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Home Decorating Smaller Homes Before & After

Before & After: A Fun and Colourful Apartment Makeover

My Beautiful Abode

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

We recently decorated this Fitzroy apartment. Take a look at the before and after photos to see the dramatic colourful transformation.

Vibrant Fitzroy Apartment · More Info

The brief for this space with to create a colourful modern space suited to city living. The layout for the small rooms needed to be highly functional with pieces being multi-purpose (the console in the spare room, is a table that can extend to seat 10 people) and easy to live with. Materials selected were also taking into consideration how well they suited the new modern aesthetic and how well they would wear (not long after moving in to the apartment, a cup of tea was spilled onto the velvet sofa, but once it was dried, the fabric was brushed out and completely restored)

A highlight for the space are the two pieces of graffiti, straight onto the walls in the living room and the main bedroom. The artist, Be Free, worked with the colour selected for the furnishings so the apartment had a sense of flow through the spaces.

Before: An empty blank canvas

After: A vibrant welcoming space

Vibrant Fitzroy Apartment · More Info

Vibrant Fitzroy Apartment · More Info

Check out the entire project here!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Melissa Pace
4 years ago
Love the use of colour here!
PRO
Billie Ivaskovic Designs
4 years ago
So vibrant, I love it!
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While it is a great update on a budget , I'll be the desenting voice haha . Theres a few things I would have done differently . I don't like the polished concrete floors -- a bit too trendy IMO , especially when other items haven't been updated -- a mix of periods looks a bit strange to me . Ironically , the only place I would have considered the polished concrete is the bathroom floor -- the blue tiles look great , the white cabinets and black taps -- and then you keep brown speckled tiles on the floor ? The kitchen is okay -- I'm not a huge fan of the blue doors , personally I would have gone with bright yellow or orange , and gone with oversized stainless handles on all the cabinets , and a stainless wall oven . And fake weatherboard aged vinyl board flooring in light brown and whitewash mix -- it would tie in better with the cupboards and the new stainless oven and handles . I'd suspect my budget would have been within a couple of thousand of yours ? Likewise , I like the overall design of the living and bedroom areas , with the exception of the concrete -- too trendy , too cold IMO . Personally , I would have gone with beige or cream or maize carpet , maybe extending the kitchen 'aged weatherboard' vinyl flooring into the dining area . Then again , everyone has different tastes .
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User
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
How come I often seem to be the desenting voice haha ?

Just me personally , the graffiti or art ( to be honest , I actually thought it was a couple of $50 'Banksy' rip-off peel off wall stickers off e-bay ) I would do on long framed or frameless canvases -- that way you could change them if you wanted , or paint the walls if you wanted -- basically , more options . It also means if they are selling , it is a lot easier to change if a new owner didn't like them .

The photo ( 3rd from bottom ) with the extra wall with the 2 colourful prints or paintings in white frames is way more my preference .

And while I understand the rug is similar tones to the art , to me it looks too busy , and that 'trend' of bright coloured cushions that clash with the bright primary couch colour reminds me of preschools or Government Departments -- places where taste is relatively unknown . Blue and green should never be seen , and the yellow is fighting with the blue IMO . More subdued golds , mid reds and warm orange would have the same effect without the 'jarring' in my opinion .

I am no expert , and taste is personal , I love colour but that seems like having bright colours just because you can , but that doesn't mean you should . . . . . . . . .
User
4 years ago
Oh , and the bedroom -- I love it ! The charcoal , the mid red , the warm orange tones -- so why not do the 'wall art' in the same colour pallette to look classy and tie it in ? Again , just my opinion -- you'd get away with the insipid green leaves IF the girls dress was in reds and oranges , but shades of blue ? Not me thanks . . . . . . . . .

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