New apartment intro tour!

Vinny and I have officially been in our new apartment for a month, so I thought it was about time to show you how things are shaking out so far decor-wise. We have a fairly long to-do list (which translates to a fairly long shopping list), but we are taking our time and tackling the list one by one. 

Today I took some shots of our bathroom, living room, dining area, and kitchen. The only areas not really shown today are the entryway and the bedroom, but those areas are still in need of a little crap-ton of TLC ;)

Bathroom:

There's a nice amount of storage in here, and opposite of the toilet/sink area above are the full tub/shower and the washer/dryer. 

I was able to use a couple of my favorite prints from Girl and Parrot on Etsy (here and here)

My Jonathan Adler mohawk match strike makes me smile every time :)

Like in my last home, I used these Claire Elsaesser prints over the toilet. 

Bathroom To-Do List:

• Get a shower curtain
• Get a little stool for next to the tub, all stocked up with bath salts and oils :)

Living Area:

Since it's a small living area, we furnished it really simply, although we'd like to add a comfy chair and a larger coffee table eventually. Photobomb credits: My puppy, Charli :)

Opposite the sofa we have our TV and a couple Ikea Vittsjo bookshelves. 

I've been having fun styling the shelves with our favorite books, prints, and plants.

Living Room To-Do List:

• Replace lamp shades on end table lamps
• Add 2 other pieces of artwork to the wall between the TV and sofa (I have the art, I just need to pick up 2 more Ikea frames)
• Potentially add a wood bench with pillows under the artwork
• Add a wood console under the TV
• Get a larger coffee table
• Swap out the pillows (I'm waiting on some new feather inserts I ordered)
• Add a cozy wool rug under the sofa
• Repot the plants on the shelves
• Add hanging plants to the right-hand corner of the sofa
• Potentially add an easy chair

Kitchen:

Our kitchen is just one long workspace, which took some getting used to. At the right-hand side of the photo you can see the table in our little dining nook.

My brother made those striped wood cutting boards! #talented

The hardest-working area of our kitchen, the coffee bar ;)

Kitchen To-Do List:

• Add a long runner or 2 2x3 rugs in front of the sink and stove
• Get a more colorful tea towel to hang on the stove handle
• Style the shelf over the sink better, potentially adding a clock

Dining Area:

Not much to see here--and apologies for the dark shot, blogger wouldn't let me upload the lightened-up version :-/ Our 'dining table' is actually a campaign desk from World Market, but it fits perfectly in the space.

Dining Area To-Do List: 

• Add placements (on order)
• Buy new dining chairs
• Potentially trim the drapes in something more colorful, or add a pelmet?

Overall I like where things are headed, but looking at these photos makes me more aware of how grey everything is. It would be nice to add in a little more color or texture to liven things up a bit, although I'd like the overall vibe to be fairly calm and cozy. 

What do you think? Any suggestions? Oh, and because I couldn't not post these....here are a couple bonus shots of my fur-baby :)

Isn't she the cutest?!

February-March-April 2015 Capsule Wardrobe

Ok, ok, I'm a little late posting this capsule, which I started at the beginning of February. But that's because I've been fiddling with it these first couple of weeks.

*Gasp* But isn't that against the rules of a capsule?? Aren't you supposed to pick your capsule items at the beginning and wear only those pieces??

Yes, that's the general idea. But I started February with a few different items, and once I started trying to get dressed with the new capsule, I found myself staring into my closet, at a loss for what to wear each morning. And that totally defeats the purpose of a capsule wardrobe, so I spent an extra couple of weeks tweaking things until the capsule became functional and inspirational again. Here's what I've ended up with:

Key: Bold = Capsule Basics; Italics = New Pieces; Regular font = Filler Pieces

Neutral Tops:
1-3: Black, white, and striped tanks
4. Chambray buttonup
5. Black long-sleeve striped tee
6. Black plaid buttonup
7. Grey v-neck tee
8. Graphic tee (Minnesota)

Colorful Tops:
1. Silk buttonup
2. Long-sleeve crossover top
3. Silky tee
4. Silky long-sleeve
5. Crop sweater

Jackets/Blazers/Cardigans:
1.Black blazer
2. Jean jacket
3. Cream moto jacket
4. Color blazer
5. Black waterfall cardigan
6. Long sweater cardigan

Bottoms: 
1. Black trousers
2. Black skirt
3. Skinny jeans
4. Grey pencil skirt
5. Striped skirt
6. Black maxi skirt
7. Grey trousers
8. Colored cords
9. Black cropped ankle pants

Dresses: 
1. Maroon dress
2. B&W Target dress
3. Fuchsia shift dress

Shoes: 
1. Black boots
2. Black flats
3. B&W printed flats
4. White Converse
5. Black moto boots
6. Black wedge booties


To come up with the final 37 items for this capsule, I played around with numbers a bit. Originally a had a few more sweaters and tops and 6 bottoms, but I quickly learned that this left my closet unbalanced--I felt like I didn't have enough bottoms to wear to work. So I swapped out the tops that I gravitated away from and added in a few more pants. I also found that I prefer neutral bottoms but I like to split my tops pretty equally between neutrals and colorful options. In an ideal world, all of my colorful items would coordinate with each other, but since this is a real closet and not a made-up Pinterest one, I'm limited by the colors I've already purchased.

What are some of the tricks you've learned to make your capsule more functional?