Over the course of "Broad" 's five seasons, the two protagonists grew from aimless 20-somethings to ambitious, politically active women. It seemed only natural, then, that their apartment would reflect this change. Abbi and Ilana's apartment has always been a reality: first, two penniless millennials living in New York, now two older, slightly less well-off millennials. Jubilee generation. But according to Broad City production designer Angelique Clark, Abbi and Ilana's home has evolved with them.
For Clark, who has been on the show for five years and in television for more than a decade, this is an endeavor worth watching. "I came to New York with no money, no plan, and I just worked my way up," she tells Bustle, adding that she started out by working as a waitress and looking for jobs online. "Honestly, the beauty of Broad City is... we showcase the raw authenticity of New York. It would be easy for me to say, 'Oh, yeah, that was my apartment when I was 25! '"
For example, Clark remembers decorating her apartment in a DIY style similar to Abby and Ilana's. "I didn't have a lot of money, but I remember taking tissue paper with flowers on it, cutting them out, and putting them on the wall and [making] a little collage," she recalls. Abbi has always been an artist and equally enjoys showing off her work, while Ilana, like Clark, prefers beautiful collages (more on that later).
So while Abby's apartment is fancy and fully furnished (despite Bevers's best efforts) and Ilana's is a mess, their apartments have evolved over the years—just like them. Here's how Clark and her talented team made the whole thing seamless.
Abbey House
“[Abbi] has an integrated, refined, humble aesthetic, and it’s very well curated,” Clark said. "We show her changing through her artwork, which changes a lot, and we'll keep adding more art throughout the season."
The most prominent example is Abby's iconic Oprah portrait, which hung proudly on her bed until season four. "After talking to [co-creator and star Abbi Jacobson], she said, 'I think I'm ready to retire Oprah,' so that came directly from her mouth," Clark explained says. Instead, Abby replaced it with a handiwork of her own: an ombre rope wall hanging that now hangs over her bed. “It’s like a work in progress that she came up with.… .Throughout the seasons, she gradually filled in more and more artwork," Clark said.
That's not to say Abby will never love Oprah, but it shows that she's ready to be herself and take pride in her work. "It's more about showing the growth of her character and just wanting to have her own work," Clark said. That said, a smaller photo of the TV personality still hangs near Abby's door, and of course, her lower back tattoo will always be there. "Oprah is definitely going to be there for Abby in her life," Clark assured.
The production designer added that season 4 will focus on Abby changing everything. She got a big-girl job—albeit a short one—so she upgraded some furniture and even rearranged the bedroom and living room to make everything feel fresh. For example, her sofa was moved from being backed against the wall to facing the window, which made it look like a brand new apartment.
As for where Clark and her team shopped for Abbi's room, she listed obvious stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond (of course), Anthropologie, and Urban Outfitters, as well as more New York-specific places like a Cobble Hill spot called Papel Paper Store New York, an Astoria chain called Lockwood and Housing Works. "Between seasons, I just made a list of things that I thought Abby and Ilana... would have, and I was like, 'Okay, we have to get this,'" Clark recalled . She also worked closely with Broad City set decorator Jessica Petruccelli, who Clark said was "responsible for most of the set decoration."
Ilana's House
"Ilana's apartment almost started out like a boys' dormitory," Clark said of the first season, adding that the character's furniture was likely trash thrown off the sidewalk by either Ilana or her roommate Jamie. "I think in my initial conversations with [co-creator and star Ilana Glazer], we came to the conclusion that we really just wanted to show what it's like to be a really gritty, scrappy 20-something, When you're trying to make money, that's what you go through in New York, where you're basically just struggling from paycheck to paycheck."
Clark noted that while they considered painting the apartment, they decided to make it "as sad as possible" and left the walls a plain, dirty white. Additionally, they didn't include much art or decoration to begin with, as Ilana and Jamie were too focused on the party to worry about interior design. It's a familiar setting for many young New Yorkers, who split the rent with several roommates and have an eclectic shared living space. "I feel like I've definitely lived in an apartment like this before, that's for sure," Clark said. "Then, as the seasons go on, we see the old trash being thrown out and the new trash coming in."
Season four, however, brought strong political themes to Broad City . Ilana and Abby have always been in the loop, but the election of Donald Trump made the show even more explicitly about politics. As Ilana has a political awakening in season four (quite literally, if you remember the climactic episode), it's reflected in her apartment as well. "That's when she basically said, 'I need to cheer up,'" Clark explained. "We wanted to show the change through the collage on her wall. They became women, they became women of color."
As mentioned before, collage is an important part of Ilana's design aesthetic. Clark explained that Ilana had a lot of musicians in her bedroom, which became her vision board, which included artists like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. Additionally, in the episode 4 premiere, "Sliding Doors," we get a glimpse into her 2011 apartment, complete with a pornographic collage hanging over the bed.
Since the artwork was supposed to be done by Ilana, Clark did it all by hand. "It was much easier because I knew exactly how I wanted it to look, and it was difficult to convey that to the set decorator," she explains. So, yes, she made a porn collage of Ilana, and she remembers taking a selfie with it because her dirty work was all but blurred out on the screen. “It takes hours,” Clark said of the collage process. “It took a very, very long time.” However, she credits other members of the team with printing everything out for her, which helped speed up the process.
Another DIY décor is Ilana’s bed headboard, which is covered in political posters—another of Clark’s own craftsmanships. But that's not the only place Ilana has put up posters, which are seemingly placed randomly around her apartment. “We just solicited a lot of different organizations to send us as many posters as they could,” Clark said, adding that the art team designed some of the posters themselves. "We asked artists to do something for us, and then [artist] Mike Perry and a group of his friends sent us political protest signs and artwork." Notably, Perry designed the Broad City presentation , and also created the Illustration of Abby and Ilana making mushrooms in the fourth animated episode.
Most importantly, Clark always paid special attention to whether Abby and Ilana's budget was feasible. Abby has few burdens, but she has always had a steady income, which is reflected in her home. Ilana, on the other hand, is often broke and spends money erratically, but when she gets a job as a waitress in season four, she has money for the first time. "So at that point some of her furniture was replaced," Clark explained. "It's still hip, but very Ilana--it's just different," says Clark, who sells them in stores across New York at 99 cent stores, the Container Store, Urban Outfitters, Big Reuse (formerly Build It Green), Otherwild, Stores such as Fredericks and Mae and City Opera Thrift stock Ilana.
All this attention to detail and gradual scene evolution gives Broad City an authentic quality that fans of Broad City will love so much. Since these two beloved characters still have half a season to evolve, who knows what other changes will happen in the upcoming episodes.
