A NYC Home Pairs Rustic Elegance and City Style

Mikel Welch is a bonafide design celebrity. A Season 7 contestant on HGTV Design Star, Mikel went on to share his gift for transforming spaces on The Steve Harvey Show and The Real Housewives of Atlanta before joining the cast of Trading Spaces earlier this year. Mikel has used all of that talent and experience to turn a 650-square-foot apartment in New York City into his own Hamptons-inspired getaway.

From the moment he stepped into his new home, Mikel liked what he saw and knew what he wanted to do. The designer remembers that the unit had just been renovated and had everything he needed to create the space he wanted. With a clean slate, he set out to create his perfect aesthetic — bringing the look and feel of his favorite Hamptons getaways to his own home. Combining soothing textures and a neutral color palette, the living room embodies the warm, rustic feel that he wanted to come home to every day.

The living room console displays a charming array of accessories, but in keeping with the overall minimal look of Mikel's home.

To create the perfect city escape Mikel added in the kind of rustic elements you wouldn't necessarily expect in a New York City apartment. In this case, the designer drew on his Trading Spaces experience with a DIY door project. Mikel couldn’t get barn doors delivered in a small New York elevator, so he decided to build his own. "This is New York and we don’t have yards," he says, "so I had to bring the wood up and build the doors in my living room."