This 750-Square-Foot NYC Rental Is Covered in Wallpaper, Velvet, and Brilliant Small-Space Ideas

In this 750-square-foot apartment she’s rented for a year on New York’s Upper East Side, she’s incorporated both high-impact but temporary updates that have created what she’s calling the “fullest expression of my studio’s aesthetic — colorful yet curated, bold without being overwhelming, and deeply personal down to the last detail.”

“For starters, I installed gorgeous, boldly patterned peel-and-stick wallpaper in nearly every room. While I couldn’t actually move any electrical wiring, I swapped out all the builder-grade light fixtures for stunning statement pieces — and outfitted them with digitally dimmable smart bulbs, an absolute atmosphere game-changer,” she explains.

There are some “DIY carryovers” from her last apartment, which actually won Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool Contest Best Vibe Award in 2023, like the “upholstered underbed storage drawers, and two of the decorative radiator and AC covers,” she writes.

To visually bridge the living and dining areas, she purchased 16 additional panels of “Aztec Gold” velvet drapery (like she had in her last apartment), completely enveloping the apartment’s main area. “It wraps the room in an ultra-cozy embrace, and on cold winter nights, the velvet catches the light and makes the entire apartment glow in a way that paint or wallpaper never could,” she writes.

The drapes even conceal extra storage, but the best part is it’s all entirely renter-friendly and can be removed when the lease is up.

Because Madelaine also uses her dining room as an area to meet with design clients, it was important for her to “create a sense of boundary and privacy between this zone and the kitchen. I originally sketched out fully custom built-ins to act as a room divider, but the architect in me did some measuring and realized a pair of standard IKEA PAX wardrobes would fit the clearance to the exact millimeter.”

“To give the wardrobes a completely bespoke, high-end look, I modified the configurations using IKEA SEKTION doors in the center sections and elevated them with solid brass starburst pulls.” The right unit holds her stemware for entertaining as well as material samples for clients, and the left unit holds all of the dog’s items. And she backed the shelves with Spoonflower wallpaper to add color and tie in to the rest of the home’s decor.

One of the biggest reasons Madelaine moved from her last home was the extra square footage she gained in this unit, which has allowed her to create a dedicated home office. “Not only did it allow me to upgrade my sit-to-stand desktop from a modest 48 inches to a sprawling 63 inches — which is crucial for spreading out material palettes — but it also gave me a vital mental boundary. When you run a design studio from home, being able to physically step out and close the door at the end of a long day is the ultimate luxury,” she admits.

“Because my day-to-day work involves constantly manipulating vibrant colors and complex patterns for others, I needed a workspace that felt calm and visually clear while I was designing, yet still conveyed ADROIT’s signature bold aesthetic to clients during virtual presentations. To strike that balance, I kept the side walls clean and neutral, but turned the back wall into a major design moment with a striking, crane-patterned Spoonflower peel-and-stick wallpaper.”

More drapery in the bedroom adds a lot of color and pattern, and Madelaine chose an oversized woven fan from Etsy for a headboard, which she customized by adding teal tassels. “I love infusing a bit of whimsical narrative into a sleeping space, which comes through beautifully via the vintage-inspired brass peacock lamps. I paired them with pierced, gold foil-lined shades from IKEA that cast the most magical, patterned glow at night.”

In the bathroom, Madelaine replaced the builder-grade medicine cabinet with a brass one at a better scale, as well as swapped out the light fixture. Glass and brass open shelves above the toilet offer extra storage. And the walls are covered in another bold Spoonflower wallpaper print.

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