Moving In: January 2013

Settling Down: February 2013

Conceptualizing: April 2013

In Progress of Finalizing: Present

The living room has gone through a lot of changes since I moved in, but I finally have an arrangement that is most utilitarian while not looking completely ridiculous.

Also, I got a lot better at figuring out how to use ISO and f-stop configurations on my camera.

Some decor I implemented:

• Panting walls: I don’t have a ceiling, but rather an exposed roof. This makes the prospect of painting walls a nightmare. I experimented until I came up with the border color approach. I love it, and it was super easy! Just use painter’s tape and a level to get crisp, straight lines. True to my indecisiveness, the living room went through 3 different shades of pink before I settled with a grayish pink called Malibu Coast by Behr.
• Gallery wall: I went through different frames, colors, and artwork but settled on a lighter color scheme because my furniture is so dark. The pink walls were inspired by these! A
• Bike: Finding a home for my bike within a 450 sq. foot space was the biggest challenge of my move-in. It went everywhere — the kitchen, the hallway, my bedroom… Before finding its permanent home here in the living room. Everything around the bike is still accessible, it’s easy to get it out of the front door (I bike to work) and I like looking at it. Score.
• Utility space: I store all of my office supplies, craft supplies, and documents in the boxes.
• Black fan: The ugly tower fan is essential… My house is really old and I don’t have air conditioning.
• Desk: I moved the desk to the opposing side, meaning it was on my left in the final photo. This allows me to use my iMac simultaneously as a computer and a TV for streaming Netflix. It all worked out!

I’m going to do a more detailed walkthrough of sections around the space, including where I purchased everything.

The final photo is still more of an “in progress.” I still have a way to go! I need to decorate that shelf better and get better boxes for the utility space.

(Special props to Max and his photo bombing skills.)

The Closet Makeover – The Before

• The first thing I did was take off the heavy, inconvenient wooden slabs that were supposed to be closet doors.
• The bright yellow knobs are from Anthropologie. Check out similar Anthropologie knobs for simple room revamps! I’ve made yellow my room’s highlight color, and I can’t wait until it all comes together.
• I never wear things I can’t see, so the dresser became a black hole.
• My heels wouldn’t sit still on my shoe rack.

It worked for a while, but it felt inconvenient. I knew I had to change the way this space worked.

The Closet Makeover – The During

Using Pinterest for inspiration, I knew I wanted to add open shelving so that I could actually see what my options were every morning.

Did you know lumber is really cheap? You can find it at most hardware stores. I got mine from Lowes and added support pieces alongside standard L hooks.

I wasn’t too worried about weight here, because I can’t imagine my clothes bringing these shelves down.

The Closet Makeover – The “Almost” After

The hardest part of writing this blog is showing my home when it’s not done. This is one of those cases where you can see the intent, but the finishing touches are absent. Here are a few things I did:

• I added a fresh coat of paint to the entire interior. (Minus the natural wood.)
• The dresser is gone.
• Pants, skirts, and leggings are on a bottom rail I bought at the hardware store. (Easy installation!)
• Blouses, sweaters, and jackets are on the top rail.
• I utilized most of the new shelving for my heels.
• The top shelf is temporarily holding a few things like my jewelry box, lotion, and Kate Spade.
• My tanks and tees are on the top shelf, which was the original intention of the shelves.

Still To Come…

• Stain the bottom railing.
• Weed out shoes to completely fit on the shelves and get rid of the railed shoe holder.
• Get another hamper — one for whites, one for darks.
• Figure out where to put the random items on the top shelf.
• Get a new sliding door or curtain.

I can’t help but think I could have utilized the space more to my advantage by adding one more shelf and putting them closer together… What do you think?

Aside from major decor ideas I had before moving in to my new place, I realized it needed a lot of simple changes. For me, it’s all in the details.

The hardware had so many layers of paint over it, it was about an inch thick. The lighting fixtures were caked in dust and outdated (and not in the vintage-cute way I’m going for). The cabinets were dirty, and wouldn’t stay shut. The light switches were oddly misshapen. Needless to say, I got creative.

Here are a few ways to give an older home, especially a rental, some TLC:

Remove layers of paint from hardware.

Having ten layers of paint over hardware is a tell-tale sign of an old rental. (Gotta love lazy painters.) Clean the hardware to remove decades of old paint, or simply buy new ones. It’ll only cost you some spare change! How simple (and cheap) was that?

Upgrade boring lighting fixtures.

This isn’t necessarily a cheap fix, but one that still makes all the difference. Upgrade ugly, standard lighting found in most rentals with modern light fixtures. Save the old ones, and you can take your upgrade with you when you move! In my opinion, it’s worth the investment.

This type of job usually requires some hardwiring knowledge, which is super easy to learn. (Make sure you turn your electricity off, please!)

Add unique switch plate covers.

Changing a boring, white square plate to something more unique makes one of the biggest differences in the feel of a home. This one you see is from Allen + Roth, and I changed all my visible plates to this style. Instant class! The better the quality of what you choose, the more expensive. But again, this is something you can take with you if you rent.

My house is also really old (pre 1940′s) and I don’t think the actual light switches or outlets had ever been changed from the originals. I went ahead and upgraded those too. Believe it or not, these cost less than $1 for each on/off switch or outlet. Make sure you turn the electricity off, and then simply hook the wires up exactly how they were on the old. This not only gave me smooth, non-painted switches but actually improved the lighting response in my switch that connected to the outdoor lighting. I guess it wasn’t hooked up properly to the old one!

One final bonus — this easily allowed me to change my 2 prong outlets to 3 prong. Bye-bye, ugly 3 prong adaptors.

Additional ways to upgrade:

• If you can’t paint your cabinets, sand and stain them to give them the “like new” feel.
• If your cabinets don’t stay closed, add magnets.
• Change your outdated hooks and knobs to something cute that matches the decor in the room. Anthropologie has the best finds!
• Replace locks and doorknobs to something more modern.
• Use cheap, unfinished wood from a hardware store to give yourself more shelf space. Then sand and stain. I did this for both my kitchen and my closet! You save so much money, and it allows you to have more space for storage in the most custom way possible.

While most of these take an hour or two of your time, they save you money and transform the look of your home.

Sorry about the poor quality images, but I had to take these with my iPhone at the open house.

That being said, this is my new home! Over time, you’ll see some DIY projects I’ve been doing to make the most of this tiny (and really old) space. Consider these the before pictures!

This is the bedroom corner. Love the wood floors, but they’ve proposed a new issue — noise and dirt!

My tiny closet and storage space. Obviously in need of an overhaul.

This is my bathroom, also in need of TLC.

The living room. My biggest issue with this space was how to arrange the furniture around the heater, and not make it look small. Major challenge!

The kitchen. Super tiny, but super adorable. Wait until you see my toy sized oven and fridge…