When Paige DeSorbo moved to New York City a decade ago, there was an apartment building she’d walk by every day and admire on her way to work.
“I used to look into the building and just be like, ‘Oh, my God, I love this so much. I would die to live there,’” the Summer House star recalls to PEOPLE.
Earlier this year, she found her new home there, when she learned an apartment had become available.
“I freaked out. It truly was fate,” DeSorbo, 31, says. “I didn't even remember the building when I was looking for a new apartment. And so then when my real estate agent wanted to go look at it, we were about to walk in and he was like, ‘Okay, don't act like you love it.’ And right when I stepped in the door I was like, ‘No, sorry, I need this apartment.’”
DeSorbo moved into the new abode in April, and partnered with CB2 to design the perfect space.
“It's honestly my dream apartment,” says the Giggly Squad cohost. “It's everything I could have ever imagined. I feel like I don't live in New York City and I live in Paris, and it's just the ultimate princess palace.”
Explaining her design inspiration, DeSorbo says she opts for larger items in neutral hues, since they’re harder to swap out if she gets tired of them. And she wanted to give the rooms a cohesive look
She decided to make her accent color baby blue, picking the shade for both a velvet sofa in her bedroom and a rug in her living room, where it pops against whites, beiges and browns. A cascading chandelier also gives the space a luxurious touch.
DeSorbo says the partnership was a natural fit since she’s “always” had items from CB2. As a longtime fan of the brand’s couches, she was excited to choose one large enough to accommodate group gatherings now that she has enough space.
“Living in New York, you never get to have a sectional,” she says. “I just really wanted one so that when people came over everyone could lay on the couch.”
Her Summer House castmates Ciara Miller and Amanda Batula have already been to the apartment and “loved it.”
The extra space also means that DeSorbo’s boyfriend, Southern Charm star Craig Conover, has his own closet to use when he visits from Charleston, South Carolina.
“It's so funny, when I was moving out of my old apartment, Craig was so sad because when we first started dating, I had just moved into that apartment and so we just had a lot of memories there,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘But when we get into the new apartment in the first 24 hours, you're going to forget about the old apartment.’ And he absolutely did.”
As for design challenges, DeSorbo says she didn’t want to “disrespect” the space’s natural charm, since it already had its own character.
“I wanted the things that were built in,” she says, adding that she considers the home’s two fireplaces to be “the centerpieces.”
In fact, the fireplace in her bedroom — which is nonworking and decorative — has become a favorite sleeping spot for Daphne, the cat DeSorbo adopted in July.
“This is really Daphne's apartment and she just lets me stay here,” she jokes. “And I think it honestly was the universe that I was like, ‘Oh, I want baby blue to be the accent color.’ And then when I got my cat, she has piercing baby blue eyes, so it almost looks like I got her to match the apartment. And honestly, I kind of did.”
