just a quick little nursery tour

We just returned home from our 30-week appointment and it's feeling more and more real every day that soon, I'm gonna be a mom of two little humans. I still don't believe it some times that 1. I'll be responsible for two little lives and 2. that there are even TWO babies to begin with! But then I hear those heartbeats and I get more and more excited. (Baby B's face looked just like Andrew's today. Even the ultrasound tech pointed it out. This stuff is wild!) The doctor said both babies look great, have strong heartbeats, and my blood pressure is excellent. Basically, with the help of nightly cinnamon sugar pop tarts, I have given these kicking monsters a pretty decent home for the last 2 million months, so I tried to make them an equally decent room for when they're earthside. 

We still have kept our babies' gender a surprise and I wanted to keep their nursery as neutral as I could without it being too bare. Neutral, calming, and pretty simple was the plan and I think we made it happen. I am not a fan of baby animal motifs or even themes that I would be sick of in a few months so we kept the room looking like just another room as far as paint and hardware, but with baby pieces throughout. No, we did not buy a changing table. No, I didn't cover the walls in baby-themed art and pastels. And no, there are not cloud and unicorn shaped mobiles hanging over each crib. I just couldn't do it. I'm a minimalist to an extent when it comes to filling our apartment with "stuff" so I had hoped I could keep the babies' room matching that idea. success! 

I think every parent has their #1 concern when it comes time to start investing in baby pieces; travel items, feeding items, cloth or disposable diapers, etc. Our biggest concern? S L E E P. We knew pretty early on we wanted to invest in Snoo Smart Sleepers from the time the babies were born, but they are only recommended up until the babies are 6 months old. Those bassinets are in our bedroom and will stay there until it's time to transition them into their cribs. So where do you go when you want a super simple, clean-lined, modern crib that won't break the bank? Ikea of course! My grandma bought us our cribs and they are exactly what I wanted; no frills. At first, we had them aligned under the light fixture facing out but it seemed like a huge waste of space. This positioning makes way more sense for us. 

we used our old tv stand/dresser as a changing table/dresser and so far, I think it's going to work out perfectly for us (after being sanded, stained, and a quick brass spray paint job on the pull knobs). We still have several empty drawers which makes me very very happy! I bought this dresser for a few dollars at the thrift store years ago and it was missing that bottom left drawer, so I filled that space with some old copper bins for swaddles and immediate diaper changing supplies. The drawers are filled to the brim with newborn and preemie pieces, socks, shoes, accessories, and swaddles that smell so good, I can't even describe it. Clothes that we've purchased or been gifted that are 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and so on are hanging in their closet, in order of size, surrounded by boxes of diapers (again, in size order), wipes, and small storage baskets of pacifiers, thermometers, and plenty of other goodies.  

one of my best friends gifted us these precious onesies for our shower and they're just too cute to not display until the babies are big enough to strut around in them. 

every good nursery seems to have a little nook for reading/breastfeeding/crying into your glass of wine so this corner felt perfect to make one, too. Don't ask me how we accumulated so many books without trying. We got several from our baby shower, a few I had from my childhood, and they just started adding up! We read to my belly and it melts me into a pile of goo listening to Andrew. 

and there she is! Nothing too over the top, nothing fancy, but just perfect for our little city apartment that they'll be growing up in for a little while. Sometimes I'll just open the door, pop my head in, and smile. We hope you babies like this space as much as we do!

Sources:

Sniglar Cribs

book shelves

DockATot loungers

Light Fixture (similar)

Shag rug

Round brass mirror

Ultrasound Wall Art

Fawn diaper bag

Baby Sunnies

dresser: thrifted

blankets & pillows: Home Goods, Ikea, Homemade from grandmas

a gender neutral nursery inspo

our favorite wedding gifts from amazon!

I swear, a wedding advice post is coming, but this seemed more fun for a rainy Thursday! Our wedding gift favorites so far! Well, I guess this is a little wedding advice- you should register. And when you, you should register through Amazon. Their registry was super easy to navigate for us and for guests, you can link the registry right to your phone and see when gifts are purchased, it will show you when the same item becomes cheaper, AND no one has to leave their house to give or receive! Introverts rejoice! So here's our top ten, so far, that I highly recommend you get for yourself or someone you love!

1. Oil diffuser. This thing has been a dream to have in the bedroom and I'm buying another one for the living room. Pop open the top, add water and a few drops of essential oil (lavender in the bathroom. zzzz) and hit the power button. It makes the dreamiest little bubble sounds, too!
2. Waffle maker. So far, I've only used some waffle mix but holy shit. Plug it in, turn it on and wait for the heat, put in your batter, rotate it, and 90 seconds later you have the most beautiful waffle. Yum.
3. Bamboo cutting board. I've always wanted a beautiful cutting board and I'm so glad we got one. It's smooth as glass and sturdy. I'm thinking with cutting boards, you get what you pay for.
4. White cotton bath towels. We were long over due for towels anyway. These are flufftastic and super absorbent. Somehow, we registered for 2 sets and wound up with 3 so I'm saving the last pack. 
5. Instant pot. I didn't know what it was initially but apparently it's "like having 7 cooking devices in 1" according to the meal cooker of our house.
6. KitchenAid attachments. Yes we pimped out our stand mixer and I'm stoked to play with them more in the near future. Gimme all the real pasta and a bigger jean size, please and thanks.
7. Turkish tea towels. I've got a soft spot in my heart for dish, hand, and tea towels. I registered for three sets. seriously. I love them.
8. Cuisinart pots and pans set. We added this to our registry after our wedding, just kinda on a whim. Like a hey! Maybe we have a great uncle out there somewhere that wants to get us a nice gift! turned out that my pseudo aunt got it for us and it was the best surprise ever! They are gorgeous.
9. Wok. again, according to this house's chef, this is a good one.
10. Dutch oven. I have wanted one of these bad boys forever but you know damn well I won't spend hundreds on something that I can find for $40. Save your money and go with this one. I got the white one :)

I've linked all of my favorites below! I wasn't on board with doing a registry from the beginning. I'm nearly 30 and have everything that I could ever need. But we had some friends and family insist and now I'm glad we listened to them. It was so fun the morning after our wedding to eat junk food in our pajamas and opening all of our new home goods that we get to start a life with together. These are our things. I love that. We donated all of our old linens and towels to the SPCA, all of our dishware went to family, and I have put boxes of random stuff on our stoop a few times a week (it's like a magic show watching shit disappear!) So I feel like I'm at least not being wasteful. Hope this was a little helpful to anyone looking for where to register or just anyone wanting to treat themselves this holiday!  

our bar cart, holiday style

when we had a house full of people last week, I offered someone a shot of whiskey and was mortified when I saw the thin little ring of dust around the shot glass. 1. Could I be any less fun? Why am I not enjoying more liquor in my life? And 2. holy shit, I need to clean. So a few mornings back, at approximately 9 am, I jumped out of bed and took apart the whole thing, removed every cork and ever bottle and wiped the whole thing down. I washed all of the glassware, and cleaned it up a bit. So here she is, our bar cart, with a few seasonal accents thrown into the mix. 

I wish I liked whiskey more, but damn I am just a clear liquor girl at heart. Tequila, gin, and especially vodka are my liquors of choice. Luckily, the husband feels the same. I would hate to draw a line down the middle of our cart to separate our spirits. We keep Hendrick's, Tito's, and Cazadores on hand always. St. Germain is another great bar staple that will surely please. It has a sweet but also a subtle sourness to it and gets along pretty well with gin. Not pictured are a few of those plastic lemons and limes in the fridge, full of citrus juice for cocktails. 

tip: Keep your drinkware upside down so that dust and whatever can't get inside. I keep ours on a cutting board, just for extra texture and cleanliness. Three to five types of glassware is ideal. Odd numbers are more appealing. Also, variety of sizes and types (wine glasses, tall glasses, short glasses, champagne flutes, and maybe some shot glasses too!)  

I'm still not sure yet if we are going to put up a tree or not this year, but we had three different people gift us "Newlywed" Christmas ornaments. So here hangs one, proudly. also, that Santa figurine was our ornament we bought last year together for our first Christmas together, hence the "2016" :)  Personal touches like candles and collections will add a little something to your booze cart and make it a lot less stuffy. Especially during the holidays when you can cover the thing in garland and twinkly lights! (I've been collecting matchboxes forever and... I don't know... I just love them on a bar) but just remember, whatever you display, be prepared to dust them too! ha! Cheers! 

oh, also, on that top photo waaay up there- here's how to make your own easy citrus garland. I think it looks super cute on the bar cart. I now wish I had displayed a big bowl of grapefruit and oranges along with the dried garland, but oh well. Maybe next year! 

how to make dried citrus garland

i'm going back and forth this year on whether or not I want to spend the time and money to put up a tree. We don't have kids and we aren't doing gifts. But I have to put a little somethin' around the house or I'll just be a sad Christmas mess. So today I broke out my Christmas trunk and strung a few strands of Christmas lights on my bull skull's horns and I strung them up along our bar cart, too. last year was the first year in a while that I decorated for Christmas. Andrew had either just moved in or was about to, and I kept the tree theme super natural, handmade, and cheap. I loved it! So this year, I wanted to keep the same idea alive and saw a few examples of dried orange garlands. I ran out and bought two oranges and one grapefruit. It ended up being enough garland to go around the bar cart and what I'm affectionately calling my fake fireplace mantel- the piano. So here's how to make your own! The process is long, but the steps are easy!

you'll need: 

// citrus fruits! I used oranges and grapefruit, but limes and lemons are gorgeous , too.

// knife

// sprinkles of sugar or nutmeg (this is optional, I did a few and wasn't in love with the result)

// paper towel

// cookie sheet, wax paper, cooling rack

// needle and thread 

1. start by setting your oven at 200 degrees.

2. while the oven heats, slice your fruits about a 1/4" thick.

3.  blot the juice out with paper towel.  

4. line your cookie sheet with wax paper, and arrange your fruits.

5. bake for one whole freaking hour.

6. flip them over.

7. bake for another whole freaking hour.

8. let cool on cookie sheet for about a day (seriously)

9. once your pieces are done, lay them out to get an idea of how long to cut your string.

10. pierce through the rind of the pieces,where it's thickest/strongest.

11. pierce back through to the other side.

12. slide them down the string, adjust widths however you see fit, and string them up with pride!! 

a couple of bucks well spent! And the house smells pretty dreamy too!! 

a bathroom makeover

a few days ago, one of the light bulbs above my bathroom vanity went out. And as it happened it kinda struck me that I have never replaced or even cleaned the top of my light fixture in there. ew. So naturally, this seemed like most opportune time to replace the entire fixture. Because gimme all the home projects, right? But ... for whatever reason... The fixture was stuck tight onto the wall and it totally bummed me out. (picture in your head the clown portrait that was hanging in Jim Halpert's parent's house on The Office) Andrew quickly pointed out though that if I just switched out my frosted type of bulbs with clear bulbs, I would probably like the entire fixture more. But I wasn't sure. Sometimes, when it comes to home design,  I worry that all of my favorite styles and staple design ideas are actually clashing together horribly. I love silver tones, brass tones, gold tones, copper tones, etc. And I don't know if the home interior rules say whether or not I am allowed to like them all together but I do. I love the mix of an antique gold tone mirror with a sleek and modern silver tone framed mirror neighboring each other on the wall. I love super chic black accent pieces that are topped with naturally woven wooden baskets. Am I alone here? Are we normal? Or are we the bad ass kids smoking cigarettes in the bathroom at home design university? Either way, whatever.

So I've had a beautiful antique mirror hanging over my sink for a little over a year now and decided the shelves next to it looked super cluttered, especially next to that large and delightful wall gallery. So I removed the shelves and replaced the space with a large and very modern wall length mirror. The biggest part of the project was the vanity for sure, though, and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. Thank you to Andrew for being happy as a clam sitting on the couch watching Top Chef reruns while I jump up and go grab my little black paint can and get to it. I can't help it. I am literally painting everything around me black and charcoal and I can't get enough. In the past 3 months, I have painted an entire piano, a bedroom side table and now- my bathroom vanity. (all with the same pint of black paint, I might add. Someone take it away from me, I dare you.) If you ask me, nothing looks sexier on black than super dramatic brass pull knobs, so I ordered a few and they are perfect. I threw in a matching towel ring because holy shit, I have lived here 7 years and have never had a bathroom hand towel for guests. Sorry y'all.

What's the point of this post? I don't know. Except to say that no life problems couldn't be fixed with some semi gloss black velvety paint and all the brass accents you can find. Throw in a few sexy women's sketches, and you'll have a bathroom you'll never want to leave.

Working with Mirrors

it's going to be a slow transition, but I'm about to turn this apartment upside down into a new way of being styled. It's always been filled with a hodgepodge of furniture, mirrors, and style accents and I don't know where the sudden change in my taste is coming from, but I hate it all. And it's gotta go! OK I don't hate it, I love all of it  and it's all been good to me. but it's time for change. New husband, new decor. (i also plan on 100% chopping off all of my hair the second after we get married, but that's a story for a different day)

For months and months, I've been cleaning out every drawer, closet, and cabinet of this place making room for new kitchen goodies and fresh new linens so it just seems like now is the time to minimize the interior decorating clutter. Starting with the walls because walls are easy. Couches cost thousands and I have 5 different "maybe" dining room table options but taking things off of walls and replacing them is pretty simple and cheap. I started by taking down a big, beautiful, gold tone carved wooden framed mirror that looked like something from the Beauty and the Beast castle and replaced it with this clean, thin brass tone more modern mirror. I'm low key obsessed and can't stop staring at the difference it has made in just one small wall of the living room. It's the first step of many and I think I'm gonna like getting this place cleaned up and aired out.

I've been researching a little bit too on mirrors because they are one of the biggest key elements of disturbing the energy in your house and I learned a lot. A lot of wild mirror facts that I have got to share because I'm sure I've broken a few of these rules and it makes total sense. Did you know that you should never mount a mirror directly in front of an entry door? Or in the kitchen? Or over/behind your desk? Or even hang one over your bed/couch? Mirrors, especially second hand mirrors, hold the power to affect the energy of the space greatly and you gotta be careful with what images your mirror are going to be staring at all day long. You never want to hang big mirror over couches or beds because it can hold stressful energy above you and make you feel weighed down. People have even reported to sleeping better once they removed mirrors from their bedroom. Isn't that fascinating? So just remember- mirror in the dining room- good. Mirror in the kitchen- bad. You'll be fine.

Over the next few months, my main goal is a new dining table *gulp* and I'm pretty excited. Something in a dark wood stain with clean legs and not too big. I don't think anyone is ever really done decorating their house, that's kinda the fun of it, but I'm definitely excited. New husband new haircut new home style!! 30th birthday, I am coming for you at full charge and you better look out! 

rugs are my drugs: a few tips for finding your perfect rug

while I prefer a house filled with bright white walls, bedding, and couches, there is just something special about a beautiful rug to catch someone's eye when they first walk into our home. Rugs can be rotated out into different areas, they can last for generations, and they will 100% add just the perfect touch to literally any place you put them (i can vouch for this. I have at least two rugs in every room of our house. No shame!) it was years ago on craiglist that I found my first cheap, machine made Persian-style accent rug and I loved that $30 beauty very much. I think I kept it in my kitchen near the sink and from there, my love grew. Rugs are interesting when it comes to buying them because unlike most anything else you'll want for your home, the more wear a rug has the better (in my opinion). Worn spots? gimme! Fraying to the fringe? Yes please. A wool pile that has been worn down to the floor? Heart eyes. 

I spend a lot of time researching rugs, patterns, colors, and styles and what I've taken away from all of that is this: For the average person that just wants a beautiful statement piece in their home- it's all about the colors and size. Whether a rug is Anatolian, Caucasian, Persian, or made in Michigan... It doesn't matter much to me and most likely won't matter to you. All of these regions (except for maybe Michigan) create equally beautiful rugs that can take years to create by hand. by HAND, people! Picture several woman sitting side by side and knotting a rug all day long. For years. That is how we get these beautiful pieces of floor art. They aren't cheap by any means but when you think about the time and energy that goes into creating just one, it makes a little more sense to spend the money.

So, here's a few pieces of advice and tid bits for when it comes to buying a rug:

1. Buy used. New rugs will look new. They will look too crisp and "perfect". That is not what we're going for. You want rich, naturally dyed colors. You want your rug to be worn in. You want to be able to fold that bad boy up like a towel. Old is good. New is bad. Ok, not "bad" but definitely not preferred. 

2. Check out the back. If you're able to see the back of a rug while you're shopping, please do! you'll be able to tell by the backing if it's made from a machine or made by a person. A machine rug will cost you much less and can still be beautiful. Think of your rugs like designer handbags. A fake bag or a machine made rug can fool a lot of people into thinking it's something it's not. If you can live with that, you can save yourself some cash.

3. Save up! While buying a machine rug might be easier and faster, let's face it. Antique rugs that were made by hand many years ago are just simply too gorgeous to not drool over. But they're not cheap. Admittedly, there have been times that I have jumped online and bought a few machine made rugs because they were cheaper and I just wanted a rug right now! But looking back, I should have saved up my lunch money and waiting to invest in a handmade one. (i have the same theory for those damn designer bags!)  

4. Research . Once you get your rug from some little old man at a flea market or offline somewhere, I advice researching it. Learn the history of the piece. what do the markings represent? Was the rug made during a war? Was it used for praying? Knowledge is fun and it's fun to tell others about 

5. Colors.  You'll see when you start your search for your new rug that most are going to fall in the red/indigo family. There are more dyes in this family and they stand the test of time the best. If those colors aren't in your wheelhouse, that's ok. Looking online at examples will help you in narrowing down your rug color preferences. You'll also find that most of these rugs have about 3435 different colors in them so keep an open mind. They can tie an entire, boring, white-walled (hi! me! hello!) room together by pulling your eyes to the floor.   

6. Damage. Like I said, wear in a rug is a good thing. Worn spots and frays just add more character to your piece. But when it comes to buying, don't be afraid to offer less money when you see damage. Not everyone likes that worn out look. And repairs aren't always cheap.

7. SAGE! I can't stress enough how much I think you need to clean the energy out of rugs. They've been around for a long, long time and have likely experienced a lot. Bringing used goods with history into your house is not only a way to keep your space original, but it also can be a recipe for disaster. Make sure to burn sage over your rug to rid it of bad past energy. 

8. Cleaning. Try your best to go easy on your rug. Avoid eating big bowls of ice cream or letting your animals track mud over it. But when you inevitably need to clean it, start with beating it. Take it outside and beat the hell out of it. Spot treat small areas with water only. The double edged sword with rugs is that you might not know a whole lot about its history or what it's dyed with. So avoiding soaps and cleaners is a good idea. 

I hope this helps a little when you're on your rug hunt! 

bitchin' from the kitchen

I guess I'm no different than any other bitchy bride out there but I'm soo ready for this wedding to be here so life can go back to normal. We are knee deep in it, going a million miles, and knocking out our check list left and right and it's super exciting but I'm very much ready to relax and eat what I want again.. oh, and cut my hair. I can't wait to chop off all this hair. New last name, new short bob with layers.  I have a very clear picture in my mind of my new haircut and it makes me positively giddy! but, in the meantime, we're trying to get sexier over here. Andrew has joined a gym and I have been doing my very best to avoid carbs at all costs. I count out crackers and read labels and obsess over trying to lose this little belly pooch if it kills me. While I know that no one is force feeding me and it's 100% my own genetic, lazy fault, I do partially blame my birth control (in all fairness, my doctor did say "you will 100% gain weight on this" ... I didn't care. So I knew what I was getting into) but man! 

It is hard! It is so stressful to worry that your dress won't fit or that your photos will pick up any imperfections. You'll see later, this dress has no room under the service for corsets and girdles and magical tape. It puts it allll out there... So here I am, trying my best to become more acquainted to my kitchen. I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than I ever have in my life and I feel good about it but mannnnn I can't wait until our first official day as husband and wife, putting our apartment back in order and opening up all of our new wedding registry goodies and loading up our kitchen with new pots and pans...  To make me all the pasta and bread I want! Mwahaha *insert laugh/crying emoji here* 

a trip around the living room

After weeks of not writing, why wouldn't I do a post when I'm sitting by myself on a Saturday night watching You've Got Mail? It just seems fitting. Life has been upside down lately with home projects, wedding planning, and sleeping but ya know what? I looked around the living room yesterday- our main space- and it just seemed appropriate to take a photo or ten of what all is happening in here right now. My step mom has a keen eye on finding antique treasures and found us the most beautiful Persian Sarouk rug for our living room. 

Last week, we bought a $10 bucket of black paint and gave the piano a new look. And also last week, something very exciting for me happened. This apartment has been filled to the brim with second hand pieces from thrift stores, Craigslist and from the side of the road on garbage night. I've been searching for weeks for a pair of arm chairs to go in our living room and I finally decided it was time for us to have a brand new piece of furniture (two, actually!) that I wouldn't be bartering the price for. A pair of chairs that we could really wear in for the next few years. I found a pair that were pretty similar to what I wanted and after reading reviews and staring at them for a few days, I bit the bullet. The day that they arrived was a particularly terrible day for me at work so you can imagine my delight when I came home to the chairs finished and set up by Andrew! 

I have posts of this space that go back years and years and I love to see how much it's changed. I'll be thirty this year and, I don't know, maybe that's what's guiding the steering wheel on all of these little changes I'm wanting to make. Food that I would have never eaten before, I love. (tomatoes. peppers. I mean seriously, I'm a new woman) and foods that I used to love I wont eat anymore because I've gained weight that would have never happened a few years ago (I miss you so much, burger king. It hurts) and so, with a maturing palette for food comes an even more maturing style in design. Our space is being filled with more neutral and matted tones, with small pops of color here and there. One big statement rug will do the work of 50 trinkets when it comes to wanted a focal point in a room. I'm so done with having stuuuuff everywhere and I'm proud to say that we are slowly clearing this space out to only house things that we love and mean the most to us. Here's a few photos of things around here lately.   

how to: clay ring dish

last week, I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes (does anyone else have a dishwasher but sometimes doing dishes by hand feels therapeutic, but if you didn't have the dishwasher you would be annoyed? OK, me neither) anyway, I'm standing there and I took off my engagement ring and and it sitting on the windowsill. I never took my eyes off it as though it was going to grow legs and run away from me like an apprehensive groom and then Andrew walked up behind me. He mentioned that while he was growing up, he remembered that his mom kept a small dish by her kitchen sink and kept her wedding ring on it while she did the dishes and for whatever reason, I just found that to be such a sweet, simple little anecdote that I wanted to find my own ring dish to keep my newly most prized procession safe from dishwater and danger.

I found a tutorial on the good old internet but as most tutorials go, I crashed and burned and my dish was not great. So I switched around a few things and had much success that I'm sharing with y'all now. yay! There's photos to try and match up the process, but honestly, this is a pretty simple craft. Here we go!

supplies:
--- oven bake clay. (You'll want 2x more black and white clay. It doesn't take much clay to make one dish so I recommend going in on your clay with friends or making a few dishes at a time. I went with maybe 10 different colors but would have bought them all if I could!
--- clear nail polish
--- silver/gold/black nail polish
--- small oven safe dish (this will be used as your mold, so pick whatever size you want)
--- knife & drinking glass (the glass is what I used as a cookie cutter and a rolling pin)

1. pick out your colors and cut small slivers, also cut larger slivers of white and black (then check Google to see if "sliver" is a word)
2. Roll them into a worm-like shape

3. once they're all rolled out, roll them up together, twist into a spiral, and gentle make a ball.
4. Use your glass to roll out the ball. This is where I started making changes from what I found online. This simple rolling will NOT make a marbled look. So roll it out, use your glass cookie cutter, and just start overlapping scrap pieces and rolling them flat. You want your colors to be disconnected and random. The more you roll it out, cut it into pieces, and reconnect them, the better and more unique it will look!

5. Once you have rolled out the piece enough times and you love it, use your drinking glass cookie cutter and make a circle. (this will be your dish so make sure to smooth the edges)
6. Flip over your oven safe dish and lay the circle onto the bottom, gently smoothing the edges down.
7. Bake for 15 minutes at 275 (put it on a cookie sheet) and let it cool. gently remove from your mold.

8. Once cooled, use your preferred nail polish color as a trim color (I went with gold. Because gold) and then use your top coat nail polish as a clear glaze on your dish. (keep in mind they 100% make a glaze you can buy at a craft store but hey, I had 4 bottles of top coat polish just wasting away so I used them and they worked out great for this!

I have now made like 8 of these babies and they're kind of addicting, super simple, and something I'm excited to hand out to a few of my favorite women. yay! Good luck!

our junk room turned into an office last week

hey! life lately has been upside down bananas. planning a wedding has been so much fun but I gotta tell you, it can be mad stressful. We are getting married in November so time is moving fast and it's pretty much my main focus in my spare time. But look at us! in a month, we've gotten pretty much all the big details out of the way so now we just kinda wait? i guess? who knows. this is my first wedding, after all :) but anyway, while planning a wedding has been a ball, there was still some love needing to get put into this apartment, primary the back room. Slowly but surely we've kind of gone room to room giving it a little bit of love. When Jon moved out, it was a sad day. But as much as I was sad to see him move out, I was happy to pull up the disgusting carpet and paint the smoke stained walls. I post many months back that I wanted to paint the back room this gorgeous emerald green and I couldn't have been happier with it. We plan to build a double desk the length of the wall but for now, our little Ikea desk will have to do! I'm a sucker for a good collage wall so we covered it in a mixture of our art pieces. 

the nude woman was a painting I won off of Everything but the House and that abstract piece up there? the one with the black paint strokes throughout? that was made by my precious 4-year-old pseudo neice per my request. I love it so much because she made it with her little baby hands. Like everything else, this room will be a work in progress. I'm on the prowl for a gorgeous rug and an old leather cigar chair for the corner but for now, here are a few photos! yay! office space! 

Say a prayer while i hunt for a chair

source

ever since Andrew moved into what is now OUR apartment, there has been an endless list of things to take care of and get fixed up. From hanging plants in our bedroom, finishing up my nude woman bathroom project to our most proud accomplishment to date- our kitchen. Everything is beautiful and perfect and I'm serious when I say that sometimes I just walk from one room to the next admiring all that we have completed in such a short amount of time. There is only one thing left that I'm on the search for until I'm able to say that our home is done for a while... a chair. A sexy, modern, worn in but beautiful chair, preferably with a story behind it. I missed out on the most gorgeous chair on craigslist by an hour (an hour. I cried) it was drastically underpriced, so much so that I would have paid triple and still left the seller skipping in glee. But someone jumped on top of it and bought it up within seconds, as it rightfully deserved and now it's all I can think about. I told Andrew when he moved in that I wanted to get him sort of a welcome gift and at first I meant it more as a joke and thought I would just get him a new toothbrush and maybe some towels (which I doubt he would object to) but then I decided a gorgeous armchair would be the perfect gift. I like to watch him get ready for work and put on his watch and tie his shoes and I just envision a really gorgeous, buttery leather chair in the corner of our bedroom. You know I won't spend thousands and I'll most likely find the dream chair on the side of the road before a garbage night but that doesn't bother me any! So... long story short... say a prayer for my chair! 

my female nude wall

don't you just love when you have a vision for a project and it turns out exactly how you wanted? I personally do mental backflips in these rare life occurrences. and I don't know if it's from getting older, learning about my style more, or taking my time on project visions, but lately all of these little home makeovers have turned out exactly how I had envisioned (if not better) and it's been the best feeling. I would be rolling my eyes reading this if I were you, but I just have to say that this little apartment has really been getting shaped up lately into a real beauty. every room is now my favorite room of the house. i love the high contrast of black walls and white blankets in the bedroom, the clean and modern aesthetic in the kitchen, and now I love love love my bathroom. I have been excited for weeks to get this project going and finished and it kind of came out of nowhere. I saw a print about a month back that was literally just the words "GET NAKED" in black and I loved it. and then a light bulb went off in my head and I thought this way would be way more fun. 
between women's marches, national women's day, and everything else going on in the world that centers around women and all of their wonder, I couldn't help but work on a project that showcased ladies and all of their parts. So many of my friends from across the country (and even a few across the pond!) contributed pieces to this and I couldn't be more obsessed. Some of them are self-sketches, some are from art classes, and some are just made from memory of no one in particular. Either way, I'm sure that the women in these pieces felt vulnerable and scared and probably didn't like one aspect of the piece or another. But I would like to believe that they were also proud of sitting for the pieces and felt beautiful and confident and knew that their bodies were perfect. Thank you to everyone that contributed to this. My new favorite room. 

a kitchen makeover

for years and years, I've hated my kitchen. granted, it kept my cookie dough safe from danger, but the room gets very little sunlight, the walls are dark, and it was just a totally sad cave-like space. But when Andrew moved in, one thing became very apparent: Jamie would be spending a lot more time in that kitchen. Andrew's favorite thing to do is cook meals for us and so I knew that I wanted to make the space somewhere that was more aesthetically pleasing to hang out in. I've dreamt of finishing this kitchen for literally about 4 months, but we wanted to paint the rest of the apartment first, finish up other projects, and most of all we wanted to enjoy our trip to Vegas without a project being half finished. Soooooo fast forward a few weeks and here we are: The whole kitchen took about $500 and 5 days (that's including a $100 hood range so I'm pretty damn happy about it) and was a pain free experience, mostly (i would be lying if I didn't note a few snippy comments back and forth between us. PSA: if you notice a kind of crooked cabinet knob that your boyfriend installed... just let it go. crooked means character!) I linked at the bottom our paint color, a few accessories, and the wall brackets! I hope you like the kitchen makeover as much as I do! 

Cabinet paint: Glidden 

Wall brackets: Home Depot

Wood stain: Minwax 

Rug: Esales Rugs

Cabinet pulls: Houzz

Hood range: amazon

Clear glassware: Ikea

Toaster: Overstock 

as you could imagine, most everything else is from TJ Maxx, Homegoods, or lucky thrift finds.