# @dwellmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsOWwHEeXd
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/36591921-dwellmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/06672c6782.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-11-05T22:09:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Dwell (@dwellmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/dwellmagazine

## Caption

Here’s how one Brooklynite turned a rental into a home. When josephinenoel—founder of Brooklyn-based studio Recreation Center—moved into her apartment in Crown Heights, the landlord had done the bare minimum required since the past resident. Needless to say, an apartment covered in dead bugs, mouse droppings, and decades-worth of caked-on cooking grease was not optimal. But Josephine saw an opportunity to make the space uniquely her own. To infuse the interior with her personal style, Josephine took to the bathroom, bathing it in a cheery, bubblegum-pink paint color inspired by vintage California homes. She also swapped out the toilet seat for a blue acrylic one with an underwater scene. “That was more my style than plain white,” she says. Next, Josephine tackled the 20 kitchen cabinets, color blocking the upper shelving in primary colors, and removing the doors. “As I was doing this, I had a vision of my mom,” says Josephine. “Every apartment we lived in, the first thing she would do is take off the kitchen cabinet doors. It just really opens up a space.” The ceramicist also covered the beat-up floors with peel-and-stick vinyl flooring and swapped out the generic dome-shaped light fixtures that every NYC renter knows all too well, installing colorful conical pendants instead. “I love colorful objects and unnecessary things, but most of all, I want functionality and coziness,” Josephine says. “I want things to feel lived in. I like it when I walk into a space and it feels like a hug.” Check out Josephine’s full #RentalRevamp at the link in bio
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Photos by mattdutile
Story by jessdailey618

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## Tags

rentalrevamp

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