Renata Bokalo and Roman Luba were in a bit of a renter’s rut. After 15 years of living in their one-bedroom in New York’s Meatpacking District, they had hit an impasse. Renata, who is the director of sales at Aesthetic Movement, wanted to update and finally make the place their own: “It felt like we were still living in our first post-college apartment,” she says. But Roman wasn’t convinced it was financially worth it.
“It took our couples’ therapist to mediate and help us work out a small budget that made us both happy,” they told us. Conveniently, Roman, a creative director at Adobe, happens to be very handy: Focusing on the kitchen and bath, he retiled, installed new sinks and doors, and painted?all for under $3,000. “Roman is extremely good at Googling ‘How To,'” says Renata. Come see the results and learn the couple’s discoveries for “how to live with stuff and little space,” no counseling required. Photography by Kate Sears.

1. Consider a cosmetic kitchen makeover.
Back when the couple initially took over the 700-square-foot apartment? from a family of four?Roman removed the wall dividing the galley kitchen from the living area, redid the wood floors, and whitewashed the walls. (They initially used the space as an office-showroom for their beloved, now-shuttered housewares shop, Auto, which was on the ground floor.)
This go, Roman cost-effectively transformed the look of th...