HOUSEPLANT MOM: AM I DOING THIS RIGHT?

Do y’all remember that fake aloe in the gray pot that was in every photo I used to post? I’ll show you just in case you forgot. I feel like every picture was a game of spot the plant. Thankfully the pot broke (when I accidentally dropped it) which started me on my journey of getting rid of faux plants. It was a sad and slow process but it was so necessary. I wouldn’t be over my obsession with faux just yet but the plastic seed had been planted.

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KITCHEN REVEAL: LET’S WARM IT UP A BIT

Well this was unexpected. I had no intention on touching our kitchen. I bought a few navy towels when we moved in because, ya know, “I wanted a navy color scheme” lol and called it a day. I was so happy to have a kitchen that wasn’t dark brown, doing anything else to it almost felt redundant. So here’s a little backstory…Our first apartment had white everything and not white like “oh, la, la” white but white like this was the cheapest of everything the builder could find. When we moved into our house, the white was gone but now we were on the opposite side of the spectrum. Welcome, espresso mahogany lol. You know the color I’m talking about. It’s the color big box retailers offer their furniture in for the people who don’t want black, because black would just be TOO dark…..lol. I rolled with it and even had the nerve to DIY a black backsplash! Yes, dark brown cabinets with a black tile backsplash. GOOD-NESS.

LIVING ROOM REVEAL: AN UNBORING NEUTRAL

Neutrals are boring. Neutrals are safe. Using neutral is so blah. You’ve heard it all before and while sometimes all three can be true, I was determined not to let that be the case in our living room. This space came together as most loved things do, with time. We’ve been in our apartment for almost a year and I’m just now getting that ‘fin’ feeling. You know the one I’m talking about – when you’ve added the last piece to a room and it makes you go, “yes, this is it!”.

EASY TIPS FOR STYLING YOUR AIRBNB

Airbnbs have really increased in popularity and for good reason. During a recent hotel search for an upcoming vacation, I struggled to find hotel rooms that weren’t sterile, “here’s your bed” spaces that were both well designed and priced. As a stylist, I couldn’t help but gravitate to the ones that had more character and color. Now don’t get me wrong, most people, myself included, make price a huge factor in our decisions. When we search, there’s this funky button called “filter” which is designed to help guests narrow down their selection but this can also disqualify you from the “final list”. So you have to find a way to stand out before that button gets pressed. But how?

DECK REVEAL: PLANTED HIGH UP

We’ve all done it. We get a new spot, whether a house or apartment and at the first hint of warm weather, we’re flying to our nearest store to pick out a “patio set”. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s plastic, comes with the mini table that barely holds one drink let alone two and it’s stackable. Oh, how we love the stackability! We marvel at how easy it’ll be to clean and how well it’ll travel to our next new home. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there! Our first apartment didn’t have a deck so when we moved into our house I went right to the closest home improvement store and picked out a brown, yes, BROWN pair of chairs and the baby table lol. Brown matched the trim of our house….how could we go wrong?!

DIY: THE EASIEST BENCH EVER

I introduce, the BENCHMAN TABLE – One part bench, one part ottoman and one part table! Guys, this project was so easy that it probably took me 30 minutes from start to finish. You’ll be amazed at how using just a few added details really turn this “table with legs” into a conversational piece, no matter what room you add it to!

OFFICE REVEAL: WORK IN PROGRESS

So living in an apartment is hard. Only made harder by the fact that we used to have a house, with my own office, which we sold (best financial decision ever, but still lol) before I realized my heart was in interiors – just my luck. So I went from having 2,400 square feet to play with, to just 800. Granted, I don’t regret it but in hindsight, I may have held on a little bit longer if I’d known I’d catch the interiors bug two short years later. But alas, here we are. Out of the three apartments we’ve lived in, this by far is my favorite. It’s the smallest but the most well laid out. It’s always just been the two of us, so space isn’t an issue, but not being able to get to the bathroom because the laundry closet is open was a huge no-no.