Apartment Makeover • Living & Dining Room

Alexa Katherine
by Alexa Katherine
This is the first episode of apartment makeover!! I have been working all summer long on this apartment and I have finally had everything filmed in order to edit. This episode is all about renovation. We really put in the work and next episode is all about the kitchen.
Take a look at my youtube channel and blog for more of Apartment Makeover!
Lets give you a history lesson on this apartment. I live in Boston Massachusetts, this apartment is a family own apartment and I was given a budget of $3000 to renovate this apartment. When I say renovate I don’t mean knocking down walls or anything. Even though we didn’t knock down any walls it was still a lot of work. My mother and I did majority of the work and I love the results. The building was built in 1910, which is completely normal in Massachusetts to have house be 100+ years old. The apartment that we were working on has not been update since 1984. You read it right, the apartment hasn’t had a facelift in 32 years.
First project was to take off all the wall paper down. Now, EVERY SINGLE room had wall paper and unfortunately since the place hasn’t had a facelift in 32 years, it meant the walls weren’t in the best shape.
We had a plaster man come to check out the walls. He have us a quote for his possible services and the price was just out of my budget! It was actually half my budget. My mom and I talked it over and decided get to do the work ourselves. We did a lot of research and found Mr Wally’s Plaster Magic. If your walls need some TLC, I would certainly recommend this product.
Next was on to primer. Many people told up to use Killz, which I am sure would have worked great but I didn’t want to use an oil base primer. Instead we used Behr Premium plus and it was great cover any rust stains with just one coat. Before you use primer make sure, you make sure all the walls are nice and smooth. Sand everything you can and wash down the walls before you prime.
Before you use primer make sure, you make sure all the walls are nice and smooth. Sand everything you can and wash down the walls before you prime. We also have crown moulding along the ceiling and we realized there was some spaces need to be refined. We use wall cocking to make the crown molding be a beautiful accent.
We also have crown moulding along the ceiling and we realized there was some spaces need to be refined. We use wall cocking to make the crown molding be a beautiful accent.
In the living room I used Behr Marquee Eiffel for You. In the living room, I used Behr Marquee Sky View Blue. I can’t stress it more, if you need to paint anything use BEHR MARQUEE.
All the trim around the windows and door ways, we decided to use straight white semi gloss from Behr Marquee. White makes everything look bright and open. The white means you will have to clean it more often but I don’t care because it is beautiful.
Then it was on to the floors. The entire apartment had wall to wall carpet. The carpet has seen its day and when we pulled up the rugs, there was hardwood floors underneath. No brainer, we are ripping up the rug and getting the floors sanded and polished.
We hired someone to refinish the floors and I was so happy with the result.
It was easy to rip up the rugs. We rented a dumpster to dump the rugs and other miscellaneous bits. Taking up the rug was easy but the nails and the staples took forever to take up. It took me about 4-5 hours to rip up all the edges and nails, so grab some gloves and a good music playlist. We hired someone to refinish the floors and I was so happy with the result.
Frequently asked questions
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  • Michelle Perram Michelle Perram on Jul 22, 2017

    You're renovation is gorgeous. So simple, clean and classy. How long did this take? I'm getting ready to redo my bedroom top to bottom including painting the furniture and I'm trying to figure out how long I'm going to be living in the guest bedroom.

  • Kathe233 Kathe233 on Aug 26, 2017

    Why would you put in all that time and money on an apartment? Are you the owner?

  • Kathy Kathy on Jul 31, 2018

    How did you go about finding someone to do the floors? How much can one expect to pay?

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  • Donna Donna on Jan 08, 2021

    Omgoodness, you have good-taste, and good luck! And, I cannot believe those beautiful, natural hardwood floors were hiding underneath that carpeting. Bravo to you, on a job very well done!

  • Donna Donna on Jan 08, 2021

    Oh wow! I love your room RENO! I sent another message, not 3 minutes ago, and it’s somewhere in, outer-space.

    You have skills, and good-luck with discovering the beautiful hardwood floors under the carpeting.

    Did you possibly consider french doors in the doorway. I bc believe it screams for a set.

    BEAVO to you for a superb job!! ♥️

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