This Renter Has Changed Almost Every Inch of Her 850-Square-Foot Apartment

ABOUT THIS TOUR

HOME TYPE: Apartment

LOCATION: Washington, D.C.

STYLE: Colorful, Eclectic, Maximalist

BEDROOMS: 2

SQUARE FEET: 850

“I really do keep painting my house the color of feces. I don’t know why, and I can’t stop doing it, but it looks really good on camera,” Imani Keal, the 29-year-old super-talented DIYer and content creator, says. It’s likely her refreshing, unabashed confidence that attracts viewers (she’s amassed followings of 111K on Instagram and around 93K on TikTok alone), but it’s also her talent and her savvy nature.

Explore a House Tour Like Never Before!
See Imani Keal and her Washington D.C. rental apartment in AT’s first-ever House Tour Cover Story.

Since Imani and her Yorkie, Salazar ‘Sal’ Slytherin II, moved into this two-bedroom rental apartment in Washington, D.C., people have had a front-row seat witnessing the transformation of her new home. (They also saw updates to her previous rental apartment that Apartment Therapy toured in 2022.) Sharing these home projects hasn’t come without controversy, though.

People will often ask if Imani is worried about getting her security deposit back or fretting that her landlord will disapprove of her changes. (Spoiler alert: Imani always gets permission from her landlord before making changes.) But her biggest tool to getting what she wants (and deserves!) is knowledge.

“I just live in the world of finesse,” Imani says. “Part of what makes me comfortable doing that is that I have access to information. So, for starters, in D.C., I know what the tenant rights are — like what I should be getting as far as the tenant.”

For example, after finding a family of mice living in her original kitchen, Imani confidently advocated for a remodel, and mainly because she knew what she was entitled to, she received a complete kitchen renovation. (She now refers to the room as “[her] baby.”)

Imani’s experiences and the influx of comments are what likely led her to create an email template for those looking to make updates to their rentals. “I think the biggest thing that I’ve dealt with is people saying, ‘I don’t know how to ask, or I don’t know what to say,’” Imani says. “And as a person who simply yaps all day, never shuts up, I fear that I do have the words, so I like to give the words to the people.”

While Imani might’ve always been confident, she admits that doesn’t come from a home projects background. Growing up, she deferred the “tinkerer” role to her sister. “I was just like, ‘I’m too cute for this.’ That was really how I felt,” she explains. Imani reminisces about painting her childhood bedroom. She painted over the existing “disgustingly bright pink” with white and had one vibrant orange accent wall.

Unfortunately, Imani didn’t tape the walls, and the orange paint bled onto the white walls. No matter — she rolled with it and extended the orange for 2 to 3 inches on the two connecting walls. “I was like, ‘It’s cute.’ And everybody was like, ‘What is that?’ And I was like, ‘You wouldn’t understand,’ just making stuff up. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s hot. No one knows what’s going on,’” she remembers.

Even though Imani’s confidence has grown, she exudes a relatable vulnerability. “I think as I’ve been doing this longer, I realized that it’s not necessarily that I’m good at DIYs; it’s that I’m willing to try to learn, and I’m willing to fail. I’m willing to get it wrong, and then I’m willing to ask for help.”

It’s refreshing to watch her candor about all things — negotiating with landlords, her home projects (and struggles along the way), and even responding to negativity she gets on videos — and I suppose that’s what keeps people (including me) watching. We’re rooting for her because we can see ourselves in her triumphs and her challenges and feel as though, with her advice, she’s rooting for us, too.

The authenticity that you can feel in Imani’s posts is refreshing, too. She believes that just because she’s an internet personality, she shouldn’t act differently, including responding to negative comments about her design choices.

“I’m a firm believer that before I am a content creator, before I’m an internet person. I’m a person-person. I’m a real human being …” Imani explains. “I think I’ve made some of my best content from people disliking something and me making a video responding to it. So, thanks, guys, for all the hate because it’s getting me paid.”

Imani has made a career out of what originally was a way to manage the “severe claustrophobia” she was experiencing in 2020 after losing two restaurant jobs and having her full-time job hours reduced. At the time, she could only walk freely around Ace Hardware, so she started picking up paint or shelves to hang. She’d document her home projects and share them with friends and family until a friend suggested she post them online.

“I feel like every project I’ve done has built on the project before it. One of my first projects that I filmed was when I stained my bed. I had one of those IKEA pine beds and I stained it,” Imani explains. “The last project that I just did was this massive, built-in bookshelf, and it was stained. Had I not done that, I would have never gotten here. It’s crazy because I used Minwax to do that one, and then I use Minwax to do this one, and it’s like every project builds upon itself.”

Whether it’s using over 30 feet of wallpaper to cover the hallway in a gorgeous black-and-white pattern, toning down the super blue bathroom using a print from her Otto Studio peel-and-stick wallpaper line, or painting her bedroom a controversial brown, she’s followed her gut with every project. Speaking of her bedroom color, she doubled down on it after receiving negative feedback. “It could be like bright, flaming feces on the wall, and I like it. And guess what? That’s all that matters,” she says.

Losing herself in the repetitive actions of a home project has become a sort of therapy for Imani. “I’m locked in for hours. That, to me, is sacred time. It’s very serene, I’m very focused,” she explains. It’s just an added bonus that she shares the fruits of her labor with us.

Shop This Home

PAINT & COLORS 

• Kitchen Cabinets — Valspar’s Royal Garnet (1011-5)

• Kitchen Walls — Valspar’s Naivete (7001-21)

• Living Room and Office Walls — Sherwin-Williams’s Alabaster (SW 7008)

• Living Room Built-in Stain Color — Miniwax’s Jacobean (MW2750)

• Bathroom Trim and Cabinets — Sherwin-Williams’s Borscht (SW 7578)

• Bedroom Walls and Trim — Valspar’s Coconut Husk (8003-20G)

• Nightstand — Valspar’s Renew Blue (8003-37D)

• Office Trim and Ceiling — Valspar’s Frosty Berry (1003-1B)

ENTRY/HALLWAY 

• Uzo Njoku “Fulawa” Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper — OTTO Studio

• STÄLL Shoe Cabinet — IKEA

• Blue Dot Tack Wall Hook — The Container Store

• VARMBLIXT Lamp — IKEA

• The Dress by Adrienne Brown-David — Artfully Walls

• Blue Table — IKEA

• Wall Mirror — DIY by Imani

LIVING ROOM 

• FÄRLÖV Sofa — IKEA (discontinued)

• Coffee Table — Vintage

• Eden Swing-Arm Sconce — Rejuvenation

• Rug — Vintage

• HÄCKPOPPEL Decorative Bowl — IKEA

• Curtain Rods — Ballard Designs

KITCHEN/DINING AREA 

• Kitchen Cabinets and Countertops — IKEA

• Floor Tiles — WallPops

• Imani At Home “India’s Knit” Peel-and-Stick Wallpaper — OTTO Studio

• Architectural Digest Nerissa Teal & Gold Tufted Rug — Ruggable

• Kitchen Table — Vintage

• Dining Chairs — Vintage

• China Cabinets — Vintage

• Curtain Rod — Ballard Designs

PRIMARY BEDROOM

• Pax Wardrobe Pulls – Rental Redo

• Gold Wall Mirror — Vintage

• Red Console Table — Vintage

• Floral Table Lamp — Vintage

• Brass Bed Frame — Vintage

• Black Beaded Chandelier — Vintage from The Opportunity Shop

• Tulip Roman Shades — JCPenney

• Gold & Brown Rug — Vintage

• Pink & Brown Weaved Laundry Basket — Elefant Grass

SECOND BEDROOM/OFFICE 

• Custom ELFA Storage Unit — The Container Store

• Desk — Vintage

• Evie Vintage Chartreuse Rug — Ruggable

• Shelter Daybed in Golden Oak Performance Velvet — West Elm

• Bowery Table Lamp — Article

• ELFA Over-the-Door Storage Unit — The Container Store

• Ceiling Pendant — Waterworks (discontinued)

BATHROOM 

• Drunken Chevron Wallpaper in Rose — OTTO Studio

• Vanity Light — Shades of Light

• Pink Shower Curtain — IKEA

Thanks Imani!

This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

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Further Reading

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need

See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room