I Pay £1,240 For My Brooklyn Apartment—Here's What It Looks Like

In Refinery29's Sweet Digs, we take a look inside the sometimes small, sometimes spacious homes of millennial women. Today, 26-year-old Rayne Schloss shows off her one-bedroom in Brooklyn.

When Rayne Schloss decided to move back to Brooklyn from Virginia, she realised signing an apartment from afar was going to be a challenge. "I didn't see the apartment in person when I signed the lease," she says. "I was coming to New York every week to see apartments, but for this one I had to send my best friend, and she Facetimed me."

Even through the phone, Schloss could see that she'd love the apartment. "It was really bright, and I wanted wood floors, and it was in my price point," she says. So she signed it, site unseen, and prepared her big move.

Luckily, the 26-year-old knew a thing about moving on a budget. Growing up, she invested money in secondhand high-end pieces, which she learned she could eventually sell at a higher price. To furnish her new New York home, for example, she sold a secondhand Goyard bag for roughly $1,300 (£1,030). The experience inspired her blog Broke in Brooklyn, where she writes about finding deals and navigating New York on a budget. "I'm searching for Celine and Chanel and Louis Vuitton at really discounted prices," she says, a skill she learned while shopping with her mother.

The fashion influence comes through in her home, too (it helps that she works at a high-end online interior shop). In one corner, there's Louis Vuitton and Chanel. In another, Supreme and Celine. And her art pieces also come courtesy of her background in Brooklyn. "I grew up influenced by streetwear, which was influenced by Japanese fashion when I was in high school, and those elements stayed with me," she says. Read on to learn more about her style.

A mix of Midcentury modern with a little bit of contemporary pop art vibes. Being a kid from Brooklyn has stayed with me. So it's that juxtaposition of my style now and having those streetwear elements on my wall that I love.

Where do you shop for home decor/furniture?
I would say Ikea is huge, Target is number one. Target has the best options, and I wish I could stop myself from going there as much as I do. CB2 is really good for brassware and small pieces. And then I would say Wayfair because they have good variety and they have a lot of dupes of well-known designs.

How has your job at an interior furniture site influenced your style?
It’s definitely influenced my eye for sure, especially when I am looking at styles that can translate well into a lower price point. I look for timeless styles that I think work well in every space. That’s one thing I learned: There are a lot of classic styles reproduced over and over and over again.

Pay attention to the materials and the weight. I think that’s really important. If it’s heavier, generally, it’s better. That means they’re using solid pieces of wood instead of plywood and that will tell you if something is going to hold up well. Buying furniture online is always a risk, so ask as many questions about the piece as you can. Most places let you call someone or email someone, because the return process is such a pain. But pay attention to materials because you don’t want bedbugs. I’m scared of bringing anything to my apartment that costs a lot to fix, and anything that can hold bed bugs. It happened to a friend of mine. She picked up a piece of sidewalk furniture that was really nice, got bed bugs, and it took months to get it resolved.