Welcome to my humble abode!

It's been a while since I've shown you anything at my house, so I thought I'd do a full tour!

My tiny studio is one of 5 apartments in what must have been a single large house back in the day. The building is really old and charming. Here's the entry:

It's got a beautiful staircase leading up to my home, with a (nonfunctional) fireplace in the entry. It's very light-filled, and can you see that beautiful leaded glass window?? Love it.

Here's my 'entryway' aka the door to the main room of the studio apartment. It's tiny but miraculously fits everything I need. To the right of that blue chair is my bed and closet, then continuing 360 degrees is my sink, door to the bathroom, kitchenette area, and then back to this little desk area and the front door...not much to see!

Here's my bed and closet. My mom and I made the headboard, and I refinished the bedside table myself...used to look terrible but I fell for the beautiful blue glass :) I removed the door to the closet and put up a curtain as there's only about 6 inches between the bed and closet. I'm still waiting on my grey and white striped sheets to replace the purple ones...

Here's the other blue chair of the pair I snagged for $75 on Clist. And there's the Moroccany table I refinished (used to be a horrible black matte paint) with the tray top I bought at World Market and my favorite new candle. The carpet and linoleum are pretty terrible but the rest of the place makes up for it in charm.

As you can see there's not much space to move! That window lets in a beautiful amount of light thought, and I love the moldings around the windows and doors. I made the paintings above the sink and door to the bathroom. The green hamper was rescued from my grandma!

Here's the view inside that door:

Bathroom is actually very large for the studio size. I love the vintage tile, luckily, since I know a lot of people don't like their old-school bathrooms! I've had that aloe since my sophomore year of college....it's looking a little sad right now!

I made the bird painting, the street seen I bought while studying abroad in Chile, and the blocks leaning on the black tile I bought with my mom...they say Luv You in letterpress :)

Here's the left of the door (I'm standing by the toilet). The bathroom also gets a great amount of light from the two windows, and there's plenty of storage for all my stuff under the sink and in the mirror (although I'm not big on lots of products, so maybe other girls would have a problem). I painted the sun painting on the left wall years ago--happens to match the tile well!

Dark shot but here's a view of how the shower fits in the room. It's a very roomy shower!

Shot from inside the shower....I refinished that dresser from its original Barney-colored state. I find that if I keep my jewelry out on display, I wear it more! The "Feel Beautiful" frame is a page ripped out of a magazine. I think it's a good reminder when you step out of the shower :) I still need to hang the Live Laugh Love plaque my best friend gave me!

Back outside the bathroom again:

Here's my tiiiiny kitchen area. I store food under the sink area, and all my pots fit in the tiny space between the stove and fridge. Thank goodness for the bookshelves to store all my school books and dishes! I also love pretty storage--the boxes on top the fridge store electronics and bills/statements/rent stuff/checkbooks. You can see the door behind my fridge--it's the one from the closet. Classy, right?

And now we're back to the beginning! I refinished the bench in front of the desk myself, and if you've been reading a while you know I also refinished the chairs. I love my little gallery wall because all my favorite people are pictured in one spot! Makes me less homesick while living out-of-state. The map image on the bottom left of the gallery wall is a present my boyfriend made me for our one-year anniversary. He's making it into a giant whiteboard at work, which I'll hang on the currently-blank wall between the entry door and the closet door.

So there you have it! I'm getting bored with my current setup though--any suggestions of things you'd change? Favorite moments? Least favorite moments? Tired of seeing my same stuff over and over? Do tell!

Great new SLC store!

Hey everyone,

Lately I've been on a real fitness kick--life has been so stressful that I find myself going for runs or doing yoga just to get a break from it all. On today's run, I took a route I don't usually take and ran down 7th East, Salt Lake City. And what did I find but a cute little consignment shop with beautiful pieces and extremely reasonable prices. It's called Haight and Ashbury, located at 2219 South 7th East. Take a look:

Greeting you when you walked in were these adorable metal chairs with cheery cushions and this bedside table used here like a kid's play table. Chairs were $40 for the pair! I believe the table was $40 as well--what a steal!

I found a pillow for my honey that I didn't pull the trigger on--but I should have! Pretty grey felt ombre pillow for $12.

$125 for this nice-sized kitchen table. It already had a nice worn look to it--when my boyfriend gets home I'm going to try to convince him to buy it :)

This is a terrible photo but it was a beautiful dresser for under $200 ($140?) with the prettiest blue color and unique handles. Wish I'd seen this before the BF went to Ikea for his dresser :(

When I saw these pretty plates....

...I immediately thought of this inspiration image:

I've been really into the light pink/olivey green color combo lately. Think of this settee ($220!)...

...reupholstered in velvety green the color of the bottom plate, with light pink piping. Wouldn't it be adorable in a little girl's room?? Maybe with those pink chairs from the top image and a tea set on the blue (repainted white) side table...mmmm.

After leaving Haight and Ashbury, I ran to the Sugarhouse neighborhood, where of course I had to stop at another favorite second-hand store Home Again (2100 South 1019 East). Here are my two favorite things they have right now:

Bar cart, $42. I'd repaint it a more fun color, plus the wheel spokes were reeeeeeally shiny, so I'd maybe spray paint or gold leaf them. Would be a cute bar cart, or a place for all your makeup/perfumes/etc in a small bathroom. Someone go get this!

Last but not least, the items that are still preying on my mind:

If you can't tell from the terrible photo, they're salt and pepper shakers. They're triagonal, but what you can't tell very well is they're slightly twisted, making them really unique. I also like the one hole/three holes on the sides instead of the tops. I think they look more like sculptures than shakers--so pretty! Tag said $35 but the owner said she'd do them for $25. Still debating.

What do you think? Worth it for pretty sculptures, or a stupid price to pay for such a little item?

What do you get...

What do you get when you mix this inspiration image:

...with this color palette:

...these pieces of fabulous furniture...

....some pretty extras...

...and a blogger whose best friend from high school is expecting a little boy in June?

One very chic (and expensive) nursery:

Since you're all rich 'n shit get your laquer guy to do the Malm (or another appropriately overly expensive snooty dresser) to laquer a dresser in a pattern similar to the inspiration image, Sherwin William Blue Peacock with SW Spicy Hue details and gold square ring pulls.

I want all of these things for myself. Except the nursery, hellllll no I'm not ready for a kid in my life. But so happy for my bestie! I love being an auntie!!

Sources:
Abigail Edwards Seascape Wallpaper Finn Rocker Astrid Settee Dodecahedron lamp Cleo table lamp Ridiculous(ly awesome) crib that doesn't even list a price it's so expensive Ostrich table Etsy love pillow

Omg! Have you heard of ChipIt?!

JUST discovered this now and had to share. Sherman Williams is doing this tool called Chip It, kinda like Pinterest, where you put their tool in your toolbar and whenever you want to find matching colors to your photo, you select the image and it provides you with colors! See?

Sometimes it messes up, like here it didn't pick up on the blue, but usually the base colors are there and you can select More Colors too. And it saves your image source and you can log in via your Facebook. Pretty cool! Guess I have the color palette for my boyfriend's imaginary new bedroom :)

Anthro yearnings

Last night I did something I very rarely take the time to do: went shopping just for the pleasure of it, with no list of errands I needed to check off or self-imposed time limit. I stopped by Anthropologie to see what latest beautiful (and over-priced) homewares they have for sale. I wasn't disappointed.

First up, this petite little stunner:

Grey linen, tufts, and its diminutive size would make it the perfect base for a girly little studio apartment (hmmmm....). Online I could only find the tangerine version, priced at $2,498 (blowing my studio idea because really, what person that lives in a tiny studio can afford that sofa? Not me). Although honestly, it was really really comfortable, which I was somewhat surprised by, and is made from nice fabric and instantly elevates a whole space. Could be worth the splurge!

Next up, I'd like to place this beautiful mercury lamp ($168) next to said pretty little sofa:

(sorry, blurry iphone pic). The lamp next to it ($298) would be fun in a kid's room!

As per usual, Anthro was displaying some trendy and beautiful fabrics...

...and yummy candles!

How pretty are these?!

Of course, as usual they had many products that could be easy (or not-so-easy but a fun challenge) DIYs selling for absurd prices. Three that I want to try include:

These chalkboard spice jars ($10)

Not a terrible price but when you need several it adds up. I'd use glass jars from other food, stripped of their labels, spray-painted lids, and use chalkboard paint in similar design. I like the outlining of the chalkboard area they did here; makes it feel more finished/intentional.

Next up, this butterfly and floral lampshade ($88-148)

Not sure if you can tell from the pic but it's printed with the flowers and the butterfly is stitched on. I'm not a very good sewer but think this could be a fun project with a cheapo Target lampshade!

Lastly, these folding chairs with fun fabric (not found online):

Leave it to Anthro to take a basic, functional piece and jazz it up so it's completely chic. I'll have to keep this in mind for when I even have enough space for basic folding chairs!

Of course, the online catalog is much more extensive. To torture myself and my readers, here are a few more favorites:

Capri Blue mercury glass candle. This was gorgeous but honestly it smelled like shit.

I wanna replace my boyfriend's hand-me-down Ikea Lack coffee table with this beautiful Monarch coffee table.

I would like to design an entire nursery around this Finn rocker. it would probably involve elements such as these:

Do you see my vision??

Last but not least, my all-time favorite thing at Anthropologie:

Agadir twists rug. i mean seriously.

So of all the pretties to tempt me, did I walk away with anything? Sure did!

(I swear my place isn't always this depressing, the photos were taken at night!)

This pic makes me happy because it combines lots of my favorite things in my home: my consignment store Moroccan table base with World Market tray top, a wooden turtle bowl from my grandma that's filled with pictures of friends, my favorite most comfy blue chairs, my new fabric, and, of course, my most recent purchase, the yummy yummy Vanilla Fig candle with beautiful packaging. Gotta be honest, the smell isn't very strong when lit but it's so pretty I don't even care!

What are your latest purchases or lusts at Anthropologie??

All photos via Anthropologie.com, my iPhone, or my Pinterest

Boyfriend's bedroom inspiration

I think most girls can sympathize with the effects of spending significant time at her significant other's--eventually, the dude decor gets you down. My boyfriend's room is painted beige with white trim, there is constantly dirty clothes everywhere, and his bed consists of tan sheets with a black comforter. It makes me sad. If I had my way, his room would look more like this:

Green and blue, floral, stripes, vintage, modern....yep I love this. However, obviously this would never fly at the BF's place. So I've been plotting smaller updates for his space. To look a little more like this:

Or this:

Obviously those two images are still really girly. So I'd need to combine the look with something like these:

Love the B&W frames of varying thicknesses

He has a kind of wide open space where there is currently a very ghetto desk. I want to remove it and install something more like this:

How would I do something like that? Well, I'd incorporate a few of these items:

Cuz I love my comforter. And green.

And these grey and white sheets, cuz I am still waiting for them to come in and can't get them out of my mind.

I've been spotting this Urban Outfitters director's table (not bad at $64!) and think they'd make cute bedside tables.

Then I'd scour Craiglist for a set of dressers to make over, buy some campaign hardware, and mimic Jenny from Little Green Notebook's dresser makeover:

Looooove the grey against brass/gold!

Of course, since I do spend quite a bit of time there, I'd need some girly token. And what's better than a pillow or curtains made of my new fabric??

Yep, I think so. This needs to happen.

All images via My Pinterest