A 452-Square-Foot Buenos Aires Home Fits a TON of Inspiring DIY Projects

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Bedrooms
Square feet

452

Sq ft

452

Post Image
That little corner on the right is my WFH space. Last year I rearranged all the furniture to find the right spot and make it functional but cohesive with the rest of the house. I don’t like the feeling of the office space looking at me during weekend.

Name: Carolina Lorenzo and my roommate, Milonga Estefanía (AKA Mili when she is in a good mood, or Supervisor. She is a cat.)
Location: Palermo — Buenos Aires, Argentina
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 452 square feet
Years lived in: 6 years, owned

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This is my living/dining space. I love my record shelf and the TV console (of course DIYed).

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: The apartment where I live is over 50 years old, and I live in a second floor in a very busy street in the middle of a very loud neighborhood. I moved here six years ago and Mili (my cat) came right after. Since COVID I have worked to make my apartment as cozy as it gets (during a very long lockdown and all by myself).

I completely renovated the kitchen by painting the cabinets and applying wood veneer. This was the first time for me so I'm very proud.

I’ve come to realize how important it is to me to have a calm and cohesive environment (since out there it is really loud!). I’m very far from being minimalist because I love to do a lot of crafts (my dream is to have a workshop) and it was very challenging to get a nice calming space with a lot of stuff and supplies.

I love to macramé! And that one is Mili (AKA supervisor).

I guess my personality is very reflected in my home. Everybody that enters my apartment for the first time tells me that my home “is very you.” So either they are paying me a compliment or they are saying that my personality is filled with stuff.

This is a thrifted table that I’ve weaved.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Cozy, scandiboho, cheerful, and DIY packed (you can say elder millennial too)

The bathroom used to be very dark and outdated. I decided to paint it and applied vinyl floors to give it a modern (yet vintage-inspired) look, more cohesive with the rest of the home.

What is your favorite room and why? My living/dining area is a multipurpose space, since I’ve being working from home since March 2020, it is also my chill space, where I have dinner or do some yoga, and my workshop/craft room space. Also, the bathroom was the last space I’ve tackled, and now it’s my favorite one (used to be blue and very dark), and I was very intimidated about doing it without help, but now it’s very bright.

This is a recent DIY lamp that I made using burlap.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? I’ve been crafting a lot. And since I’ve been staying at home, I have come very aware of the number of things I have. So I’ve been trying to reduce my purchases, and recycle or repurpose whatever I can find at home. I’ve been thrifting myself! I’m very proud of my lamp. In Buenos Aires, cane is pretty expensive, so every DIY you found with that material, I’ve tried it with burlap. But my latest one is a little dresser that used to be inside my wardrobe since I was a child.

This is me. And this is the last DIY that I made. This was the little dresser that goes inside the wardrobe from my childhood.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Don’t be afraid of any mistake you can make. Almost everything has a solution and during the process, you always learn something. My apartment looked totally different two years ago, but living in it 24/7 made me realize what I’ve been postponing all this time. So try every little thing you feel drawn to, and then if you don’t like it, try something new! Happy DIYing.

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