Made Her Bland Living Room Feel Warm, Cozy & Collected

This video is sponsored by AG1. Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. I'm Alexandra. And today I am transforming a living room into a super stylish space. Are you guys ready? Let's get started. Before we get into it, I want to take this moment to thank you all so much for your support on Jaden's Studio Fix. As a team, we were so proud of that one. And we have more Studio Fixes coming up, which I know are your faves. So please consider hitting that subscribe button. We are still trucking along, trying to get a million, and I just, I know the day is going to come. So please consider being a part of the reason we hit a million. Today I am helping Claire makeover her living room. It looks like a big space that we're working with. So let's hop on a call with her, get to know her, her space, what she's looking for, all the things. So nice to meet you, Claire. Nice to meet you. Have fun winning a makeover. We're so excited to take a look on your living room. No, thank you. I'm so excited for this. So I would love for you to just tell me all about your apartment when you moved in, tell me about your living room and why you are excited for this makeover. Yeah, so I actually only moved in a few months ago, so the space is still a little bit new to me. Moved from a studio apartment into like a house flat, so it's a lot more space than I'm used to. So I feel like my furniture just doesn't really work in this space, but it's a really big room. It's a lot of natural light, which is one of my favorite things about the space with the windows at the front of the house, the majority of the furniture that I have currently I got in my like first ever apartment 10 years ago. So I've definitely grown out of the like beige everything aesthetic and I do work in fashion. So I feel like I want my space to kind of reflect that passion of mine as well. How are you currently using the space? I do work from home sometimes and I'm currently working from my dining room, but it would be great to have like a designated workspace in the living room if possible. I was thinking of putting a desk behind the couch and making that the space to work just because again, it is so empty and it does make the most sense, I think in terms of the current layout for a desk to go there. Walk me through a typical hosting evening. It's usually really casual, so we just hang out on the couch. So I love like a big, like comfortable couch that I can have multiple people lounge in. I currently have an extra chair, but I don't think I need any more furniture for seating other than like a couch and a chair. Got it. Okay. What about lighting in your space? I noticed you have an overhead light, but do you need more like table lamps or floor lamps? Yeah. So that overhead light doesn't actually work. So I've really been relying on lamps, which is actually okay by me because I love mood lighting. Like I love the warmer light at night. When it comes to art, like what kind of art are you drawn toward? I like more like minimal artwork. There's those cool like cowgirls with like the big hats. Like, I love that. I just have never really pulled the trigger to buy them. Definitely have some fun with the art. Any other functional needs that you have in this space? Honestly, I think the biggest pain point for me right now is the litter box for my cat. It's really the only room in my house where it works. The only other thing is the cat tree I have currently like right in front of the windows and it is a bit of an eyesore. I would love it to match the space a little bit more. Okay. Let's move on to your inspo. It is so fun. I feel like this look is very different than your current living room, but I'd love to just hear from you, like what your goal is in terms of style. I love the color palettes and all of the inspiration pictures, how it was like lighter walls, neutral walls, but then the furniture was a bit darker. I love animal print. If you couldn't tell like black, brown, burgundy, the only other thing I would say just in terms of like color palette is that I lean more towards like the silver chrome versus like gold accents. Yep. No, I got that right away. Can I ask like a really random question? Yeah, of course. Can I take a picture of like us on this call? Yeah, of course you can. My mom is a huge fan of yours, so I just want to like document this if that's okay. Yeah, of course. Okay. Tell me when to smile. One, two, three. Yeah. I will meet you on reveal day, which is so exciting. Yay. Thank you. Okay. Bye, Claire. Bye. Okay. It's super clear to me that this is a very aesthetic makeover. Claire is looking for a complete vibe change. She works in fashion marketing. She came from living in a really small studio and now she has this larger space and her style has just really evolved. So I'm here to help and I am obsessed with Claire's inspo. I love how it's feeling actually very kind of neutral and minimal, but you have these like bold pops of patterns and then you've got these really rich colors like plums and browns and burgundies. She also loves chrome, which I'm excited to play with because usually we're working with more like gold tones. I also love the bold hits of animal print in her inspo. Can't wait to incorporate that. So here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to turn that little area behind her sofa into Claire's workspace. I want to thrift a desk. I want to get her a comfy desk chair and make this alcove functional for her to use when she's working from home. Claire also has a cat, Storm, and his litter box is out in the open in the corner. I want to change that. I want to try and find a really stylish enclosed litter box cabinet that Storm can use and is tucked away, but still looks like a part of the room. I had to find this abstract zebra rug. I couldn't not. So I am crossing all my fingers and my toes that I can find something that will deliver in time and is warm and comfy for her. I really want to maximize the space. We have a lot of space to work with. So I thought, why not bring in a sectional and a beautiful brown? I want to bring in some plum curtains. I think that will really elevate the window. And I also want to thrift a leather chair. I think an element of leather in this space is really important and key to the design. Okay, so that's my plan. Are you guys ready to see it come to life? Let's head into day one of the makeover. Good morning, you guys. I am getting ready to head to Claire's. It's actually my first makeover back since being on a bunch of summer vacations. I went to Europe, which was so nice. And now I'm back and heading into the busiest season for my business, which is fall. One thing I have been staying really consistent with to like, make sure I'm ready for the craziness that is to come in the next few months is drinking my AG1 Next Gen every morning. So let's make one now as I'm rushing out the door. One travel pack of AG1 Next Gen delivers 75 plus ingredients, covering your multivitamin, pre and probiotics, superfoods, and more in one clinically studied daily health drink. After the summer and all of my vacations, I'm so ready to just like get back into routine. And it feels so good knowing that AG1 Next Gen replenishes commonly under-consumed daily micronutrients. And it feels so good that I'm filling nutrient gaps to keep my body nourished. There are so many benefits of increasing my vitamin intake by drinking AG1 Next Gen. But my favorites are gut health support and immune health support. It is five strains of probiotics that help reduce bloating and it supports my metabolism. It also has a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals that I might be missing in my diet that helps support my immune system, which feels so good heading into the colder and busier months. It's truly the convenience that helps me stay consistent with drinking AG1 Next Gen. I love the travel packs because I can just throw them into my bag and drink one on the go if I'm rushing or running late. Head to drinkag1.com slash alexandragator. Or you can scan the QR code on screen to get your free flavor sampler and a free bottle of vitamin D3 plus K2 in your welcome kit with your first AG1 subscription order. Thanks so much to AG1 for sponsoring today's video. I am so late. I'm going to drink this on the go. Let's head to Claire's. Hi guys. We are at Claire's and it is our first makeover after four weeks off. The summer we shut down the office for a week and we don't shoot as much as in the winter, fall and spring. Um, so we're back and I'm so excited. I do want to start with a weather report. It is going to be 38 degrees for my American friends. That's a hundred point four degrees and that's hot. We're going to call it if it gets like unsafe, but it'll be fine because we're in air conditioning. Okay. Also wanted to plug Handyman Graham's channel. He is doing a week in the life video. Go subscribe to his channel. Go watch the video. I'll link it somewhere on screen because it's out now and you can see behind the scenes of our makeover day, but also Graham's week in the life. Okay. We are just going to get right into it today and we're going to start with, um, some lighting. We're going to add two lights in here. Well, we're going to add more lights in that, but we're going to start by hardwiring two lights. Let's do it. I have been absolutely loving Chrome lately and Claire also loves Chrome. This is one of the first pieces I sourced for the makeover. I love how statement it is. It has the little flowers. It's from Mitzi, of course. And I say, of course, because they just have the most beautiful, beautiful lights. Alanna? Globe? Globe me. Love this so much. And little tip for you. We added a medallion, which is such a great addition to a light. Just makes it look like it was here forever. It adds so much character. This is such a good start to today. Yay. We're going to continue lighting and add in another light over there. You'll see. Okay. This was like a random sconce hanging out. And at first I was like, let's just cover it and not have a light there because it's so weird. But then I found this from Mitzi and it actually now looks very intentional and cool. Also, this is really cool because you can either hang it like the light bulb facing up or down. Okay. Next up, we're building the most beautiful media unit. So excited for this one. Leg time. No, no. I got her first. No, no. Hands. Okay. She didn't win. I didn't. I didn't take it. I cheated. I'm so excited about this. It's like perfect for the style. Do you even know what the style is? Yeah. Didn't think so. This is from article. I love this piece so much. It's just like cool. It's cool. And really functional. A lot of storage, a lot of storage in here. The only logical next step is to hang the TV above the media unit. So let's do that now. That is secure. Well, everyone listen up. I have an announcement. Graham said I did a good job. Graham also did an amazing job at cord covering. So now Claire's modem is in the media unit. It's not out and all the cords are tucked into a cord cover nicely. Next I'm installing some Chrome picture ledges. These are from the company, The Elite Metal Co. And I found them on Etsy. I'm leaving this a bit loose because I'm adding another one beside it. I wanted to create the illusion of like one long shelf with these. I thought she was reacting to this. It's in a stud. That's fine. Burst my eardrums real quick. These look so good. I'm just cleaning them with a stainless steel wipe. I got to say, I cannot wait to style these. That'll happen tomorrow. I'm going to style them at the very end. Leave the best, the best part for last, you know? I really leaned into the Chrome with this design. Claire did say she likes Chrome over gold. She's like, I'm not a gold person. So I was like, I got you. As you guys may remember from the befores, Claire had her cat's litter box just out in the open. So I have found a great solution for this. We don't want it out in the open in this beautiful living room. So Graham and I are going to build this and hopefully not, you know, each other in the process. Okay. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro. What's that song? Neh, neh, neh, neh. Are you, you're not actually thinking of YouTube. Uno, dos, tres, cuatro. Yes, that is, that is a YouTube song. Beh, beh, beh. You're right. I know I want ya. I know I want ya, you know I want ya. Life is not a waste of time and time is not a waste of life. So let's stop wasting time, get wasted and have the time of our lives. Okay. I'm so excited to show you guys this piece. I want to show it to you tomorrow when I put it where it's going to go in the room. Really excited about tomorrow. We're going to bring in lots more furniture. I will see you then. One of the questions I get the most is, can you help me with my space? And if you guys didn't already know, I actually have a virtual makeover consultation service where my team and I make over your space virtually. We have worked with people who are doing entire home renos, helping them shop for finishes like tile and lighting. We also work with clients who live in studio apartments. You and I will hop on a 30 minute call. So I really understand what you're looking for. And then you end up with this amazing package with a 3d mood board, a floor plan and products you can actually shop right from within the package. I work with a limited number of clients every month. So if this sounds like a service you could benefit from, you can purchase at the link in my description box or go to alexandragator.com. Good morning. I'm back with another weather report. Whether you would like weather, if you would like it or not. Outside today, apparently we have the worst air quality, um, as a country in the world, Canada right now, worst air quality, number one, worst air quality ever in the world, ever, Ontario, Toronto. It's orange and red outside. The sun is like a ball of red and it's dark. But the sun's out. It's very weird. Anyways, thank you for listening to my weather report. Hopefully, um, it clears off. And we're going to start today with the litter box. I can't wait to show you because we built it yesterday, but now I get to finally reveal it. It's here. So back in the day, I did a couple DIYs of enclosed litter boxes like this. This one you can buy from Wayfair. It's so awesome. There's an entrance on this side. And there's an entrance on this side for the cat. Not only is there little scratching materials for the cats at the front, but there's also a shelf. My litter cabinet has a shelf and it is so handy. I keep their litter up there. I keep their scoop. I keep litter bags. Yeah, it's great for storage. So I just know this is going to be really functional for Claire and her cats. The two openings are really handy. If you need to like shove this into a corner somewhere, they can still access through one of the sides. Claire tends to keep the door open. So I don't want to put this in the corner, but I do want to put it as close as we can to the door. I love how this is going to conceal her litter box so well. Such a functional piece. I've linked it down below because I think everyone with a cat needs one of these. Okay. One thing I noticed about Claire's inspo is that she loves animal print, but the images she selected were like not on the nose animal print, more like abstract, and I feel like it really works so well with the style we're going for. So I found this from Etsy. I am so excited to unroll it. I haven't seen it IRL yet. Oh, it's beautiful. This gorgeous rug is from Azra Rug Atelier on Etsy. I am so excited about this. It's like zebra. Is that the British word? Is that the British way of saying it? Just for everyone watching, my entire family on both sides are British. I'm just constantly being talked to with people saying words differently, and sometimes I get confused. Okay. This looks so good. I'm so excited. It is sofa time. Specifically, it is sectional time. Graham, are you ready to build this with me? How many times do you think you've used this sofa before? About Sven times? Six Sven? Yeah, six or Sven times. This is a sectional from article. In a previous video, we did a little poll of Team AG. How many people have Svens in their homes? And 90% of the team raised their hands. Not just because it's a great, great sofa. I love this one and I love it. I give my endorsement. Okay. So now that we've placed the sofa, we have this little area, which Claire and I talked about a lot. She didn't know what to do with it. And we landed on a little desk space because she sometimes works from home. So she had asked to maybe not be backlit for calls. So I've placed it here and there's outlets here, which is great. So she can plug in her computer. She said she didn't need a big desk. And I think this is perfect. We thrifted this really inexpensive on Facebook Marketplace. And I love it. I think the black color really works. This comfy, but very stylish desk chair is from article. So comfy. Are you ready? You know what I'm about to do. I got to say, I love how she can see out the window, even though it's, you know, the apocalypse. This is like cute and cozy and such a good use of this space. When you have an awkward space and you're like, what do I do with this? Just try and think about the things you do in your everyday life and like how you use your space and how you want to use your space. And I guarantee you, you'll find some sort of functional use for those like awkward in between spaces. I do want to move this cat litter box cabinet. I don't think it makes sense here. I think we need to put it behind the door. She can still open the door. Then it's just more tucked away, you know, and I've left a little space on that side cause there is a door, but the cat can get in through this side too. I'm finishing off this little area with this little runner. This is from Revival Rugs. Love the little pop of blue. I also wanted to just mention, if you have cats and you get one of these cabinets, put that like silicone mat that a lot of people put around the litter box inside the cabinet. They don't track the litter out as much. So just wanted to throw that out there. When I was searching for a light for this room, I was like, I need a desk light, but this desk, you know, isn't ginormous. So there's not a ton of surface space for a table lamp. And then I found this one from Ikea and I was like, wait a second. I want to show you guys. It's so cool. Desk light. You can swivel this. You can move the arm and then the light on the top for the living room area. So good. I want it to speak in a different language. Like, say like, bodissima, like that's how I feel, like bodissima, you know? I love adding in different materials to a room because it adds texture. It looks like visually interesting. Um, so I love this stone coffee table. It's very heavy, amazing quality from Article. And it's round because a lot of the pieces are like rectangular, you know? Okay. I knew that this living room was just like begging for a chrome and black leather armchair. So I asked my friend Rob at Mr. Vintage, if you guys are not following him on Instagram, you should do so right now. He's so good at finding like specific pieces from different eras, or just like, if I'm like, Hey, I need like a chrome black leather chair. He's like, I got you. Oh, Graham just said he's also great at fishing. Like fish? Yeah, he invited Elena fishing. And then recently he invited me to go fishing too. And I said, we'll get the whole crew together. I'd love to fish. He sent me a photo of a fish he caught. I was like, is that a small mouth bass? He's like, large. And I was like, damn. Nice. Can't wait to fish with Rob. Um, but yeah, I'm so happy with this. It's also really, really comfortable. I was sitting in it before and yeah, this is just going to be great to like create a conversation area for her when she has people over. I love it. Okay. Um, I, I am going to move on to curtains. Making a bit of a face because we've had a bit of an event with the curtains, but I'll tell you about it. Let's let's head to the window, the bay window. So I had found and ordered the most beautiful plum kind of burgundy curtain. They haven't arrived yet. They said they were arriving on Monday. They're not here. We don't know where they are. Atlanta drove across the entire city, literally today, looking for the perfect replacement and we just couldn't find the color. So we found these, which I think are a really great alternative. And this is the reality of these makeovers. Sometimes we just have to like problem solve and we do such a good job at that. She will get the plum ones. We're going to make sure she gets them. But I do think these are a great alt. I decided to hang these from the ceiling because I find that it really elongates a room and it looks luxe. I feel like this style called for ceiling mounted curtains. So that's what, that's what I did. I'm spiraling about the curtains because the color actually looks really great, but we can only find two in the color and we need four because it's a bay window. And it's just really bothering me, even though we are fixing it. Just imagine four panels for me, everyone. Editors, edit in two more panels. You won't see us fix it in the video. I think that's, what's bothering the most is you guys aren't going to be able to see it fixed. Trust me when I say it's going to look bellissima. Guys, she's like a really good designer. Okay. Allora. Please don't bully me in the comments for the, for the curtains. We're fixing it. I know. Okay. So I'm adding this floor mirror. I want it to be leaning. So we're going to attach it to the wall for safety. When it's not the apocalypse outside, all the sun is going to shine through here. Claire had said she loves the amount of light this room gets. It's going to bounce off the mirror and it's going to be just so sunny in here. We love. Okay. I'm going to hang some art. Let's do it. First I'm going to do a Timbit. Always fresh Tim Hortons. I am so excited about this piece of art because it costs $15 on Etsy. It's by an artist who sells downloadable art prints. And then we got it printed on canvas and framed from poster Jack. This looks like an original oil painting. I'm obsessed. This piece is very similar to what she had in her inspo. So I love that we could add this in here. It looks so, so good. Okay. Let's add another piece over there. I love him. He's fancy. Maybe that's his name. Maybe it's fancy. I am so excited about this little cat perch. This is from Mau Pets and I've been wanting to use their brand forever because they sell really beautiful and elevated pet furniture. And it just looks like a piece of decor. It's going to like blend right in to Claire's living room. So let's place it by the window. Perfect. Okay. You guys, it is time for finishing touches. Let's do it. I am styling the sofa with these beautiful tonic living cushions, the comfiest cushions you've ever felt. I am bringing in this faux olive tree. I'm adding in a couple of pretty pieces on the desk, all from HomeSense. I'm placing a throw blanket on the back of the sofa. I'm styling the coffee table with a large book, this stone tic-tac-toe game, more books, and some candles. I'm adding Claire's books to the media unit between some bookends. I can't believe that these like perfectly fit in this spot. I'm also adding this cool mirror art she had, a table lamp, and a vase with some branches. I'm putting some art on the TV. Now I'm moving on to styling the shelves. I'm leaning a print from Desenio, placing some of Claire's crystals, more candles in varying heights, and this cool chrome clock. Okay, I am so excited to reveal this space to Claire. You guys ready? Let's bring her in. You're okay? Yeah. I can tell you're nervous. You're shaking a bit. Okay, Claire, can you walk me through what your living room looks like before? Yeah, it was very simple. All the furniture I'd had for a really long time. Yeah. So it just didn't match my style anymore. I got the sense you're like a cool girl, very stylish. We need to get to your level with your living room, you know? I can't wait. Okay, are you ready on the count of three? I want you to open your eyes, okay? Okay. One, two, three. Oh my God. This is insane. Well, I have no expectation coming into this, but this beat all of my expectations. This is so good. This is such an upgrade. Oh my God, I'm actually in shock. Oh my gosh, yeah, this is insane. Every detail is just so thoughtful. I can't believe you found it. That's like actually the exact same one. Yeah, I was like, this rug needs to be in this room. Oh, I'm the cat tree. It's like the most chic cat that I've ever seen. It truly is. He already thinks he's like a prince, so now he has his little castle. I feel like I'm like really stylish just looking at it. Does it feel more like your style? This is just so much more my style. And I love this chair. Drapes are beautiful. Wow, yeah, this feels so much more like me now. Do you know what this is? No. It's a cat litter cabinet. Stop, really? Yeah, so Stormy can go in. Oh my God, that's so beautiful. Honestly, though, this is like way better than I ever could have imagined. Yay. Yay, thank you so much. Oh my gosh. Our pleasure, it was so fun. I'm going to live in here now. Good. Well, I do, but like, I'm like fully never going to leave. I can't thank you enough. This is really nice. You're welcome. Thanks for having us. Next up on AGTV, we are bringing back Studio Fix and making over a tiny studio for a recipient who has lived in this space for seven years and never changed anything, so we are bringing in color. We are bringing in function. Can't wait for you guys to see it. Make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss that episode. And as always, thank you for your support. Thank you for watching. I'll see you next time. Bye. It's a Skimsky. It's you. What is it? No, it's a Smis... What do they call them? It's you. Smiskies. Actually, it's me and you. What are they called? Aw. Me on the left. Yeah, Smiskies. Graham on the right. It's more Smiskies. You've never heard of Smiskies? No, I've never heard of this before. Yeah. Yep. Are you talking about those little people that are like naked? What are those? Yeah, they're green. Oh, my flashlight's on. Oh. You know what that means? 20% battery. I found a munchie on the, on the room. What's a munchie? I've never heard of a munchie. You've never heard of a munchie? No, I've never heard of a munchie. What's a munchie? What the heck? It's so cute. Yeah. But like, look up how much they are. They're more than little boo-boos. A premium... Look at its haircut. Munchie Gucci is 198. Always fresh with Tim Hortons. Is that a good jingle? Isn't it? Do I sound good? Always fresh with Tim Hortons. Always got time. It's not for real yet. Holly!