Our First Place: Making Our Rental Our Home

My boyfriend and I moved into our own place this past August and we love it. We fell in love with the coastal style of the development and all of its amenities (not to mention super close to work). Since it's a rental we've been trying to make it feel like home piece by piece - as far as our budget and it being a rental allows. We literally moved in with just our clothes and bedroom furniture - we had to start from scratch. Now it's a little over a month later and we are pretty darn proud of how it has come along considering our budget. My boyfriend definitely gave into some of the more feminine items I loved since he set up his media center along the main wall - it's all about compromise. We chose to place the sofa in the center facing the TV because of the recommended viewing distance from the TV and sofa. It does make it feel more cozy and we love watching movies there. Since we are loving how it has come along I had a photoshoot with my fellow west elm home stylist, Katherine Schwingel. She got some great shots and now I get to share them with you :)

Our apartment features:

West Elm

Origami Coffee Table / Quinn Sofa in Frost Gray / 

Balcony Bistro Dining Set / Antique Tiled Wall Mirror /

Parker Mid-Century Round Dining Table / Mini Abacus Lamp /

Scoop Back Chairs / Gold Leaf Gallery Frames /

Solid Silk Hand-Loomed Pillow Cover / Jacquard Leaf Silk Pillow Cover / 

Quilted Acrylic Glassware / Carla Peters Sand Glaze Vase /

Clear Acrylic Tray / Reclaimed Wood Display Shelf

Target

Threshold Windham Console Table / Threshold Basket /

Threshold Brushed Silver Linear Shaded Floor Lamp /

Black Gallery Wall Frames

Other accessories/decor from Ikea, Homegoods, World Market + more.

Xo,

DIY Framed Abstract Art

It's been quite a while since I've last posted! We have been super busy with moving into our new apartment and we're still getting situated. We literally had nothing and had to start from scratch but that made it more exciting since this is our first real place of our own. After deciding on the foundational furniture, picking out the colors we wanted to use to go with our frost gray sofa was a little challenging because it's such a soft, cool neutral and I really wanted to warm it up. So I chose navy and a horseradish/gold color to accent with. We also purchased this amazing reclaimed wood display shelf from west elm so I needed a larger piece of framed art to place there for height and balance. Then it came to me - after reading Danielle Oakeys blog post on her DIY poster board art I thought what better way to complete my display ledge! Poster boards are thinner than canvas and can be easily framed. Here's a link to Danielle's blog post which is amazing as is the rest of her blog which I check at least a few times a week. Now i'd like to share with you the abstract art piece I came up with thanks to Danielle's inspiring post...

I decided on doing a tribal look by just cutting up a sandpaper sponge into triangles and using that as my stamp.  I also cut the poster board to 16"x20" to fit into the matted part of the ikea frame I purchased. I chose the colors prussian blue, gold and a light teal blue for a pop of different color all by craftsmart (inexpensive and perfect for diy art). I just played with the placement for a bit and then came up with a symmetrical tribal design...

After I was certain it was dry, I then framed it (which btw the frame was only $14.99!). I now have a large framed art print for less than $20 and it's great for us artists who have all colors of paint sitting around so all I truly had to buy for this was the $1 poster board and $14.99 frame. I hope this inspires you to get creative at home - it's definitely worth it!

Xo,