Studio Apartment

Happy February break to any teachers or students. I am so happy to have this week off to relax, unwind, plan, and organize. One of my very first mid-winter break tasks was to finish getting my apartment together. I've been piecing it together bit by bit since I moved in last October. I finally am to a point where I feel really ready to share it with you. Enjoy the pictures. Click on any of the photos to get a closer look! 

First, a Panoramic shot of my living area. This is where the magic happens.

The entry way is the first space you see as you walk into my studio. It's pretty basic, a small shelf to hold my purses, scarves and boots, a shoe mat and a little coat rack. The shelf, the coat rack, the teal basket and the polka dot door mat are all from Ikea. The "Make It Happen" print is from Lara Casey's shop and the gold polka dot key tray is from Target.

I really enjoy that even though this is a studio apartment it has a separate room for the kitchen. This space is great because of the compact cooking area and the spacious eating area. I was able to bring my kitchen table that my Dad made while he was in high school. It's a great piece and the benches work perfectly in the space. I also love that I finally have a spot to hang my Warhol flowers print, and newly hung today a sweet little chalkboard and wire basket from Gabby. Lamp, ikea. Chalkboard, target. 

The bathroom is a bright little room. The largest challenge in here was finding a place to store everything. I ended up getting a wire shelf from walmart to put over the toilet to create some extra shelving. For the most part it works very well and makes everything very easy to access.

The living room is by far my favorite area of the house. It has my sitting area, my bed, my piano, and everything I really need. The walls are full of artwork and prints with sentimental meaning and things that inspire me. The very neutral pallet is calming but the vibrant blues and golds give the space some excitement.

The prints above my bed are taken by myself and my father and are framed in ikea ribba frames. It's special to me to see my photo(right) hanging next to one of his. In a way it helps me feel connected to my dad and something he was passionate about. The oil painting above the couch is a lovely piece I found at homegoods. I was so happy to find a painting with exactly the right colors and one that could take up a large portion of my blank wall above the sofa.

 The frame collage above my keyboard is another favorite of mine. There are pretty prints, inspirational quotes, and sentimental things all mixed together. The neutral colors help keep the frames united.

One of my other favorite pieces in the living area is the blue glass lamp. I bough it at target soon after moving in and I love how it looks on my thrifted side table. 

Bedding and pillows mostly ikea and homegoods. Lamp: target, sofa and chair purchased used, side table thrifted, frames either repurposed or purchased at ikea. Quote canvas and framed piece are both handmade. 

One non-pictured area of the apartment that I do love is the closet space. I have a large closet for clothing and an even larger craft/office area closet. Someday I'll share those but for today that's all. 

Hope you enjoy my happy little space. If you are ever in the area I'd love for you to swing by! 

DIY Chalkboard on the Cheap

This may be my final bedroom update post for awhile. For those of you who remember I have been slowly adding to my bedroom since we moved into the apartment. Yesterday I added an awesome personal touch to jazz up a huge white spot on the wall; a Chalkboard. I have been looking for ideas for this awkward white space foe a long time now and finally it came to me- chalkboard paint obviously. So I started considering my options. I thought about painting the wall, but honestly I felt like it would be so expensive and such hard work for that tiny small space. Plus I've already painted some crazy stuff on my walls, I wanted something I didn't have to 100% commit to. So I decided to do add a chalkboard that could attach to the wall. I looked at decals, but they were so expensive and I probably couldn't use it more than once. So I assessed what I already owned to see what I could come up with. I already owned chalkboard spray paint (which has been invaluable in making some awesome things and only cost about $7). All of the sudden it came to me- I should spray paint poster board! I wasn't sure if this would work but spending a dollar on a piece to try it seemed like a good option. So far so good. Just grab your spray, do a few thin coats of paint and let dry. It's not exactly like a chalkboard, but I can mostly erase it, and write on it with chalk so it totally works for the situation at hand. I hung it up with four tacks (1 in each corner).  Essentially this project cost me $1 and hardly any time. It spruces up the white spot on the wall and lets me use it and change the images however I want.

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what the chalkboard looks like in my room. :) And a little Maggie Love for all of you!

 Happy Monday! Have a great week!

DIY: Chevron Wall (with slanted ceilings)

In my last post I introduced you to my new wall in my bedroom. I painted it a chevron pattern  with two colors. All the how-to articles online were for square/rectangle walls and none accounted for slanted ceilings. So here is how I did it with going totally insane. (I apologize in advance for the wordiness of the directions it's sort of tricky to explain).

First Check out the before and after to see if this How-To will help you.

RIP white wall.

Awhile ago I did a post on all the updates we have made to our apartment. If you remember correctly I said I wasn't quite thrilled with the 'final product' of my bedroom. And since I believe the space you are in greatly influences your mood I decided to make a few more changes. Here is what my bedroom looked like before we moved in: Pretty plain, long, boring and white.

Wordy Wonderment

My new home is quite lovely, a little bit of a typical "college house", however still pretty great. One thing that I noticed was missing was wall art. We have white walls in every room except the bedrooms. Over the summer I decided I was going to be crafty and make something to hang, it will go in the kitchen, hall, or living room. Most likely kitchen. I bought a wood frame and stretched some big floral print fabric over it. I bought another fabric which I will sew on to the base, with some saying. Here is the issue I don't know what saying to use. I need quote ideas! 

some brainstorming: 

home is where you are.

Live. Laugh. Love.

Eat. Pray. Love. 

Home sweet home. 

I don't know! Everything I think of sounds silly. So please help.

 Short is key, but something I actually like is more important. 

While searching the internet for ideas I came across some very interesting ideas for wall decor. 

A tea cup clock..... So so so awesome! 

Pinwheel wall decorations... easy and cute <3

please if you have a good idea toss it my way. I want to get this thing made, but can't decide on what to write!