Maya Reinhardt
Maya has spent the last ten years documenting room makeovers in the apartments and rentals she's actually lived in — modest budgets, weeknight timelines, honest before-and-afters. She writes the kind of home decor advice she wishes she'd had in her twenties: realistic, packable, refreshingly anti-aspirational, and built for the homes most of us are actually paying for.
Senior Editor · 1 post
How I got here
-
2015
First rental makeover in Brooklyn
My first apartment was a 350 sq ft beige studio in Williamsburg. A $150 roll of peel-and-stick wallpaper across the kitchen nook covered the worst of the builder-grade paint and convinced me that you don't need permission to make a rental feel like yours. That weekend hooked me on small, reversible, budget-first projects.
-
2017
Bigger rental, bigger lessons in Washington D.C.
A move to a narrow D.C. rowhouse came with an outdated bathroom and a strict landlord. I learned to lean on Command Hooks for the art, removable vinyl across the vanity face, and the kind of forgiving design choices a $200 budget forces on you. It wasn't perfect, but it photographed well — and it taught me the playbook I still use.
-
2020
Started sharing makeovers semi-anonymously online
I quietly launched a private Instagram called 'RentableRehab' to show friends what I was doing to each new place. The post that changed everything was an Atlanta duplex living-room update built around a $75 thrift-store sofa rehabbed with a slipcover. Documenting honest before-and-afters that week clarified the kind of writing I wanted to do publicly.
-
2023
Joined Decor Obsessed as Staff Writer
After years of documenting my own rentals, joining the Decor Obsessed team felt like the natural next chapter. My first published piece — '5 Ways to Hide Ugliness in a Rented Kitchen' — found an audience faster than anything I'd written before. Suddenly real-world tricks like a $30 pantry organisation were reaching readers who actually needed them.
-
2026
Promoted to Senior Editor at Decor Obsessed
Stepping into the Senior Editor role at Decor Obsessed has been the most exciting move of my career. The focus now is on practical, photo-led transformations anyone can copy — a recent example: a no-drill gallery wall any renter can finish in an afternoon for under $100. The mission stays the same: help readers love the rooms they're renting without trashing the deposit or the budget.
