Monica Schafer designed her Plaza pad to resemble a boutique hotel.

The apartment has cool gray walls, graphic black molding, retro-chic furniture and strategically placed pops of color. Check out the red-lipstick couch in the living room, the mint walls in the kitchen and the plum and scarlet curtains hanging in the bedroom.

Schafer travels constantly in her job as a practice development consultant for an orthodontics software company. But her budget typically doesn’t allow her to indulge in upscale accommodations. So at home, she tried to duplicate the style of an uber-cool hotel (W Hotels are her personal favorite) on the cheap. Here’s how:

Schafer bought lots of mismatched mirrors from thrift stores and discount home décor stores, then hung them all over one living room wall. The arrangement looks chic and makes the 650-square-foot apartment look larger.

She also modernized old furniture with new upholstery or paint. That new-looking pair of tufted chairs beside the balcony is actually from the thrift store. Schafer had the chairs re-covered with smoky gray fabric.

Schafer cut photos of Marilyn Monroe and The White Stripes from books and framed them to make easy art.

For an offbeat (but personal) touch, she sprinkled in family heirlooms, such as an oversized mid-century lamp from her grandmother and a lifelike portrait of her grandfather from the 1940s.

It all works together beautifully. And the best part is, Schafer doesn’t have to check out.