Home Chic: My Home!

I’ve finally finished decorating the apartment and I am so proud of it! It’s the first time I have lived somewhere and had full control over decorating decisions. In San Diego I had roommates, in DC I had roommates and in LA I lived with my sister but in Dallas I live with my bf and he sorta let me take the reins.

Of course it’s not a house so you can’t really make it your own but decorating helps!

I took it one room at a time and worked slowly and I am so glad I did. When I finished one room and the excitement of seeing it completed wore off, I would get started on the next. It prolonged my enjoyment. Of course, the decorating is never really finished. I am always scouring Home Goods, antique stores, World Market and Pier 1 for more items. I just love making my home a nice place to be.

Below is my completed apartment!

Kitchen:

This was easy to complete considering it is a beautiful kitchen to begin with. Dark mahogany wood, granite counters, green sub-way tile back-splash, dark wood floor…all it took was a few easy touches. A golden peacock feather serving-tray from India, a cookbook display (which is extremely useful), a spice rack and a few odd- and-ends. It is my favorite room in the house.

Living Room:

For the bookshelf in the living room I drew inspiration from Nate Berkus. He suggests mixing personal items with books and stacking the books in various ways to draw the eye in. I mixed in framed pictures, a mason jar with flowers, and a candle garden to keep things interesting without taking away from the beautiful books.

I wanted the living room to be warm and inviting. I used a round end-table to tie in the round accent chair we have. We use a brow leather ottoman as a coffee table (I have a wooden tray for drinks and books) and the couch is structured white suede. I was deliberate with my color choices. I don’t like things that match but rather things that compliment each other. I don’t want it to be random chaos but things that on their own are unique work in unison to make a complete vision. So my anchor point was my colorful throw pillows. I have a coral red throw to match the coral red in the pillows and a clear mint green lamp to match its green.

I chose to do a  frame mosaic for the wall above the couch. Each picture is special to my boyfriend and I. There is the framed cat print from the Andy Warhol museum he bought me in Pittsburgh for my birthday, a picture of us on our first New Year’s Eve, a picture I took of the sails from “The Star of India” in San Diego, the B&W photo of the California flag reminds me of home…each picture is unique and taken by me, nothing here was bought in a store. These are moments from our lives and I love that.

Dining Room:

I always wanted to have a drink station in my home. I think it’s classy, sophisticated and conducive to my binge drinking (just kidding). It is in our dining room, greeting any visitor when they  first walk in. That means when my bf comes home from his stressful job in finance, he can go straight for his beloved whiskey. I hung a chalk board where we can leave sarcastic notes to each other and a framed photo, added an imported Indian lantern, and a Buddha head from Nepal to the green rustic cabinet create a warm space.

My dining room is simple. More burlap, green cushions to tie in the green from the pillows in the living room and a pitcher I use as a vase.

Bedroom:

In the bedroom I used pewter, navy blue and hunter-green throughout the room for pops of color. The bed is a warm pewter to contrast the rest of the white furniture because too much white is cold and sterile. As you’ve seen before in my previous post about wall-hangings, I framed burlap tapestries from Urban Outfitters keep things interesting. They remind me of something I would see in a Wes Anderson movie. I also added pale green curtains, and gray wash wood shelves to complete the look.

 

For the dresser I have a photo, a framed poem, a small wooden chest, a mason jar with fresh flowers, an incense burner and some coffee table books. I believe you shouldn’t clutter your walls with pictures so I left this wall empty on purpose.

My desk is my favorite part of the bedroom. My bf’s desk is in the living room overlooking the lake but since mine is in the bedroom and doesn’t have an exciting view like his does, I used pictures and kink-knacks to give me inspiration and spur my creativity. I blog from here and I do freelance work from here…it’s my place in the world so it had to be good and it had to be me.

My desk is white so the burlap chair gives this area texture and warmth. I have an aqua blue suede cube in the corner near my desk where my bf can sit and chat with me, a little jewelry and scarf display as well some other little touches.

Bathrooms aren’t that interesting…although I love our wood-framed mirror and the shower curtain I got at Target (Gigi Hadid has the same one!). I also framed and matted a few of these flower specimen prints and all my towels and rugs are white or teal.

My next project is sprucing up the balcony!

I hope this was helpful to you! I know I love seeing how other people are decorating. It inspires me! Share your pictures below, I’d love to see them.

Thanks for reading.

XO

Angelica