Designing my own place!

After a long time of planning, saving, and looking for places to live, I am finally in my new apartment! I could not be happier to be in a place that has a laundry room, a full kitchen, and actual walls after living in a studio loft this past year. Designing the apartment has been fun, but tricky. Since I am renting the space, I can't change any of the wall colors, fixtures, etc. Also, I am working on a budget here (a really tight budget!) so making my dollars stretch has been an important thing to keep in mind. Here are three spaces that I am working on:

The Master Bedroom:

I have told you before and I will tell you again, I love color and prints-I really can't get enough of them! However, in this master bedroom I really wanted to try to keep things relaxed and peaceful. I have a great rug that I knew I wanted to use in the bedroom. The rug is light brown and blue so naturally those would become the main colors in the room. I found this duvet color that also incorporates red and gold hues and has a beautiful paisley print. I loved that the duvet cover is pretty gender neutral since I will be getting married soon and don't want this bedroom to be too girly. 

I also knew that I wanted to incorporate some of our engagement pictures that we took recently into the apartment. The bedroom is the perfect place for personal photos like these. I found some frames with a woven texture and decided to hang a set of three of them above the bed. The bedside lampshades have a similar texture and help to unify the space. My next project will be recovering my headboard!

The living room has been one of my biggest challenges yet! Designing on a budget means that you really have to find a way to use everything that you have had in the past, which isn't always something I am eager to do. It is a space that I hope will continue to evolve and become one of my favorite places to be! On my wish list for the room is a new rug ( and it needs to be NEUTRAL since my blue armchair will also be in this room!), artwork, lamps, and accessories. My inspiration for this room was Schumacher's hothouse flowers fabric, and here is what I have done with it so far:

I have loved this fabric from the moment I saw it. It is bold, colorful, and fun! However, this fabric doesn't come cheap. In the beginning I had hopes of recovering my armchair with it, or even making drapery panels out of it, but neither of these options were going to work with my budget, so I decided to have these beautiful pillows made. I could not be happier with them and I know that they will work great with my custom armchair once I finally get it in the room! 

And now for possibly my favorite room in the apartment-

The Guest Bedroom:

If you are going to be a guest of mine, then be prepared for a colorful stay! This is the one room that I knew I could really go all out and express my love of color without my fiance complaining too much, since he won't be living in it. It all started with a duvet cover that I have been obsessed with for a while now. It has trees and flowers and just makes me happy! Next, I found an old side table in our garage, painted it blue, and added some new hardware so that it looks completely refreshed. Some accent pillows in bold prints will add the finishing touches to this delightful space! 

So that is just a first look at my apartment and the many projects I have taken on to make this space feel like a home. I can't wait to post more pictures as more progress is made!