There are few things I love more on the internet than a good apartment tour. Not in a voyeuristic “look how rich people live” kind of way, but in a deeply human one. I’ve always been fascinated by the way people create homes for themselves, especially in cities like New York where space is limited and every square foot has to work hard. I love seeing how someone organizes their books, the artwork they hang on their walls, the objects they keep visible on shelves, the candles they burn, the colors they gravitate toward, and all the little details that slowly turn an apartment into a reflection of a person’s life.
Maybe it’s because I’ve moved so many times throughout my life. Between Argentina, Germany, and New York, I’ve had my fair share of apartments, empty rooms, IKEA furniture, boxes piled in corners, and the strange emotional process of trying to make a new place feel familiar. Or maybe it’s simply because I’m a millennial woman who grew up during the golden era of blogs and early YouTube, when apartment tours felt cozy and personal instead of hyper-produced and transactional.
Either way, I still love them.
Over the years, I’ve shared several apartment tours of my own here on YouTube, both furnished and unfurnished, and they’ve consistently become some of the most watched videos on my channel. I think people are naturally curious about how others live, especially in New York City, where apartments almost become characters of their own. Tiny kitchens, impossible closets, awkward layouts, beautiful light, questionable rent prices… every apartment comes with its own story.
So a few months ago, I started thinking about how much fun it would be to expand those videos into a new series, one where instead of only showing my own spaces, I could take you inside the homes of friends, creatives, and people whose spaces genuinely inspire me. That’s how Come On In was born, a series dedicated to apartment tours, home tours, and the stories behind the spaces we create for ourselves.
And for the very first episode, we’re visiting Annie’s studio apartment in Hudson Yards.
I met Annie about a year ago through content creation events here in the city, and we immediately got along. She’s a fellow creator who shares lifestyle, beauty, and fashion content online, and over time I started noticing how often her apartment appeared in the background of her videos. Every little corner felt thoughtful and intentional without looking overly designed or staged. It looked like a real person lived there, which I think is something the internet is slowly losing a bit.
Her apartment is a studio, just over 400 square feet, located in one of Manhattan’s newest neighborhoods. Hudson Yards has changed so much over the past few years and has become one of the most sought-after areas in the city, filled with modern buildings, luxury amenities, views of the Hudson River, and easy access to the West Side Highway. It feels very different from older New York neighborhoods, almost like its own little bubble tucked into Manhattan.
Walking into Annie’s apartment, the first thing I noticed was how calm it felt. Even though it’s technically one open room, she managed to create distinct spaces that each serve a purpose without making the apartment feel crowded. There’s a softness to the way she decorated it: muted greens and blues, warm neutrals, textured fabrics, gold accents, layered lighting, and little personal details everywhere you look.
One of the things I found most interesting while filming was hearing her talk about the process of decorating her first solo apartment. I think for a lot of women, especially in their twenties and thirties, living alone for the first time becomes a much bigger emotional experience than we expect. It’s not just about paying rent or buying furniture. It’s about creating a space that reflects who you are when no one else is influencing the decisions.
What kind of colors make you feel calm? What objects do you actually want around you every day? What routines matter to you? What kind of life are you trying to build for yourself?
Those questions slowly start shaping the apartment too.
Annie mentioned that when she was deciding on colors for the space, her mom gave her advice that honestly stayed with me long after filming. She told her to look inside her closet and pay attention to the colors she naturally gravitates toward in her clothing. Those are probably the colors that will make a home feel most like her. I loved that idea because it makes so much sense. Our homes, at their best, are extensions of ourselves. Not perfect Pinterest boards or trend cycles, but spaces that genuinely feel comforting and personal.
In Annie’s case, that translated into earthy greens, soft blues, warm tones, and gold accents that make the apartment feel feminine and cozy without feeling overly decorated. The painted walls especially made such a difference. I feel like so many rental apartments in New York end up looking identical because everyone is afraid to commit to color, but adding those muted tones helped divide the studio into sections that almost feel like separate rooms.
And honestly, watching someone thoughtfully design a small apartment in New York feels almost like watching someone solve a puzzle.
Because if there’s one universal New York experience, it’s becoming deeply invested in storage solutions.
I don’t think I ever cared about vertical storage before moving here, and now I could probably write an entire blog post about under-bed containers and over-the-door organizers. Small-space living changes you. Suddenly you find yourself emotionally attached to baskets, hidden compartments, and furniture that secretly stores things inside of it.
Annie’s apartment was full of those kinds of clever solutions: baskets above kitchen cabinets for seasonal storage, multi-level pant hangers to maximize closet space, hidden storage inside stools, motion-sensor closet lights, under-bed containers, shoe storage disguised as mirrors, and little organizational systems tucked into every possible corner.
But what I appreciated most was that none of it felt sterile or overly minimalist. The apartment still felt warm and lived in.
I think sometimes when people talk about small apartments online, especially on TikTok or Pinterest, everything starts feeling overly aestheticized. Every surface is empty, every shelf perfectly color-coded, every object styled within an inch of its life. And while that can look beautiful in photos, it doesn’t always feel real.
What made Annie’s apartment memorable to me were the personal details.
The collection of matchbooks from restaurants and trips. The dirty martini glasses gifted by a friend. The framed Vogue feature from a bridal shoot she modeled in. The champagne cork saved from a goodbye celebration for a friend moving away. Even the Sarah Jessica Parker shoes she bought shortly after moving to New York, which now sit displayed almost like little pieces of memorabilia from the beginning of her life here.
Those objects tell a story far more interesting than expensive furniture ever could.
I also found myself thinking a lot while filming about why apartment tours continue to resonate so much online, especially with millennial and Gen Z women. I think part of it is aspirational, of course, but I also think there’s something comforting about witnessing how other people navigate adulthood.
How they build routines.
How they organize chaos.
How they create beauty within limitations.
How they carve out little corners of peace for themselves in expensive, overwhelming cities.
For many of us, especially those who work remotely or creatively, our apartments have become much more than just places to sleep. They’re offices, studios, dining rooms, editing spaces, therapy rooms, reading nooks, and sometimes the only quiet place we get at the end of the day. So seeing how someone else makes that work can feel oddly reassuring.
And honestly, I think that’s the kind of content I want to create more of moving forward.
Slower content. More thoughtful content. Content that feels personal rather than overly optimized. The kind of videos and blog posts you read while drinking coffee on a Sunday morning or while romanticizing your life a little after a hard week.
That’s what I hope Come On In becomes over time. Not just apartment tours, but conversations about creativity, identity, independence, home, and the many ways people shape spaces around the lives they’re trying to build.
Because at the end of the day, homes are never really just about decor. Especially in New York City. They become reflections of who we are at a certain point in our lives: our ambitions, routines, memories, comforts, struggles, and hopes for the future.
And I honestly can’t wait to show you more.
xx, Flor.
