This Rental Apartment’s Remodel Is Extremely Eclectic and Cool

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(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

Name: Tal Meidan, husband, two kids, and a baby on the way any day now
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Size: 1,292 square feet
Years lived in: 2 months, renting

Our apartment is located in Tel Aviv’s most central area, which typically does not have big houses. We (Tal, 32, Ronny, 37, Adam, 6, and Yuval, 3) insisted on finding something big without having to give up the central neighborhood we are so used to, and we were searching for over a year when my third pregnancy started speeding our search. This apartment was in terrible condition, but was big and offered rare facilities for the area: a private parking space, four bedrooms, an elevator, and a huge balcony.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

We decided to offer the landlord that we’d take it, renovate it (I’m an interior designer), love it, and live in it if he paid about half of the investment [renovation]. When he accepted our offer, I immediately started planning every inch. The idea was to unite ideas from many of the designs done by my studio in the past (that made me drool over them), and this time make them mine. The outcome is very eclectic.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

I resent titles like Nordic/vintage/country-chic etc. I believe that each room has its specifications, needs, and character, and therefore the kids received a very colorful yet serene styled room, while my studio and our master bedroom suite came out calm and romantic. The central area is a happy and colorful combination that combines all styles and family members. Most buys were made from flea markets and rare secondhand finds from private people, though here and there you may identify some IKEA hacks, and the wallpaper and textiles were new as well.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Eclectic duplex five-room rental.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

What is your favorite room and why? I love our master bedroom suite, mostly because the starting point was so bad; we actually found ourselves thinking out loud if it’s a deal breaker or not. The ceilings are low, the windows were in terrible shape, the floor was rotten, and it had the most terrible smell to it. The “stage” was a different shade of wood than the rest of the laminate floor, and it all just didn’t make sense. I invested so much thought in this space, and the outcome is just great. With a good color and carpentry plan, which included painting the stage white and special short but wide closets, many pampering additions, and small details plus, of course, the changing of rotten tiles, we created a romantic dreamy suite, and now each person entering the room for the first time switches the exclamation, “Oh my!” to “OH wow!”

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

If you could magically change something about your home, what would it be? I hate the bathroom plan. Two tiny rooms attached; in order to open one room I have to close the washing machine door, etc. The whole arrangement doesn’t make sense—but at least it looks nice now. I tried facilitating what I could, but am definitely planning on a serious renovation a few years from now.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? The lovely sloth curtain holders! I added them on the morning of the photo shoot. They were bought from AllfromJade’s shop on Etsy and are so adorable my kids won’t leave them on the curtains because they insist sleeping with them.

(Image credit: Orit Arnon)

Any advice for creating a home you love? The only rule is that there are no rules. No color scheme, no need to insist on one particular style. If X is pretty and Y is pretty—they will just work out together.

Thanks, Tal!

*These responses have been edited for clarity and length.

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