A Renter Spent a Decade Restoring the Hidden 1930s Charm of This Apartment

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Home Type

Apartment

Location

Nokomis Neighborhood, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Style

Cottage

Parisian

Vintage

Bedrooms

Square feet

850

Sq ft

850

“Oftentimes people think they need to replace old with new, but in fact by simply restoring what’s already there you can give a space new life and showcase its original beauty,” writes Karalyn Ann Swanson, who has rented this apartment built in the early 1930s for 15 years.

Credit: Ryan Lee

This is Karalyn's favorite view in the apartment. "I loved the arches that are mimicked throughout the apartment and used secondhand closet shutters I found on the side of the road to create the illusion of French doors. The typewriter is an authentic antique from C. Smith and Corona Typewriters Inc., which I inherited. Some of my favorite pieces in the apartment are the six pastel prints of Parisian Doors hanging above the dining room table, which I purchased from Etsy," she writes. "They remind me of the summer I spent in Paris. The breakfast nook was given to me by my parents; it was originally oak and I stained it walnut and distressed it with white paint, adding a French stenciled design to the back of the seat.

For 10 years she’s actually been the building’s caretaker, maintaining the cleanliness of the complex and acting as a liaison for property management. And she’s also been spending the last decade restoring her apartment, “stripping away decades’ worth of paint that coated woodwork and fixtures.”

Credit: Ryan Lee

"The turquoise farmhouse sink is original to the apartment and has been well-maintained," Karalyn explains. "I hand-sewed the white skirt and attached it to the bottom; it hides my recycling. The stove is from the manufacturer Hardwicks and appears to be from the 1950s; I added the black trim. The shelf was already installed when I moved in, from a previous tenant. I liked how it matched the woodwork of the cabinets and thought the iron support scrolls were a beautiful touch. The secret to open shelving is to ensure all the dishes match and have a cohesive color scheme, so I have chosen to display my plateware on the shelves. I invested in authentic French copper pots and pans (imported from France) that hang on display in my kitchen."

Karalyn described the apartment’s vibe before she moved in as a “marriage of decades,” explaining that both the apartment and the building had both been “well-maintained over the last nearly 100 years, and many of the original features were still intact. However, the beauty was often hidden, as revolving tenants covered up the old with the new.”

Credit: Ryan Lee

"The Hoosier cabinets (open cabinets) are original to the apartment," Karalyn explains. "I have safely removed the doors, sanded and stained the interior, and put a white-washed faux-brick peel-and-stick wallpaper inside (from Target). The canisters and baskets are from HomeGoods. The door nearest the refrigerator would have been used by the milk or ice delivery men to drop off weekly deliveries. When I moved in, it was stained with decades of oil from cooking. My dad and I sanded and stained it to match the pecan woodwork throughout the kitchen. I think it's the most beautiful piece of woodwork in the home and it holds a wonderful memory of working on a project with my dad. I added black trim, magnetic handles, and framed magnets to the refrigerator to give it added charm. The standing cabinets that frame the kitchen are most likely add-ons from the 1950s and house my many Mason jars that are filled with herbs and spices."

Her goal for her apartment was to bring back its original beauty, “uncovering the charm of the 1930s aesthetic and eliminate the mixture of various decades,” she writes. She’s “sanded and stained woodwork, stripped paint from fixtures, removed rust from appliances, plastered holes in the walls, and added ornamentation whenever possible.”

Credit: Ryan Lee

"The bathroom was one of the most challenging projects to tackle because of the nearly 100 years of moisture imbedded in the woodwork," Karalyn admits. "I stripped eight layers of paint from the medicine cabinet (as well as the window in the shower) and stained them antique white. I believe woodwork should be stained, not painted, to maintain the integrity of the wood grain. I also added the corner scroll decals, which give it a bit of whimsy."

Karlyn actually grew up in a family that moved frequently and fixed up homes for sale, and says she got to “see firsthand how to make a place beautiful with minimal costs. My dad helped me a lot in the beginning — building shelves, replacing fixtures, and doing bigger woodworking projects.”

Resources

Credit: Ryan Lee

"The French window is actually a door my dad cut into pieces and secured together to create a window frame; it is non-functional, but simply rests in the space," Karalyn explains. "The mirror above the window is painted brown to match the woodwork and give the illusion of a window arch. The outer curtains are from HomeGoods, but I could only find two panels, leaving the middle window exposed; I used shear curtains to help bridge the space."

LIVING ROOM

Couch and coffee table — Wayfair
Rug — World Market
Curtains — HomeGoods
Two bohemian sitting poufs — HOM Furniture
Analogical clock — World Market

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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