A Spacious Brooklyn Rental Is Modern with a Homey Southwestern Flair

Name: Lindsey Swedick, my boyfriend, cats Freddie and Ramona
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Years living in: I have lived here for 1 year, but my boyfriend has lived here for 8 years, renting

I moved to NYC from Albuquerque, New Mexico, seven years ago. I currently work in Digital Editorial and Social Media Marketing at West Elm and have always had a passion for photography, both for work and outside of it (I recently set up a film photography developing set-up at home!). I share my home with my boyfriend, Dustin, who works in specialty coffee. We got two Devon Rex kittens a year ago and have been sharing our home (read: conducting round-the-clock damage control) with them since!

Our apartment is situated in a three-story house in Midwood, Brooklyn. My boyfriend has lived here for almost a decade and it’s definitely something we are very fortunate to have. It’s spacious and has a full-size kitchen and a balcony where we have a mini garden situation, which is all extremely rare here. Needless to say, someone will have to pry this place out of our cold, dead hands!

Working at West Elm has definitely been a huge help in designing and decorating this place (helloooo corporate discount and sample sales!), because it was in kind of a sorry state when I moved in. After having over 30 roommates cycle through the place within an eight-year period, it had seen better days. Seriously, the things that people are capable of doing to a bedroom are truly eye-opening.

We repainted the entire place, swapped out some outdated light fixtures that had been gathering dead bugs since the ’70s, and started the process of replacing old furniture left over from the ghosts of roommates past with more intentional pieces. While I’ve always strived to avoid my apartment becoming a “West Elm showroom,” I’ve managed to find things here and there that really feel like me and go really well with our other decor. I like to incorporate small touches of Southwestern style from New Mexico (without getting too over-the-top), which makes it feel unique to me, while still being modern.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Mid-century modern with homey Southwestern flair—does six words work?

What is your favorite room and why? My favorite room in the house is our bedroom. It feels minimalist in the sense that everything in the room has a function. It’s the only room in the house that gets super direct sunlight and we have these little glass orbs hanging in the windows that cast rainbow dots over the whole room in the afternoon which is kind of magical (seriously, everyone needs one of these things ASAP). One of the benefits of living further out in Brooklyn is that it’s very residential and quiet. Our bedroom windows look out onto some private backyards with a huge old tree hanging over and it’s always very quiet and serene on that side of the house.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? We recently got the Floyd platform bed, which really brightened up the bedroom and made it feel more open. I love the platform aspect and versatility—we bought it when we had a full-size mattress and upgraded to a queen without worrying about the size. It came the same day we ordered it and was soooo much easier to set up than any other piece of furniture I’ve had. My other favorite recent find was the rug wall hanging we have above the console in the dining room. We got it at a little roadside shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is handmade by local Native American artists and really reminds me of home.

Any advice for creating a home you love? My advice for creating a home you love is to take your time. I know that’s the cliche answer everyone gives but I felt like I learned it the hard way by wasting time and money rushing into replacements and upgrades without thinking them through and ended up re-doing the living room so many times before I finally landed at where it is now. I can say that I finally feel like I don’t need to change anything for a long time, but it’s taken awhile to get here. Saving up money to buy that thing you really do want is worth it in the long run and you’ll ultimately save money by not getting all these in-between/”eh, I guess this works for now” stuff.

Also—DIY and save that money! The shelving we used for a bookcase and a media center under the TV were all bought at Home Depot as lumber and bulk shelving rods. We had the lumber cut to size and then I sanded, stained, and finished them myself. I also stained and sealed the raw wood on the IKEA kitchen islands. It’s been a great skill to learn and we’ve saved hundreds just by being willing to do it ourselves. I think the shelves have made a huge difference in the space, too!

Thanks, Lindsey!

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