Daily Design Tweaks Keep A Rental in Jerusalem Feeling Fresh

In the early 2000s when Grace first started Design*Sponge, a focus on handmade craftsmanship was our game, and the design community was on the cusp of the “maker” movement. To put it in perspective, Etsy wasn’t even around yet! Isn’t it baffling to imagine the landscape of home decoration without their homespun offerings? While we have since broadened our focus here at D*S, I always get excited when we come across homes that embody our site’s original focus on handmade makers and those who value a little DIY. Especially when they’re from some interesting part of the world. Enter Dila Bayramov of Delirium Decor and her home in Jerusalem.

There isn’t a corner of this one-bedroom apartment that hasn’t been given Dila’s unique touch. She’s covered secondhand chairs and made pillows from fabrics carefully curated in Africa and Asia, her kitchen and living room feature garbage that she’s given new life to, and her walls hold some of her own one-of-a-kind artwork. Dila has such a penchant for upcycling and redesign, in fact, that not a day goes by without some new project making its way through the front door or some familiar accessory being tweaked. Her partner Oren even says he sometimes comes home to a living room or bedroom that’s been totally rearranged or even painted while he was at work. “While other women change their hair color, I have this thing with painting walls,” Dila tells us with a grin.

While her ever-changing furnishings bring warmth and charm to the apartment, nothing can compete with the true heart and soul of the space: those Dila shares it with. Oren and their two cats simultaneously inject so much tranquility and excitement into each room they’ve become the stars of the show, and Dila wouldn’t have it any other way. Click through to check out the entire space, a true gem in one of the world’s oldest cities. Enjoy! —Garrett

Photography by Kira Kletsky

Image above: Much of the couple’s bedroom is decorated in secondhand finds Dila has tweaked to fit her aesthetic. She upcycled the side table after finding it on the street, she made the blue macrame hanging herself to match the wall, and the lumbar pillow she stitched out of a vintage shawl.