How Bravo Star Joey Zauzig Turned an 1,100-Square-Foot WeHo Rental Into His Postdivorce ‘Sanctuary in the Sky’

Food influencer Joey Zauzig has worked closely with famed interior designer Jeff Lewis in broadcasting for years, yet the luxury West Hollywood apartment where he often delivers his signature saucy meal reviews and motivational speeches is one he decorated without help.

Zauzig, 34, is a fan favorite on Lewis’ SiriusXM show, “Jeff Lewis Live,” and a recurring cast member on “Still Flipping Out,” Bravo’s new spinoff of Lewis’ original “Flipping Out” series.

On both programs, Zauzig and Lewis have had their differences, but Zauzig reveals to Realtor.com® in Celebrity Sanctuary that when it comes to the style of his L.A.-area home, he believes they’re totally aligned.

“We have a similar sense of taste when it comes to homes and when it comes to renovations,” states Zauzig, while clarifying that Lewis hasn’t been by his place but is always welcome to visit. "I’ll let him see it whenever he wants to come over. I think he'll like it."

Food influencer Joey Zauzig has worked closely with famed interior designer Jeff Lewis on radio and TV for years, yet he decorated his luxury West Hollywood apartment without expert help. (Olivia Wolf) Zauzig, 34, is a fan favorite on Lewis’ SiriusXM show, “Jeff Lewis Live,” and a recurring cast member on “Still Flipping Out,” Bravo’s new spinoff of Lewis’ original “Flipping Out” series. (Nicole Weingart/Bravo)

The former “The Real Friends of WeHo” star moved into the 1,100-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom rental unit located inside a high-rise residential tower in West Hollywood in October 2024. At the time, the Virginia native was seeking a safe place to start over following the breakup of his marriage and an unsettling break-in at a previous WeHo residence.

Today, Zauzig’s “small, but perfect” dwelling is his preferred space to comfortably work on his personal brand—and work on himself. It’s where he filmed one of his most popular social media posts “in a tux, shooting the sh*t, eating a shrimp cocktail in the kitchen,” and where he intentionally watched his Bravo debut alone so he could learn and grow through some serious self-reflection.

“To just be in my own home, watch it by myself, and be able to go through those emotions by myself—I was under the covers with a heating pad, face mask on,” recounts Zauzig.

“The best therapy you can ever get is to be able to watch yourself back on TV,” he continues. “I’m by no means perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have things we want to tweak about ourselves when it comes to the journey of becoming your best self. Mine got accelerated from the show, and that's a great thing. Joey 2.0 is going great.”

In this edition of Celebrity Sanctuary, Zauzig details how he’s gotten to “a good place” as he and his carefully curated West Hollywood home continue to be “works in progress.”

Zauzig says his apartment's incredible views make the space feel like "a little sanctuary in the sky." (Olivia Wolf) Zauzig switched out the light fixture over his kitchen island, but hasn't yet replaced the green subway tiles, which he says have "got to go." (Olivia Wolf)

I really got this place because of the views. I was going through a divorce. I needed a little sanctuary in the sky, and that's what I got, and it just makes me happy because it's mine and it's beautiful. 

I always had my eye on this building. A lot of cool people from my industry live here. It’s [got a] full-time security doorman, marble, light oak wood in all of the hallways. I was like, “If I move into a building in L.A., it has to be this building specifically.” I really was dead-set on that and also safety. I wanted somewhere that I felt, [as] someone that travels so much, could just pick up and leave without any worry. 

I definitely made a lot of changes to the place. Farrow & Ball did all of the painting. They sent a paint specialist over. I went really dark. I did a sexy, dark-brown chocolate bedroom, and then my closet is all dark-brown lacquer. The roof is also lacquer, so it reflects [and] it looks bigger. The rest is this taupe-beige. It's a muted white. I didn’t want stark white walls, because it gives rental.

I changed a lot of light fixtures because that was important to me. There was this bubble light fixture in the kitchen, these glass bulbs. It was awful, and it was stark white light. I changed that to this Lulu and Georgia overhead, and I changed the placement of the lighting so it's over my island now, which is really nice. Then there [were] these alien-looking lights! They're not cute, so I changed those into CB2 canister lights. They're a dark black, which goes really nice with the tan [paint]. It feels more warm, cozy.

Other than that, I just made it my own. I made some custom cushions for the balcony outside.

[With] a rental, you never know if you could make changes, but there’s still some tweaks I want to do. Definitely some changes in the kitchen. I hate the green subway tiles. If I felt like putting money into this place, that's what I would change because I am in the kitchen so much. They've got to go. I’m not a subway-tile kind of guy. I would do a marble.

Zauzig considers his living room to be his personal sanctuary. (Olivia Wolf) A white boucle swivel chair from Mid-Century Modern in Burbank, CA, is Zauzig's preferred place to work and wind down. (Olivia Wolf) A "beautiful silver and glass coffee table" is one of the standout furnishings in Zauzig's living room retreat. (Olivia Wolf) Zauzig's living room also features a Design Within Reach console, silver standing lamp from CB2, and 80-inch mounted TV. (Olivia Wolf) Zauzig purchased an original Pierre Jeanneret chair when he was filming his first reality TV show, MTV's "The Real Friends of WeHo.” (Olivia Wolf)

My family room is definitely my sanctuary because I have this white boucle chair where I sit. That's where I edit all my content.

You know when you can't wait to get home and go into that one spot that you're going to relax in, chill in, scroll for hours, watch TV? That's my family room and my specific chair. I love a swivel chair. They help my anxiety a little bit. I just can't wait to get home, get into that boucle chair. I work, I eat, I watch TV. It really is my sanctuary. 

The swivel chair is vintage from Mid-Century Modern in Burbank, CA. It was my first vintage piece, and it's special to me. He re-covered it in white boucle. It's so comfortable. 

I should probably separate [work and home life] better, but I like to feel comfortable when I'm doing my work, especially when I'm editing. When I need to focus, I like to be in a comfortable chair. I am a really tall guy, so I need to be chillin’ and cozy. 

Once I put my phone and my work stuff away, I can actually make the sanctuary a relaxing space.

It's a mix of vintage and Design Within Reach. I have one of those Design Within Reach consoles, this really beautiful silver and glass coffee table, and a CB2 silver lamp. It goes well together with the white boucle and the Design Within Reach dark wood. Then I have a huge Lulu and Georgia Jake Arnold rug, and it's so fluffy and comfortable. It's a smaller family room, so you can have people on the floor and sitting down around the coffee table. It's a really fun little gathering area, and it's comfortable. 

Then I have a huge 80-inch TV because I do watch a lot of TV, so I need it to be big. I know a lot of people say you shouldn't have the TV in the family room because it's trashy—I’ll have a TV in my family room all day long, no matter where I live. I think it's chic. I want people to know I'm a TV watcher. I think it adds a little something. 

I have this [Pierre] Jeanneret chair to the right of my other chair, and that was a piece that I got as a gift to myself when I was filming my first reality show. It's an original Jeanneret chair. It has one of the red inscriptions in the back, which is one of the most rare Jeanneret chairs. The wicker part had to get redone because someone sat in the chair, broke it, and fell through, so that [part] is not original, but it's fine.

I’m going to change some things for sure soon. I need a new couch. 

Just as I'm a work in progress, so is my sanctuary. It's getting there, it’s just not there. It actually makes perfect sense for where I'm at right now. We're all works in progress, and I'm becoming Joey 2.0, so I'm excited.