The story of a stylish apartment: how a couple of freelancers rent an apartment in Belgium for 1,200 euros

Stories of apartments, told by their caring owners—it should be interesting, we thought, and immediately began to look for the heroes. And it doesn't matter whether the apartment is rented or bought; the main thing is to treat it as your favorite home. Read the first such story in our new column. 

Paulien, who lives with her boyfriend in a rental apartment in the Belgian capital and posts lovely interior photos on Instagram, told us her story. She explained how they came across their apartment, how they set up their lives there, and what design features they like to incorporate into their interior.

About searching for an apartment 

— I’m 26 years old, I’m a freelance social media manager, and I live in Brussels with my boyfriend and dog.

I started renting a place for myself from an early age when I was 21, but we started renting this apartment two years ago. Before that, we lived in Ghent for six years, which is where we stayed during the pandemic. 

We were doubting whether to choose Ghent or Brussels. We saw 20 apartments in Ghent that we didn’t like, and we saw two apartments in Brussels, and it was bingo! In general, we were ready for a new city.

It took us three months to find this place. We had a list with a lot of wishes, but we were open-minded! We really wanted wooden floors, an outdoor space, and two separate office spaces as we are both working from home. 

It’s funny, but we said ‘no’ after the first time we checked out this apartment because the previous owner stored it full of high closets. A week later, we went for a second look, and it was still available.

About location and cost of rent

— We’re not in the center of Brussels but in a beautiful area called Saint-Gilles. The people here are very open and friendly. And we just love to live in a big city because there's always something to do here. But I also love to have a slow evening in our living room with our projector watching a movie. 

The building is not new; it’s from the 1940s, so it’s very charming but also needed some renovations left and right. It was already renewed and repaired when we started renting the apartment. 

We had one month to take care of electricity, water, gas, etc., but everything went very smoothly. We had a whole Excel document with instructions on how to prepare for the big moving day. 

Now we pay 1200 euros a month, costs included.

About layout and love of interior design

— We really enjoy living in our current apartment, which is far superior to our previous residences in every way. 

Our apartment is 92 square meters and has 3 rooms (one bedroom and two offices), a bathroom, a kitchen, and a big living area. The beautiful wood floors we've been dreaming of are also included. The wooden beams combined with our colorful design choices make this place absolutely beautiful. And upstairs, we have access to the rooftop, which is a big bonus. 

The design of the interior is something we care about a lot! We like to integrate a few eye-catchers that are colorful and style the rest of the apartment based on that. We like a bit of an eclectic style, but it has to feel calm at the same time. We love to add some art pieces to our place, especially from friends and family.

By the way, the design doesn’t have to be expensive. We buy a lot of second-hand and vintage interior pieces, which adds charm.

About interesting stories and upcoming plans

— There is one mysterious story related to our apartment. In the beginning, we had some weird sand piling up in the corner of our bathroom. Every evening we cleaned it and every morning it was back. We even ended up on the local radio with this story because we had no idea where it was coming from. It eventually randomly stopped happening and it has never happened again since then.

I really want to add more character and personality to the bedroom, maybe paint it in a special color. Sadly, we’re not able to touch the bathroom and kitchen but that’s for the next apartment that we’ll buy.