated finishes in the bathroom, kitchen,and bedroom," she noted.

"We wanted to make a nod to the neighborhood (Chinatown) while honoring the original architectural finishes in the apartment," Kut said, going with a "charming, eclectic and modern" style.

The poster shared several follow-up videos charting the progression of the apartment's decoration, which is "not 100 percent done" yet, she told Newsweek.

The post comes as around three in five American homeowners were reported to have remodeled or decorated their home in 2022, while nearly half of them made repairs, according to a survey of 46,118 U.S. homeowners aged 18 and older conducted by Houzz, a home design website.

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The survey found that the median spend for home renovations in 2022 was reported to be $22,000, while the median for higher-budget updates reached $140,000 or more. Interior spaces were found to be the most popular areas to renovate in 2022, with homeowners tackling an average of nearly three interior projects at a time.

'Works Perfectly'

In a subsequent video, Kut debated giving the windows a "controversial" look of floor-to-ceiling length curtains, potentially in a linen fabric. This would aim to brighten things up because "everything in the space is really warm," from the wood flooring, brick and beams, she says in the clip.

However, the designer went with Roman shades instead, according to a later video, which offered "the best of value" because the apartment has six six-foot windows and "window treatments are expensive."

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The apartment also features a "sectional sofa bed" from Burrow, made with three square blocks that can be moved around to create different sofa formations, as showcased in another video. The sofa can be used as a sleeping space by aligning the squares to form a rectangular shape and adding a mat on top of it.

A caption shared with this clip reads: "Was looking for the perfect compact sofa for a small living room that had a bed option and this works perfectly."

The apartment also houses a corner table with "Asian influences" that acts as a "playful nod to the location of the space," according to a note overlaid on a subsequent video.

A pendant light overlooks the table, which is paired with velvet-style green chairs that match the space's sage green color scheme from the Benjamin Moore paint store.

Kut told Newsweek that the total cost of furnishing this New York City apartment amounts to around $4,500. According to another clip posted by the designer, it costs around $5,000 to $10,000 to furnish a one-bedroom apartment, "depending on your taste, your style, your budget," she says in the video.

Asked about her best tips for the easiest way to make a tiny apartment space appear and feel larger, Kut told Newsweek the following:

• The strategic placement of mirrors: For her latest project, she said, "We placed a mirror opposite from a window to reflect light and brighten the room."
• Multifunctional furniture: For the NYC apartment, "we opted for a compact sectional that also converts to a sleeper sofa for guests," Kut said. She noted that the dining table is also a work table, while the piano doubles as a console table and the bed has storage beneath it.
• Opt for furniture that has legs: This allows the space to not feel too cluttered or heavy.
• The right color: "While dark paint colors don't always necessarily make a room smaller, we chose a muted sage green that adds richness to the room while complementing the brick and trim," she said.

'Absolute Dream'

TikTok users praised the tiny New York City apartment in the viral clip and its characterful design touches.

User Girl_in_Curls said: "It's tiny but whoever designed it obviously put a lot more thought about practicality than a lot of other tiny apartments I see on here! So much character too!"

Lau noted: "So much character, the curve of the wall, beautiful windows, the beams, the brick. I'm already in love."

Mads & Eri said: "Omg that place is gorgeous!!" and Raeann Langas noted: "This is an absolute dream."

Kristen Rylander wrote: "The way I am SALIVATING over this space..."

Julia Albanese said: "This space is breathtaking," while @krista_alana also noted: "I gasped, it's so perfect."

The Aisle Assistant noted: "Whomever designed the cabinets and bedroom built ins to maximize space deserves an award."

User lizthrash agreed, saying: "With all the storage it looks huge!"

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Update 05/17/24, 1:33 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment and images from Phoebe Kut.