Project Apartment: S's Apartment Tour!

Finally! It's only a few months late, but now that I feel settled and (mostly) decorated, I'm ready to share my living space with all of you- and I'm so excited about it.

I just finished this gallery wall yesterday! I love how it incorporates a lot of textures and shapes.  I'm planning on using that white canvas for an art project... It will be shared here of course! 

Do you remember this rug?

I was so lucky to have family in the area who helped me collect items to furnish my new place.  This gorgeous armoire is such a wonderful statement piece in my living area! I don't have a TV right now, so instead I filled it with some books, journals, DVDs, etc. to keep the entertainment concept in place.  And set up two colorful posters to brighten up the dark space. 

I filled the cubbies of this coffee table with tons of books, since I don't have any bookshelves.  It is mostly full of cookbooks, but you can see there are some nerdy academic books in there too.  A healthy mix!  I love how they fill the cubbies almost perfectly, and look almost a little purposefully chaotic with some books stacked vertically while others are horizontal.

A small ledge that was meant for photo display has now become a great inspiration area above my desk.  The votive candles are great for extra ambiance when entertaining.

The hanging candle holders add a nice soft glow when I'm reading or catching up on Hulu.  I like to fill them with beeswax candles from The Foundry for a nice, natural scent.

So there it is! Welcome to my home. I hope you find it as warm and appealing as I do.  Wishing you all a magnificent weekend!

S's Project Apartment: Odds and Ends...

This weekend was finally the big move here in Chicago! I am officially moved into my new place, and am in the process of getting settled.  I have some furniture and accessories from my previous living spaces, and have been lucky enough to have family that is ready to part with some of their pieces, but there are still a few holes to fill.

I have super tall closets- and a lot of them (luckily!).  Since I'm a bit vertically challenged, this cute Ikea step stool will look stylish as an accessory when piled with books or with folded blankets on each step, but will be well appreciated for the height help too!

I have some counter space, but not as much as I would like.  I'm thinking of going for a rod over my sink that can hold a hanging dish rack for my drying dishes, as well as some cute containers for cleaning supplies, herbs, or even flowers.

I have lots of tables in my living area, but I think one more would be nice to hold a small lamp near the seating area.  I was looking for something that is small, cheap, and would blend into the scene.  This small white side table might be the perfect solution! I can put my smaller scale silver lamp on it to bring light to the area, but it won't overwhelm the space.

My bedroom has some unused space that I would like to fill with an area that is calming, and would be good to use for reading, nail painting, generally hanging out.  I think a small table and chair would be the perfect solution.  Still on the lookout for the perfect fit... any suggestions?  Maybe this small table would work nicely...

I'm still working on the settling and organizing process that inevitably takes forever with a new apartment.  I'm always appreciative of new sources for design inspiration and budget-friendly pieces.  If you have any, pass them along in the comments!

Happy Monday everyone :)

How To: Make a Chevron Rug

This summer I took on a project of making my own rug.  I'm trying to decorate the new Chicago pad, and doing so on a very tight budget.  Did you know that rugs are expensive? Well, I learned that lesson very quickly.  The solution? Make your own! 

I knew I wanted a chic, trendy styled rug- chevron was the perfect choice.  I chose a beautiful dark teal color that will look great regardless of the season.  Here's how it was done...

Project Apartment: Moved in!

Finally - I'm in my apartment!  It's been a long time coming, but I'm thrilled to be here and be finally settled; moving is The Worst.  

Remember when it looked like this? 

Moving

It's moving day!  I finally get the keys to my new apartment and begin my new job oh so soon!  I'll share my apartment tour in the next couple of weeks.  Saying goodbye to family and home was so hard, but I'm in for an adventure.  That's what growing up is all about.

Project Apartment: Gettin' Artsy

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As I start to think about outfitting my Chicago flat, I've been envisioning lots and lots of fun wall hangings.  No, not tapestries and posters like in college, but some fun art pieces instead.  I love the idea of hanging a bunch of framed pictures, a few prints from etsy or 20x200, all pulled together with some pieces I am planning to make myself.  Here are some of my favorite sources of my inspiration!

This print of a polaroid is understated and lovely.  I love the retro feel, paired with the black and white tones.

Travel inspiration always makes for great wall art.  This vintage map was actually a tourist map depicting all the new tourist traps in Paris in 1900! 

A new take on maps, this beautiful print depicts Istanbul in a way that draws to mind the chaos and business of the city.  A fun way for SLR to remember our recent trip abroad!

I am in love with these bicycles! The color and spunk of the drawings are too fun.  

How about some words of wisdom? I think this print gives just the right inspiration to live simply and happily. 

And of course, there needs to be some Fleetwood Mac somewhere in here.  Loving this Etsy print featuring lyrics from SLR's favorite band.

Have you found any art pieces lately that you are loving? We can't wait to create some of our own! More on that to come :)

Project Apartment Take 2: S's Place!

L found her perfect Minneapolis apartment earlier in the summer, and has been working on her design inspiration ever since.  I've been doing TONS of apartment hunting in Chicago for my upcoming move, but without a lot of luck.  Until yesterday!

I managed to snag a great 1 bedroom apartment in the fun and quaint Lakeview neighborhood.  I was lucky to find a place with all hardwood floors, a rehabbed kitchen with beautiful new appliances (a gas stove!), and tons of storage.  The ceilings are tall, and there are closets everywhere.

There are lots of little spaces that will need to be planned to maximize space, and make the apartment feel homey and fun.  There will be plenty of DIY projects and homemade art to help liven up the space!   All of these projects will be shared here, so look for S's Project Apartment posts to keep up with the fun!

Project Apartment: Found it!

BIG Project Apartment news!  I found the apartment!

My new street in the Warehouse District, and my building.  It's an old factory built in 1926 that is currently being converted into apartments, which means my place will be new-yet-vintage

Appliances are coming :)  - the kitchen is new and modern-ish

Check out this elevator shaft!  I think the bones of the building, where you can really see it's age and history, are the coolest parts.

Dining/living room under construction - the interior brick wall made me SWOON.  It's in the bedroom too.

My future bedroom :)

So what do you think?  I cannot wait to get in and get my hands on it.  Now we can really get to the fun part - decorating!!!

Project Apartment: Closet Inspiration

So as it turns out, since both S and L are moving at the end of this summer... we now have TWO project apartments going on.  What??? Craziness. This blog is going to get so hard-core "look what I found antiquing" (-L) and "oh MY these anthro bowls are just too darn precious!!" (-S).  So... sorry in advance.

But alas, as I consider my (L's) project apartment to be the original, I figured I would share my #1 vice. Closets.  

My nose has been runny for a week, the weather is so indecisive it's annoying, and people are getting antsy; you know what that means?  SPRING! And Spring Cleaning! Ready for some hardcore spring cleaning inspiration??

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Have I told you about how I will sit with the Container Store's catalogue for hours in my happy place? I will. 

I'm also a sucker for creative storage- i.e. this shoe cabinet. 

This one (albeit a coat rack, forgive me) is getting me all inspired-like - AND it's a DIY!  It's like Christmas.

Get ready to clean out your closet and make it look pretty like these ones.  We'll be purging and de-cluttering and rearranging and getting our creative storage juices flowing super soon.  Let the spring cleaning begin!  

Project Apartment: Wall Inspiration

How awesome are these wall decals from Blik?  They've got my head spinning from all the fun options for Project Apartment.  And if none of their fun designs make your heart flutter, you can customize your own!  Oh, the options.  These ones struck me as particularly fun and/or adorable:

Picture perfect happiness: Cafe Light (Blik)

Cookie Loves Milk (Blik)

Seasons (Blik)

Color Wheel (Blik)

Skyline Rhythm (Blik)

Pacman Ghost - !!! (Blik)

My favorite: Fishwall (Blik)

What do you think?  Includable in my new place??  For more inspiration, check out their lookbook.