At the end of every season I like to go through my closet and sell/donate all the clothes I didn’t wear or don’t think I will ever wear again. I figure if I didn’t wear it this winter, I most likely won’t wear it next winter. Plus it feels good to give back and gives me a little more cash to decorate my apartment. It only took 10 months for me to completely move in to my apartment and finish all the decorating, but it was worth the wait!
To give you a little background about why this took so long, I’ll tell you about my terrible move-in experience. I’ll give you the short version, don’t worry. Last May I subleased a studio apartment from a woman off craigslist (scary I know). However, I did make a trip in town with my parents to see the place and meet the woman before hand. At the time the place looked great, the location was amazing, and I was ready to sign! A few weeks later Steve and I drove a Uhaul with all my stuff to Chicago and planned on moving me in. We showed up at the apartment with it completely trashed. I’m talking blood on the floor (I didn’t ask and I don’t want to know haha), toilet clogged, bike tracks all over the walls, shower head broken, missing door knobs, pasta sauce spilled all inside the refrigerator, and the list goes on. It was beyond disgusting and I know I’m a bit of a clean freak, but even Steve said it was bad. So we spent the whole night cleaning from floor to ceiling until the place was spotless. We moved all my stuff in the next day and then headed out to return the Uhaul. On our way we stopped for a quick bite and parked it outside. About 15 minutes later we went out to find our Uhaul missing. Welcome to Chicago, is all I could think and “You live and you learn” is all my parents could say. My Uhaul had been towed and I was stuck with one FAT fine to get it back. After getting the Uhaul back and returning it, I spent the next few months becoming best friends with my maintenance man. He came about once a week to do repairs until the apartment was good as new! I spent the last 5 months repainting, installing new door knobs on all the cabinets, hanging and setting up all my decorations, and so much more. I wish I could show pictures of what it looked like before, but at the time my mind was in such shock the last thing I thought of was to take pictures. I’m sure you can vision it though with my descriptions above.
At the end of the day, I can finally sit back and love the home I built for myself. All my hard work and time paid off into making this little studio my perfect home away from home! Below are some pictures of my latest additions to the place and a little DIY picture frame idea!
Here’s a glimpse of my new gallery wall. I purchased these frames from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a great deal and printed off some of my favorite quotes and images. The gold striped frames, I made myself (Tutorial below)
Gold Glitter Pictures
Materials:
- frames
- white paper
- washi tape
Instructions
Quick and easy! I simply just placed a stripe of washi tape across the paper at every 1/3 of the paper. Then put it in the frame and ta-da!
Such a great way to just add an extra pop of glitter to your wall!
Here is my kitchen that I completely repainted, installed all new door knobs, and of course decorated super girly:) My favorite part of this kitchen is the chalkboard paint I did on the inside frame of the doors. It’s so fun to re-decorate them for holidays and visitors!
The tassel garland above the cabinets make it cheery and bright and match my bar cart perfectly!
I recently bought this bar cart from ikea and saw on pinterest how somebody painted it gold. I painted mine gold as well to match the rest of my apartment and then added a mini tassel garland to match my kitchen. Along with the chalkboard wine glasses my mom picked up for me from Pier 1 Imports. I’m still on the hunt for a few more accessories to add, but for now it’s perfect for entertaining visitors and friends!
I painted an old canvas I had, because I absolutely love this quote! The straws I found at a boutique by my apartment and just couldn’t pass up.
Hope you enjoyed my mini apartment tour!
Your kitchen is adorable! You did a great job renovating it! I'll use some of your pictures as an inspiration for my kitchen! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks June! It was a lot of work, but totally worth it! Of course, please do and feel free to reach out if you need any tips or tricks for painting:)