{"id":380832,"date":"2025-09-08T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stylebyemilyhenderson.com\/?p=380832"},"modified":"2025-09-29T12:47:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T19:47:23","slug":"mallorys-rental-apartment-living-room-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stylebyemilyhenderson.com\/mallorys-rental-apartment-living-room-transformation","title":{"rendered":"MOTO REVEAL: How Mallory Made Her Boring Living Room Feel Homey In Just One Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to my new apartment!! You last saw my 500 sqft studio in Hollywood<\/a>, and now you’re entering my 2-bed 1950s Los Feliz pad. This apartment has been in my friend group for about 4 years, and we just keep passing it down to each other because it has a ton of perks: it’s rent-stabilized, month-to-month, and in the perfect location (super walkable to all the fun restaurants here and my friends just down the street). The only issue?? It’s super old and run down, but it has incredibly charming vintage tile in the kitchen\/bathrooms and SO MUCH POTENTIAL. I moved in here in June 2024 and had pretty much nothing in terms of furniture (I sold\/donated most of it after a cross-country move and a ~dramatic~ breakup) but our friends had graciously left some hand-me-down pieces so it was liveable and then in June 2025 the AllModern angels came down from the heavens and asked us to partner on a 1-month living room makeover which was a challenge I was very much ready for!! I’m SO thrilled to show you the reveal today after a wild few weeks – but first, let me take you back to where we started. Here’s what the space looked like when I moved in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The living room isn’t giant, but coming from a studio apartment, it felt huge to me (and it’s open to the dining room behind it, so it’s pretty long and narrow). As I said before, this apartment is super charming, but the living room is definitely the space with the least amount of charm architecturally, plus the fugly brown wall color wasn’t helping – that’s for sure. So yeah, I didn’t have much when we started, but here’s what I did have: original flooring, a big window that let in a lot of natural light, and a dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew the design direction of this apartment pretty much right away, and it was this: imagine a grandma that’s single and ready to mingle – she has some antiques and maybe Papa’s old sitting chair, but she’s kinda edgy and trendy for a grandma…and she’s ready to get back out on the town and get frisky. I wanted that energy mixed with clean modern lines and a touch of vintage Los Feliz, since that’s where we are after all. I love doing research on the area I’m in when I start a project, and then I like to pull elements of the history into my design plan. For example, there was a classic old Hollywood restaurant called the Brown Derby in Los Feliz in the 1940s (around the time this apartment was built). It was where all the MGM movie stars used to visit, and if you want a really fun fact, it’s where the Cobb salad was invented. It was a place where they had a wall of caricatures of all the famous celebrities that would visit, and the interior had so many classic elements I wanted to pull into the space. So we did the one thing that college frat houses and interior design firms have in common: we named the house. Ladies and gents, welcome to “The Brown Derby.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sofa<\/a> | Coffee Table<\/a> | Rug<\/a> | Tapestry<\/a> | Candle Sconces<\/a> | Ottoman<\/a> | Side table<\/a> | Floor Lamp<\/a> | Chair<\/a> | Metal Dome Lamp<\/a> | Media Center DIY<\/a> | Curtains<\/a> | Brown Fringe Throw Pillow<\/a> | Tan Throw Pillow<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s crazy to think this room all really came together in 1 month. Prior to starting the living room makeover, I had only made a few small upgrades to the space to make it more liveable – painted the walls white, added new curtains, and then my roommate and I found that gorgeous Baldwin piano for $175 at a thrift store (shoutout society of St. Vincent de Paul) so that was about all we had in here when we started decorating a month ago. If you follow me on Instagram<\/a>, you know I’ve prioritized decorating some the other rooms in my apartment before decorating this living room (and stay tuned because you’ll also be seeing the reveals of those other rooms over here on the blog in the next few weeks), so this living space really was a total blank slate just a mere few weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, when AllModern reached out, I started pursuing their website and immediately fell in LOVE with this incredible Rosso Levanto marble coffee table<\/a> – it became the jumping off point for the entire room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sofa<\/a> | Coffee Table<\/a> | Rug<\/a> | Tapestry<\/a> | Candle Sconces<\/a> | Lamp<\/a> | Ottoman<\/a> | Side table<\/a> | Floor Lamp<\/a> | Brown Fringe Throw Pillow<\/a> | Tan Throw Pillow<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks PERFECT in the space – and how cute is that little ball ottoman<\/a>?! Because the coffee table<\/a> is such a statement, I wanted a sofa that was a bit more neutral, so I went with this one<\/a>. It has a great depth to it, and I love the wide arms, plus the fabric is unbelievably soft. It’s a great napping\/guest sleeping on the couch kind of sofa – it’s a bit on the firmer\/supportive side, but it breaks in well, and while it’s modular, it has clips that attach so it actually stays together. The entrance to my front door has a tight turn that won’t fit a single bench seat sofa – so this modular option<\/a> was perfect for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the rug, I went with this tonal rust\/brown wool 9×12<\/a>, which is perfect because this living room is super high traffic since it’s a pass-through space. It’s the room you walk into when you enter through the front door. So the rug definitely needed to be durable and mid-toned. It leans a little more brownish red in dark lighting and a bit more rust in bright lighting and has just enough variation to not show stains (which is also great because we entertain a ton). Also, that floor lamp<\/a> is so pretty, solid, and dimmable. It’s so perfect in this space! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coffee Table<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a closer shot of the coffee table so you can see just how stunning that marble is. FYI, it’s HEAVY and amazing quality – it gets delivered in 3 pieces, so you can take it apart if you need to move it, which is super nice. Also…anyone notice The Brown Derby book?? I spent forever looking for this cigar box<\/a> but it was too expensive and rare, so I went with the book<\/a> and some vintage Brown Derby postcards I found on eBay for a little touch of Los Feliz Brown Derby history. The postcards are in my dining room (which again, you’ll be seeing super soon!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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End Table<\/a> | Sofa<\/a> | Rug<\/a> | Tapestry<\/a> | Candle Sconces<\/a> | Lumbar Pillow<\/a> | White Throw Pillow<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said it once, but I’ll say it again since this photo really does it justice – doesn’t that sofa<\/a> fabric look soft?! BECAUSE IT IS SO SOFT. I also love the modern lines of that side table and how it contrasts with the vintage pieces in the room. Also anyone recognize those candle sconces<\/a>?? I had them in my studio apartment, and they came to New York and back when I moved because I love them that much. Originally, I had planned to put up a gallery wall above this sofa, so I collected a ton of art, but then, when I started hanging it, we all agreed something just felt off. Also, functionally, the back of this sofa is on the lower side, so it’s nice to be able to lie your head against the wall, which you couldn’t do with a ton of frames there. So at the last minute, I found this amazing tapestry<\/a> and had it express delivered to get here in time for the shoot! I was SO RELIEVED when I put it up and it looked this good – large art can be hard to find without selling off your firstborn child to pay for it, and this one is pretty reasonably priced in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now it’s time for you to meet my roommate, Jade! There is nothing quite like living with a roommate who becomes a best friend. We already knew each other before we started living together and had similar life paths – we both grew up in OC, both went to LMU for college, and both broke up with our boyfriends of 7 years around the same time – so we were in really similar places in life when I moved in. But we’ve already grown so much in this apartment, and what used to feel like an “in-between phase apartment” now feels like a home, and that’s not just because of the beautiful decor and furnishings (although that has helped A LOT). It’s also a home because this roommate vibe is one I’ve never had before. We have tickets in the front row for each other’s peak career successes and utter failures. We’ve processed big feelings together from past experiences, and we’ve been side by side and championing each other when we found new relationships with men who treat us the way we’ve always deserved but never expected. I’ll never take for granted how amazing female friendships are and how special it is for us right now to walk into the next room over when one of us needs a good cry or if just wants to throw on “A Cinderella Story” and quote every line. It’s a time in life that a lot of people rush through to get to the “buy a house and get married phase,” which don’t get me wrong, I’m excited for that too – but right now I’m just happy to have some of my best gal pals close by and the incredible support system that this place has brought me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of these gal pals – they’re in for a real treat because the Bachelor\/Love Island<\/em> watch parties just got a whole lot better. Let’s turn our attention to the DIY media center, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I wrote a whole post<\/a> on this if you want every detail – but here’s the gist. This media center\/bookcase situation was a labor of love and took a village. I found this ready-made bookcase online for $360 (it was on clearance so it’s out of stock now – I’m sorry!!), which was an insane price for how huge it was – the only problem was that I didn’t love the grey color it was originally, and I wished it had trim\/was enclosed on top to make it look more like a built-in. I added it to cart anyway since it was on clearance and decided I would DIY it to make it look custom (for even less than an IKEA hack). My amazing boyfriend (and my personal TaskRabbit), Austin, built it, and it surprisingly didn’t take too long (maybe 3 hours at most). I paid Aus in pasta salad and tipped him well ;). Note that he’s also really good at building things (which is why I bought him this shirt<\/a>), so it might take the average human a bit longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I painted it and enlisted my parents to bring up their circular saw and help me install the moulding (and that was a thing for sure). I paid them in margaritas for their troubles. I had extra wood crown moulding around, but the learning lesson was definitely to use a foam moulding if you can, because wood is definitely not as easy to work with – again, full details are in this post<\/a> if you want to see the cost breakdown and all the details!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The bookcase also came with glass doors, and while I love the closed storage, I didn’t love being able to see everything inside of it. So I found these thin perforated metal sheets<\/a> and attached them to the insides of the doors, and voila! It’s a much cleaner look and made the bookcase look way more custom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leather Chair<\/a> | Rug<\/a> | Drink Table<\/a> | Black Bowl<\/a> | Silhouette Art Frames<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, there’s “Papa’s chair”. I absolutely loved the joinery on this leather accent chair<\/a> – it has the prettiest details. Then I added a vintage magazine rack next to it (to hold more records, cause we have a lot) and this slim, modern end table to set down a drink<\/a>. I tied it all in by adding hits of black on the bookcase, like that awesome, sleek modern bowl<\/a> that would look good anywhere. That art piece is an original I got for $250 by an artist named Mucci, who I found at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach (truly a sleeper hit for art, you guys). It’s a sketch of the corner of Sunset and Maltman in Silver Lake, just down the road from me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also made little silhouettes of my roommate and I by taking iPhone photos of our face profiles, and then I put them into Photoshop, cut them out and and did a color overlay in black (see the whole process on Instagram here<\/a>). Then I put them in these little $15 frames<\/a>, and they make me laugh so hard – definitely the grandma moment the space needed. Behind those, you’ll find my coat closet turned speakeasy<\/a>, which we also photographed, so I’ll be doing a full post on that soon too \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tall Ceramic Vase<\/a> | Lamp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had my handyman\/lover drill a hole in the shelf for that cute little lamp with a drill attachment he had, and then that Abraham Lincoln bookend was hand-gold-plated a while ago by my 94-year-old grandma – another grandma touch from my actual grandmother, who is just the best. The art on the top shelf is Jade’s childhood home that her boyfriend hand-drew – it was too sweet not to frame and put up here front and center. Then, below it is a piece Em gave me years ago by MaryAnn Puls<\/a>, layered with a family photo of Jade and I from an epic night at the Soho House. On the right is a detailed shot of our gorgeous piano (which has the cutest subtle diamond pattern on the music stand!), and those candles are from Pierce and Ward’s amazing storefront<\/a> on Hillhurst in Los Feliz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leather Chair<\/a> | Rug<\/a> | Drink Table<\/a> | Dining Chairs<\/a> | Mirror <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a peek at the dining room for context (the one that we photographed and will be giving you a tour of soon!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t