TL;DR
Apartment Therapy featured artist Alea Lovely’s two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot Kansas City rental, where deep browns and dark wood are balanced with lighter neutrals, mirrors, natural materials and the apartment’s architecture. Lovely moved in seven months before the report and says the home is still a work in progress.
Artist Alea Lovely has decorated her two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot Kansas City rental with deep brown paint, dark wood and contrasting neutrals, creating a warm interior that Apartment Therapy’s home tour presents as balanced rather than gloomy. The report describes how she adapted the 102-year-old apartment with paint, secondhand furnishings and other renter-friendly choices while making a home for herself and her child.
Lovely moved into the apartment in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood seven months before the tour was published. She told Apartment Therapy that she wanted to “make a safe and healing space” for herself and her child. The building, which she described as surrounded by trees, had original woodwork that was largely painted over; she characterized the apartment as a “white box” when they arrived.
One of the clearest uses of brown is the dining room, which Lovely repurposed as a home office and painted “Death by Chocolate” by Behr. In the living room, she described a palette built around neutrals and deep woods, with mauves, chrome, black and beige. The tour shows a mix of wood furniture, metal accents, mirrors, lamps and light-colored textiles alongside the darker tones.
Many furnishings came from Facebook Marketplace or secondhand sources, with other items from retailers including HomeGoods, Target and West Elm. Lovely also used her own art as a focal point in the living room. The article says she has more plans for the rental, but feels she and her daughter have settled in well.
How Light Balances the Brown Palette
The tour offers a practical example of using deep color in a rental without applying it throughout every room. Lovely concentrated a strong brown shade in the office, while the reported living-room palette combines dark woods with beige and other neutrals. Mirrors, varied lighting, lighter rugs and textiles, and the apartment’s existing architectural details add contrast rather than leaving the interiors as a single block of dark color.
That approach may be useful to renters who want a more personal home but have limited scope to alter a property. The report documents paint and furnishings, but does not establish that every change is permitted under a lease or suitable for every apartment. Lovely’s choices are specific to the layout, existing features and her preferences, including her stated desire to avoid visual clutter.
A Rental Shaped Around Its Architecture
The apartment is in a prewar building around 102 years old. Although Lovely said much of the original wood had been painted over, she told Apartment Therapy she wanted to work with the home’s architecture and enhance its built-in character. Her approach combined paint with renter-friendly elements rather than relying only on permanent renovation.
Lovely described her style as mixing wood and metal for a “vintage Parisian-meets-contemporary update.” She also said natural materials, including wood, marble, linen and florals, helped her feel calm. The tour connects these choices to her sensory preferences, not simply to a color trend. She said she wanted the home to feel welcoming, elegant and not too busy.
“I love mixing woods with metals to give a vintage Parisian-meets-contemporary update.”
— Alea Lovely, in the Apartment Therapy home tour
What the Tour Does Not Establish
The report does not detail the lease terms, whether the office paint can be left in place, or what approval Lovely obtained before making changes. It also does not provide measurements of room brightness, costs for the full decorating project, or a comparison with the apartment’s appearance before she moved in beyond her description of it as a “white box.”
The home is still evolving: Lovely told Apartment Therapy she has additional plans, but the report does not specify what she will change or when. The claim that the brown palette does not feel dark reflects the tour’s presentation and the resident’s design choices; it is not a measured assessment of light levels.
Lovely’s Plans for the Rental
Lovely and her daughter have lived in the apartment for seven months as of the published tour, and she says they have settled in well. She also indicated that her decorating work is not finished. No further projects or timeline were provided, so the next changes to the home remain unspecified.
Key Questions
Where is Alea Lovely’s apartment?
It is in Hyde Park, Kansas City, Missouri, in a prewar building that the report says is about 102 years old.
How did Lovely use brown in the home?
She painted the dining room, which she turned into a home office, “Death by Chocolate” by Behr. The living room also includes deep woods, balanced with neutrals, beige, mauve, chrome and black.
What helps keep the brown rooms from feeling dark?
The tour describes contrast from lighter neutrals, rugs and textiles, along with mirrors, varied lighting and the apartment’s architecture. It does not include measured light levels.
Did Lovely buy all the furnishings new?
No. The report lists many items as secondhand or from Facebook Marketplace, alongside pieces from stores such as HomeGoods, Target and West Elm.
Is Lovely finished decorating?
No. She told Apartment Therapy she has more plans for the apartment, but the report does not say what those changes will be or when she will make them.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com
