Yesterday I kicked off Apartment Tour Week with a Decorating 101 post on Starting From Existing Pieces, where I explained how I went about decorating my new living area. And today, you get to see the full deal!
In this apartment, the living room, dining room, and kitchen are all one room. Which is fine for a little one-bedroom apartment but from a space planning aspect it was a little challenging. But thankfully space planning is one of my strong suites, and it took just a couple different tries before I found the right fit.
When my couch first got delivered I thought, oh my, this is going to be interesting. It's a little oversized for a space like this, but I think I made it work! I love how the colors I picked all work well togather, and the gallery wall connects the space quite well; everyday I'm reminded of my adventures in Europe this past summer!
A tip I have for working with an all-in-one space like mine: make sure you define the separate spaces within the larger room. Here, the rug, angled chair, and end of the couch define my living room, even though the dining room table is only a yard away!
As you can see here, I pulled all the colors together with these patterned throw pillows. The burnt orange comes into play in the kitchen, with towels and a rug.
A note about this kitchen: my apartment complex obviously did not hire an interior designer to come up with these kitchen plans. Because no trained designer I know would EVER place the dishwasher where they did! It violates the kitchen triangle, and putting dishes away is a multi-step process where I have to first empty everything out onto the counter, then into the cabinets. The door coming down prevents me from standing in a convenient spot to put the dishes away immediately out of the washer. I would have done such a better job! :)
On the right of the sink is the refrigerator (you can see a hint of it) and to the right of that is a small laundry closet. And that's about it! It's the perfect size for someone on their own, and I love that it feels like home because of the personal touches I've made.
Where I shopped: The couch came from Haverty's, the dining set from Turner's Budget Furniture several years ago, the yellow rug from my parent's garage (lol!), and the bookcase from Wayfair.com. The trunk was a vintage find that I re-painted this year (it was black before). I found all of the frames from Marshalls/Home Goods/TJMaxx and a few from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. The rest of the accessories I either can't remember, don't know (some came from my mom's spare decor storage in the basement), or were also from the stores mentioned above.
Check back tomorrow for a tour of my bedroom, and Thursday I'll be sharing my how-to for my gallery wall.
Have a great Tuesday!
--Caroline
