We've been talking about color a lot lately here at Apartment Therapy, and this week's Home By Novogratz works right into our monthly theme. Bob and Cortney took an East Village rental from fresh out of college to masculine bachelor pad and painted each of the three connected rooms a different, gorgeous color.

But you can't paint a rental, you say. Well, it just goes to show that it never hurts to ask. Some landlords are pretty open to the idea, and the worst they can say is "no". Perhaps bringing a camera crew along helps your case, too. This apartment is a great study in how to coordinate room colors when the rooms are easily visible from each other. The beautiful French doors create a continuous view down the length of the space, but does mean that you have to paint it all the same? No! Bob and Cortney selected a soft seafoam for the dining room, a rich teal for the center living room, and a muted piney green for one accent wall in the bedroom, and all the colors work great together.

Teal is very popular lately but can be a challenge to work with, as evidenced in Tara's recent Teal Living Rooms post. I think the teal looks gorgeous in this room because of all the natural light and white wood trim. It's rich without being too saturated and suffocating. The pops of orange in the accessories and art and the warm, wood tones of the antiques help to tame the moody blue, too.

Another knock-out element in the space is the layering of all the client's rugs, which originally were spread out all over the place. Bob and Cortney turned them into one colorful rug collage in front of the sofa, which, before the makeover, was a floppy college futon. (Check out the before pic I snapped of my tv).

And that bed? I know what you're thinking. Every bachelor pad in Manhattan has a green Jenny Lind bed. But it looks so good in this apartment! Seriously, a predictable hotel chic masculine platform bed wouldn't have created the same antique, sophisticated, homey feel the client was after. And he certainly is a sophisticated homey now.

(All images except #8: Matthew Williams)