A young couple returning to Israel from the United States with their three children, all under the age of six, faced a daunting challenge: turning an almost empty rental apartment into a family home, and doing it fast. With little furniture to their name and just a week before their return, they had yet to begin planning how their new home would look.
The family had rented a four-room, 110-square-meter (1,184-square-foot) apartment in Tel Aviv. Drawn to the colorful interiors created by designer Maayan Fainstein, they contacted her with an urgent request. What followed was a two-month transformation involving clever storage solutions, furniture they could take to their next home and nearly every color of the rainbow.
But the project also came with an unexpected twist. Just as the finishing touches approached, the family had second thoughts about one of its defining features: the brightly painted walls.
"They caught me just before I boarded a plane," Fainstein recalls. "They had seen my work and said it was exactly what they imagined for their home. I was flying abroad that day, and they were arriving in Israel, but they loved my projects so much that they decided to wait until I returned."
The day after she arrived back in Israel, Fainstein met the family. Within about a week, they had a complete design plan. While furniture and accessories were ordered and the apartment gradually took shape, the family stayed with family.
Knowing that every additional day of work meant another day without a home of their own for the five family members pushed Fainstein to work at an unusually fast pace, so the entire project was completed in approximately two months.
Rather than demolishing walls, the family invested in furniture and accessories they could take to their next home
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
The apartment before the makeover, when the family arrived with little furniture
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Getting rid of the 'geriatric vibe'
The four-room apartment was in good condition when the family rented it. The rooms were spacious and bright, the kitchen was well maintained, the walls were in excellent shape and recessed ceiling lighting had already been installed.
The flooring and bathrooms, however, had what Fainstein describes as a somewhat "geriatric vibe." In an apartment they owned, the couple might have considered extensive renovations, but with a rental property, the calculation was different.
Fainstein and the homeowners examined the possibility and cost of renovating the bathrooms before deciding to leave them untouched. According to Fainstein, not everything that clashes with a tenant's personal taste needs to be ripped out, particularly when the cost of permanent improvements ultimately benefits the landlord.
Instead, the budget went toward items that would improve the family's daily life while remaining useful in their next home: furniture, textiles, lighting and storage. Color, meanwhile, offered a relatively inexpensive way to make a dramatic visual difference.
The white kitchen alongside the colorful dining area
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
The wall that was painted at the very last minute
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
The television console echoes the color of the dining chairs
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Colorful, but in moderation
If color was the joyful side of the project, storage was its most pressing practical challenge. Three young children come with plenty of belongings, and in a four-room apartment where one bedroom was reserved for the parents and another room served as a home office, all three children would share a single bedroom.
"The children's room is very large, so I tried to create a personal space for each of them while also providing enough storage for all three," Fainstein explains.
A large wardrobe occupies one wall, alongside a mint-colored shelving unit. Individual bookshelves were installed beside the beds of the two older children, giving them each a space of their own. The center of the room was kept open, with enough space for a large rug and play area, allowing the room to function as both a bedroom and a playroom.
A turquoise entrance cabinet alongside artwork in complementary colors
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Every corner was used to add personality to the apartment
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Storage solutions were incorporated throughout the apartment. A large drawer in the living room holds toys, while an existing shelving unit discovered behind cabinet doors was opened up and transformed into a functional bookcase. A generously sized television console provides additional storage.
In the kitchen, Fainstein added a double-sided island with storage cabinets on one side and seating on the other. Near the entrance, a metal cabinet holds coats and bags, while another cabinet provides space for shoes. "Nothing scares me," Fainstein says. "Even when it seems as though a home is too small to contain everything, you can always find a solution."
The children's shared bedroom
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Bold colors at the children's eye level
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
According to Fainstein, nearly every color of the rainbow was "invited to the party". Yet despite the apartment's vibrant appearance, the goal was never to create an interior that looked as though a paint chart had exploded across the walls. Instead, the palette was carefully controlled, with neutral areas providing visual relief.
"I really love color, but there has to be balance," she explains. "I won't splash color across every wall. I like leaving some areas clean because they create islands of calm. If I use every color of the rainbow everywhere, it becomes too much for me."
In the apartment's large, brightly lit rooms, most walls were painted to create a warmer, more intimate atmosphere. The larger pieces of furniture, however, were primarily chosen in neutral and natural shades, including white, oak and walnut.
This was a practical decision as much as an aesthetic one. By investing in versatile furniture, the family would be able to take most of its belongings with them when they eventually moved.
The more adventurous colors were introduced through the walls, textiles and accessories, elements that are relatively inexpensive and easy to change. "For me, walls are a canvas, and especially in a rental apartment, they're an excellent place to introduce color, interest and character," Fainstein says. "I usually recommend buying the larger items in shades that will work with other things in the future."
The spacious home office
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Plenty of room for personal belongings and display items
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
In the living room, she took the opposite approach. Most of the walls remained in subdued tones, while colorful furniture and decorative elements brought the space to life. Blue dining chairs, the sofa, a floral rug and the television console introduced personality, while wood, white and natural shades kept the composition from becoming overwhelming.
The palette also follows a principle of repetition. A shade introduced in one area reappears elsewhere, creating a visual connection between pieces that might otherwise seem unrelated. "If you have a sofa in a certain color and that color doesn't appear anywhere else in the room, it can feel as though something is missing," Fainstein explains. "When that shade appears again somewhere else, everything connects and creates continuity."
Lilac walls define the master bedroom
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
The homeowners trusted the designer's choice of colors
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
'Oh, we decided not to paint'
Then came the moment when the entire color scheme nearly remained nothing more than a plan. The furniture had already been ordered, installation day was approaching and Fainstein called the family to make sure everything was ready.
"I asked whether everything had arrived and whether they had painted the apartment in the colors we'd chosen," she recalls. "And they casually said, 'Oh, yes, we forgot to tell you. We decided not to paint the walls.' I was shocked. I said, 'What do you mean?'"
It was the mother who had become nervous about the amount of color. Shades that had looked wonderful in the design plans suddenly seemed potentially overwhelming when she imagined living with them every day.
Fainstein decided that listening to her clients did not necessarily mean agreeing with them. "I reminded them that they had come to me specifically because they connected with my colorful projects, and that everything we had already selected for the home was designed as a whole," she says.
"In the bedroom, for example, the purple wall is what gives the room its special touch, and without it, everything would remain bland. I told them, 'Trust me. I know you don't want an overcrowded home, and I'm taking that into account.'"
The couple were persuaded, almost completely. They agreed to paint the selected walls but decided against adding color to the dining room wall. Fainstein chose not to insist. With enough colorful elements already in the main living space, she felt the white wall could remain without undermining the overall design.
One of the rooms before the transformation
(Design and photo: Maayan Fainstein)
The bathrooms were left unchanged because the apartment is rented
(Photo: Maayan Fainstein)
Then came installation day. Working alongside handyman Tom Cohen, Fainstein brought the different pieces of the design together. Pictures were hung, cushions and accessories were arranged, and furniture was positioned throughout the apartment. What had previously been a collection of individual purchases and decisions finally came together as a cohesive home.
By the end of the day, the couple were delighted with the result. They thanked Fainstein for persuading them not to abandon the colorful walls. Then something unexpected happened: They decided to paint the last remaining wall after all.
For Fainstein, the reversal was less about winning an argument than demonstrating how differently color works when seen as part of a complete interior.
The dining room wall had been intended to echo shades already present in the apartment and give the dining area a stronger identity. Once the couple saw the nearly finished home, they could finally appreciate what they had previously only been able to imagine.
The entire project was built around the same philosophy: because the apartment was rented, there was no investment in expensive custom cabinetry or structural changes that could not move with the family. Instead, most of its personality came from reversible, adaptable elements: paint, furniture, textiles and accessories.
And for Fainstein, that is precisely what makes color such an appealing design tool in a rental. Unlike major renovations, painting walls is relatively simple to undo. It allows tenants to be bolder than they might otherwise dare, knowing that if they change their minds, they can always paint over it.