Content Creator Polina Meshkova's Chic Studio Apartment in New York City

Welcome to The Makers. Each week, we’re celebrating innovators, artisans, and crafters of all types, taking you on a private tour of their creative spaces. For this instalment, we tour content creator Polina Meshkova's studio apartment in Downtown Manhattan.

Curating a cohesive and stylish Instagram feed is no mean feat, but we'd say it's one of many things that Polina Meshkova has mastered. Hop onto her feed and you're greeted with an envy-enduing selection of images that only someone with a keen eye for detail and a strong idea of their personal brand would be able to put together.

As a content creator, she spends her days creating social media advertisements as well as user-generated photo and video content for a variety of brands. "With social media and content, it’s hard to find one single strategy or tool that can make you successful, but having a clear vision or even ethos of my personal brand is a big thing," she shares with Bed Threads Journal.

"My work has genuinely changed my life in so many positive ways, from the people I have met to the dream brands I’ve had an opportunity to partner with to an amazing and supportive online community I have built."

New Yorkers know how to make the most of what little real estate they can get their hands on, and for Polina, it meant working with a studio apartment – a space that also doubles as her office. "...it needed to have the space for me to work and shoot it but also aesthetic items in the background and simple, non-distracting colour combinations," she explains.

She opted for a light and bright colour palette and pared-back, timeless styling with a mid-century modern feel. "I wanted it to be very airy but still “warm” and somewhat homey."

Most of the furniture within is timber including a mid-century modern-style console and chairs and a bedside table with rattan. A modern kitchen with a marble backsplash and counter surfaces elevates the overall apartment and makes it feel a bit more luxurious. The sleeping area is swathed in delicate purple and pink tones of Lavender, Lilac, and Rosewater linen which add a touch of colour and feed warmth into the space.

Unlike many apartments in the city, Polina is lucky to have large windows that flood her space with natural light – one of the main features she was looking for when hunting for a rental home. "I stepped into the apartment at around 4 pm in the afternoon and the sunlight was lighting up the whole space," she says.

We took a tour of Polina's small yet ultra-stylish home and spoke to her about how she became a content creator, how this line of work relates to her personality, and how she styled her abode.

Shop Polina Meshkova's Edit.

Tell us about your career journey to date. Did you always know you wanted to pursue this line of work?

I think I always knew I wanted to do something creative. Even when I considered a corporate career path, it was either lifestyle/fashion journalism, social media marketing, advertising, etc. — something that would give me an opportunity to still be creative and use my imagination. I picked up my first camera when I was 14 and was doing a lot of very editorial-ish photoshoots for my friends but was also modelling for other photographers in my hometown who were doing the same. And I would always think “I wish there was some type of job where you could do both: work on the creative concept of the project and be in front of the camera, do the styling and the modelling, be an advertising agency all in one; the mastermind, the executor, and the face of the project.”

Then social media came along — my friends introduced me to this little app called Instagram and I was at first very reluctant to join but gave into the peer pressure — and I was looking at the OG content creators/bloggers like Chiara Ferragni and Aimee Song and realising that that was exactly what they were doing, so I slowly started putting my content out there and polishing my style.

Talk us through your creative process. Where do you start?

Depending on the brand, the campaign, and the assignment, sometimes I get a concept in my head the moment I read the first email/the concept brief. Sometimes it takes a little more brainstorming. Sometimes the concept is already predetermined and I just need to do the execution part with my own twist. For brainstorming, I like to get inspired on Pinterest just in terms of colours, locations, and lighting, then thinking about how I can present the product in the most natural and authentic way while also giving it enough attention.

On social media, it’s a fine balance between what the brand would ideally want to see and what the audience would ideally want to see, so you have to consider that overlap as well. But for that reason, I also only take on brand partnerships that really align with me and feel authentic to me and my audience.

What’s been the single most crucial tool or strategy you’ve used to further your career?

Just putting yourself out there, experimenting and seeing what sticks and what doesn’t. With social media and content, it’s hard to find one single strategy or tool that can make you successful, but having a clear vision or even ethos of my personal brand is a big thing. It defines everything from the types of content I post and the editing, to the brands I work with, take giftings from, and create content for.

It’s crucial to know who you are, what you stand for, what type of things you want to create, and the companies you want to work with to attract the right opportunities. And you have to create and work as if it’s all those things and goalposts you want to reach are already happening. You have to create the right “environment” for those things to come to you.

What’s been the best thing that’s happened to you since you started your career?

My work has genuinely changed my life in so many positive ways – from the people I have met to the dream brands I’ve had an opportunity to partner with to an amazing and supportive online community I have built. Sometimes I have a reality check if I am attending a cool event or working with a brand I would read about in magazines when I was a teen and I can’t believe that that’s actually my life. But one of the most amazing things is that I am a transplant to the US and my creative work has actually allowed me to stay here post-graduation on a work visa for creatives and artists.

How did you initially know this was the space for you?

After living with roommates for years, I really wanted my own place. And I remember writing down: beautiful kitchen, hardwood floors, big windows, a lot of light, and big closet space. I stepped into the apartment at around 4 pm in the afternoon and the sunlight was lighting up the whole space, beautiful wooden floors, a marble kitchen with light wood cabinets, walk-in closet, massive windows, a very good layout, marble bathroom, and the cherry on top — washer/dryer in unit (people who live in NYC know it’s the holy grail of New York apartments). It was a luxury doorman building with an elevator, a roof, and a gym and they were having a promotion during COVID, so the price was actually reasonable. I was sold.

Did you do any renovations or make any big changes after moving in?

It’s a rental and while I love it, the goal is to have a house for my future family, so not any big renovations but I did add floating shelves in my kitchen that make it cosier and expanded my closet space by adding a case of shelves for shoes and bags and a two-tier industrial style rack for all my clothes.

What was the thought process behind the way you’ve styled the interior?

I wanted it to be very airy but still “warm” and somewhat homey. That’s why I opted for mid-century modern chairs and a bedside table with rattan, a lot of wood, a white wool rug, a so-called “cloud bed,” linens, and a lot of neutrals. I have a lot of candles that I like to light in the evenings and in the colder seasons and have some art pieces (some of which I have painted myself) that are very me. My concrete-like table is a good balancing item that I feel ties more modern and “cold” items with more mid-century and “warm” wooden items. It was also very important for me to keep it light and minimalistic because my studio is also my work studio where I shoot the majority of my content. So it needed to have the space for me to work and shoot it but also aesthetic items in the background and simple, non-distracting colour combinations.

Do you have any special décor pieces you’re looking to add?

I’ve been looking at maybe adding a faux fireplace mantel to one of my walls but it would be a long shot. It’s about to be my third year living here so I am pretty set with all the interior design decisions, although I might switch up my boucle swivel chair for something more comfortable and relaxed like a Togo chair.

For more from Polina follow her at @polina_meshkova

Photography by Meghan Marin. Styling by Laura Woolf.