This colorful, custom and retro studio apartment in Chelsea is a labor of love and mad skill, all crafted by Helena, a props fabricator and designer for theater and film. Helena has turned a dull pail studio apartment into a jewel-toned ultra-functional home and hangout destination. Nearly every inch of her apartment has been carefully outfitted with custom furniture, handmade textiles, art objects, and playful paint patterns. In this house tour she shares not so obvious tips for constructing a Murphy bed, painter’s tips for color blocking, and how to make a studio apartment a welcoming destination for her and her friend’s weekly Dungeons and Dragons game night. See why Helena won Apartment Therapy’s “Cleverness Award” in the 2023 Small/Cool Contest!