Influencer Spends $7,000 Turning Her Apartment Into a Parisian Retreat. Here’s What You Can Learn From It

Does $7,000 sound like a lot to spend on an apartment you don’t own? Maybe. But what if it gave you the kind of home you’d been waiting to buy someday?

That’s the calculation Nnedinma Obiwuru made in her Austin apartment. Over several years, she and her fiancé spent about $7,000 turning their two-bedroom rental into a Parisian-inspired retreat filled with vintage furniture, layered artwork and DIY features including a restaurant-style banquette and collapsible bar, according to Business Insider.

The important part is that none of it was permanent. “The cool thing is that everything I build and design in the apartment is renter-friendly,” she told Business Insider.

Her decision to invest in a rental also reflects something a lot of millennials are living through right now. According to a 2025 Federal Reserve report, 68% of renters said they can’t afford a down payment, 49% can’t cover a monthly mortgage and 42% can’t qualify for one. Only 39% said they actually prefer renting.

“Owning a house in Austin feels more like a 10-year dream,” Obiwuru told Business Insider. “Renting is where I’m at, and many of my friends are in the same situation. That’s why I focus on making my place feel like home.”

Her apartment isn’t a blueprint every renter needs to follow. Not everyone has $7,000 or the time for major DIY projects. But the way she approached it offers some genuinely useful apartment decorating ideas for anyone wondering how to decorate an apartment they don’t own.

Renter-friendly lessons from a $7,000 rental transformation

1. Find inspiration before you start buying

Obiwuru’s apartment feels cohesive because she built it around places and experiences she already loved rather than decorating room by room without direction.

Her primary bedroom was inspired by a suite at Paris’s Relais Christine. Her guest room took on a bar-and-restaurant theme with red velvet banquette seating and a collapsible bar. She’s also drawn from New Orleans hotel Maison Metier for the layered, eclectic look that runs throughout the space.

Having a reference point doesn’t mean copying someone else’s home. It means knowing what you’re drawn to before you start spending money.

2. DIY can make expensive ideas much more attainable

Obiwuru’s guest room is the clearest example. She wanted restaurant-style banquette seating, but the options she found online ran north of $4,000. She and her fiancé built their own using wood, foam and fabric for about $700.

The collapsible bar cost even less. She made it for roughly $80 using plywood and hinges, with Home Depot cutting the wood to size.

DIY isn’t for every project or every person, but when the skill level matches the ambition, it can turn a wish-list idea into something real for a fraction of the cost.

3. Thrift to save money and add character

Much of Obiwuru’s home came from local thrift stores, with many pieces costing between 49 cents and about $20.

Her bathroom is one of the best examples. She and her fiancé set a $100 budget and found 51 picture frames at Goodwill stores around Austin, then filled them with Harlem Renaissance and Prohibition-era artwork.

Thrifting kept costs down, but it also did something a furniture catalog can’t. It gave the space the kind of lived-in, collected feeling that makes a rental look like it belongs to someone rather than just being occupied by them.

4. Spend more where it will actually make a difference

Not everything in Obiwuru’s apartment was a bargain find. She spent $1,000 on the large brown leather sofa in her living room while keeping most of her smaller decorative purchases inexpensive or secondhand.

That’s a useful hierarchy for any renter to borrow: save on pieces that are primarily decorative and consider spending more on furniture that gets heavy daily use and can move with you to the next place.

5. Don’t be afraid to change if you outgrow your space

A renter-friendly home doesn’t have to be a finished product. Obiwuru has continued evolving the apartment as her style shifts. In a recent Instagram video, she showed herself reworking an accent wall she had outgrown rather than staying committed to an earlier design choice.

That flexibility is one of the biggest advantages of renter-friendly decorating. Wallpaper, paint treatments, artwork, furniture layouts and other decorative layers can all evolve without a full renovation.

Before you upgrade your rental, ask yourself these questions

Obiwuru’s approach worked because she thought about the investment, not just the look. Before spending money on your own rental, it’s worth running through a few questions:

• Can I take this with me? Furniture, art, lighting and portable appliances hold more value for a renter than permanent improvements you leave behind.
• Does this make the space more useful, more personal or both? Obiwuru’s strongest changes didn’t just decorate. They changed how she used the apartment.
• Can I get the look for less? Before buying custom, consider DIY, thrifted pieces or secondhand finds that deliver the same effect at a lower cost.
• Is this where I actually want to spend more? It may make sense to splurge on something you use every day, like a sofa or a bed, while saving on decorative details.
• Will I still like this a year from now? Removable and reversible choices make it easier to evolve the space without starting over.
• If I had to move next year, would I still be glad I spent the money? If the answer is yes because the item moves with you, improved your daily life or helped the rental feel like home, it was probably worth it.

The goal isn’t to spend like you own the place. It’s to make the place feel worth living in while you’re there.

Looking for more renter-friendly home upgrades that don’t require a big budget or a DIY project? Start here.