Tour a TikTok Exec's Bold and Colorful NYC Loft

Poofy pink sofa? Check. Gorgeous statement wallpaper? Check. See why this TikTok design influencer has become an inspiring decorating phenomenon on TikTok and get some of Michelle Pham's tips for making your rental space feel like home.

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April 18, 2023

By: Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason

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Photo By: Michelle Pham

A Bold and Colorful Influencer's Loft

Meet Michelle Pham, a design influencer with a stunning home who is also chief of staff, strategy and operations for social media giant TikTok. Almost two years ago Michelle and her boyfriend, Ashkay, moved into a sprawling, 2,000-square-foot apartment in Manhattan’s Flatiron district. Since then, her decorating process has entertained millions, offered up in installments on Michelle’s TikTok account @iammichellepham.

How to Make a Rental Your Own

Moving at the height of the pandemic in 2021 posed more than a few challenges for Michelle and Ashkay. “Supply chains were still fragmented,” she remembers. “It was incredibly difficult to source furniture, so we went hyper-local for many of our furniture pieces. Within the first six months, we had the foundation of the home in place. After thinking about the warm, welcoming, maximalist feeling we wanted in a home, we began our journey to look for a way to pull this vision together.” The couple sourced furniture, ordered rugs from Morocco and Turkey, put up wallpaper, framed art for the walls, upgraded appliances and added new layers of paint. Along the way, Michelle began sharing their journey on TikTok, garnering thousands of followers and millions of views, becoming a new kind of design influencer in the process. And like many designers, her tips come from the firsthand experience of working on her own home, targeted specifically for those who, like her, are working to put a personal stamp on a place that they’re renting. “Changing the lighting fixtures is an easy game changer that can elevate a rental immediately,” she offers as one example. “I have swapped out at least eight of the original lighting fixtures with edgy and contemporary lighting fixtures that add an air of sophisticated elegance to the home.”

A Puffy, Pretty-in-Pink Sofa

“We moved into this loft sight unseen,” says Michelle. She and Ashkay were living on the West Coast at the time and had a friend okay the space, which had been on the market for more than a year prior. “The loft building was built in 1907 and has eleven full-floor lofts. A privately keyed elevator opens directly into a grand and open living space.” In Michelle’s home, the elevator opens to this spacious and colorful sitting room, graced with huge city-facing windows and highlighted by gorgeous pink, tufted sofas.

Transforming Open Plan Into Pure Coziness

It may seem like a mystery that a home like this — especially a rental — would go unclaimed in the New York market for over a year. It’s a paradox that Michelle attributes to its unusual layout. “The loft is wide-open space, and it has beautiful bones, exposed brick and wonderful light,” she muses. “However, it doesn’t have many separate rooms or storage space, which whittles down the necessary prerequisites for many New Yorkers.” Michelle has taken full advantage of the brick, however, turning the exposed material into an eye-catching vignette complete with an area-defining Moroccan rug, colorfully appointed side chairs, and a credenza showing off her keen eye for lighting and accessories such as her Regina Andrew porcelain flower lamps.

Designing a Striking Living Room Feature Wall

Toward the rear of the loft is the couple’s TV room, a quiet and relaxing space for curling up at the end of the day. The room is defined by the massive floral feature wall, an enduring sign of the couple’s dedication to designing their living space. “The chinoiserie wallpaper panels are a feature that we put up ourselves,” Michelle explains. “It took six hours for my boyfriend and I to finish the project, and we highly recommend hiring a professional for anyone thinking about doing it.” The hard-won feature was well worth it, adding color and whimsy to the comparatively minimalist space. The change in tone from the rest of the house is both intentional and functional. “The TV room is where we kick back and relax,” she smiles, “I love working on the sofa and it’s certainly a bonus that the kitchen full of snacks is right behind us.”

The Best Way to Embrace a Unique Floor Plan

Part of the unusual layout of the home is its length. Like many floor-sized New York lofts, this one seems to stretch rather than expand. But designed by Michelle and looked at from end to end, the view is breathtaking. Defining her style as “colorful, maximalist, playful, bohemian, intentional, worldly and joyful,” Michelle searches her home decor for opportunities to add color, and to break out of the established norms of luxury living. “We often think of luxury as beige and neutral palettes coupled with a healthy dose of minimalism. To me, luxury is having your space as you wish, even if it is outside of the confines of convention or what ideas we are sold as aspirational.”

A Dramatic Full-Length Dining Room

“Our dining room is one of my favorite spaces,” Michelle admits. “It’s a continuum of color with an Otomi tapestry on one wall and an Alex Katz print of his wife, Ada, on the other.” Having a large Otomi tapestry framed and placed on the wall is the fulfillment of one of Michelle’s longtime design ambitions. “I love textile arts and as they become an increasingly endangered craft, I find myself gravitating toward textile pieces when I travel and am rummaging in a market somewhere,” she says. Other favorites are the S-shaped rattan chairs that surround the couple’s live-edge dining table and the blue, enameled buffet that sits behind it, bringing even more energy and life into the space.

Every Home Needs a Seating Nook

“It’s amazing to think that we’ve been here for less than two years,” says Michelle. “I love this home because it’s my own personal space that I had free rein and autonomy to design. Just because a home is a rental, it doesn’t preclude it from your ability to make it feel like a home. This home to me is the place where my ideas come to life. It’s not just shelter, but my sanctuary from the daily demands of life.”

Bringing Modern Nautical Style Home

This eye-catching mirror is a DIY project that Michelle took on specifically for inclusion in this space. “I designed and handmade the seashell mirror over the timespan of two weeks,” she says. Covered in literally hundreds of shells of different shapes and sizes, it’s just the right moment of maximalism to tie the bedroom to the rest of the home, conveying that sense of exploration and enjoyment in design that Michelle has clearly woven into every room.

Seafoam-Green Cabinets Warm Up and Bring the Cozy to This Kitchen

The kitchen in this home is small but functional, one of the few concessions to limited space made in a home that offers several generously appointed rooms. Yet its seafoam-colored cabinetry, stainless steel appliances and colorful details make it a lovely and relaxing space for preparing meals. The large armoire not only offers storage but lends a touch of depth to the look in this space.

A Minimalist Bedroom Retreat

Of all the spaces in her home, Michelle considers the bedroom to have been the biggest challenge to decorate. “Arguably,” she concedes, “it’s still a work in progress,” which accounts for the room appearing more minimalist in its content than much of the rest of the loft. But the main difficulty of the space, she feels, isn’t decorative, it’s directional. “We don’t get a lot of light exposure in the room,” she explains, “and it is the room we spend the least amount of time in — which probably means we should be sleeping more.” Still, despite its luminescent shortcomings — or perhaps because of them — Michelle has crafted the perfect space for waking up in the morning or calling it a day. The white-and-blue color palette evokes a calming seaside theme, which Michelle confirms was her intent. Stylish but uncluttered, it's a wonderful room to start the day in before moving into the energy of the other rooms and functions equally well as a bookend at the close of the day, when the couple is winding down.

Designing an Efficient Live/Work Space

“One of my favorite things about this loft,” Michelle intones, “is that it’s uniquely zoned for live/work, which means that you can live in the space and also maintain a business or office in a section of the home.” Prior to moving back to New York, the couple was living in San Diego with Akshay’s parents while working remotely. The experience clarified the importance of having a space at home that could be dedicated to work while leaving the rest of the loft unencumbered. Though functionally minded, Michelle’s office keeps the love of color and sense of whimsy that makes the rest of her home such a delight. The pink and blue glass spheres of Michelle’s copper-and-marble-capped Globo Table Lamp lightly resemble the double helix of DNA, while the bright blue of the cabinet beneath keeps the room awake and lively. Paired with such amenities as Michelle’s ergonomic office chair, bladeless fan and printer, the space is ready for a hard day or evening at the office with just enough design to keep the busy executive smiling.

Tour a TikTok Exec's Bold and Colorful NYC Loft

Related To:

Shop This Look

A Bold and Colorful Influencer's Loft

How to Make a Rental Your Own

A Puffy, Pretty-in-Pink Sofa

Transforming Open Plan Into Pure Coziness

Designing a Striking Living Room Feature Wall

The Best Way to Embrace a Unique Floor Plan

A Dramatic Full-Length Dining Room

Every Home Needs a Seating Nook

Bringing Modern Nautical Style Home

Seafoam-Green Cabinets Warm Up and Bring the Cozy to This Kitchen

A Minimalist Bedroom Retreat

Designing an Efficient Live/Work Space

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