{Four} Friday Favorites: Small Space Organizing

Today I'm wrapping up Apartment Tour Week here on This Styled Life with a few tips & tricks that I used when downsizing to my new, smaller, apartment. 

1. Bring pantry items out in the open. When you have limited cabinet space, you have to get creative. Because of a lack of storage, one of lower cabinets in the kitchen is being used for "utility" storage, like my toolbox, Berlioz's food, etc. I knew that once I put dishes away in the cabinets and started adding pantry items, I'd run out of room. So I selected a few things to keep on the counter, and found little jars to store oats, chia seeds, and flax seed powder. I use these things nearly everyday anyway, so keeping them out in the open & accessible is also very practical. 

2. Be smart about bathroom storage. Going from a large "master" bath in my apartment last year to this small thing was definitely a big step. I had accumulated a lot of extra products because I had the room for them, and I got used to being able to have a lot of things out on my counter. First, I went through everything and got rid of all the extra products I didn't need. Thankfully, my apartment had a built-in medicine cabinet, so that solved the problem of all the stuff on the counter. I got new under cabinet organizers (my preview ones didn't fit in these smaller cabinets) and ended up only needing one because of how much I had gotten rid of! I used command hooks to hang my hairdryer, straightener, and curler on the door to free up space & for easy access.  '

3. Think duel-purpose & space saving. Here, you can see that my makeup roll I used for traveling this summer is still in full use. I keep it rolled up in my medicine cabinet for easy access, and when I'm doing my makeup I just unroll and go. It saves space, as opposed to having everything played out on the counter, plus when I go see Kyle for a weekend it's already packed up! 

4. Track what you use. After living out of a suitcase this summer on a limited wardrobe, I realized that I don't need all the clothes I do. This closet is smaller than my last one, so I'm taking advantage of that as an excuse and a need to slim down. I went through and have donated or consigned a lot of things, but with what remains I decided tot rack what I actually wear. I spun all the hangers the opposite way, and every time I wear something the hanger gets spun back the right way. This way, after a few months, I can see what I actually wear and what I don't. 

I hope you enjoyed the This Styled Life Apartment Tour this week! If you missed it, make sure to check out Monday's Decorating From Existing Pieces Post, Tuesday's  Living Room Tour post, Wednesday's Bedroom Tour post, and yesterday's Gallery Wall How-To post. 

I've got a weekend full of homework planned, but hopefully you're doing something more exciting!

Happy Friday!

--Caroline

This Styled Life Apartment Tour: Bedroom

It's bedroom day of the This Styled Life Apartment Tour Week! In case you missed the prior posts, check out Monday's Decorating 101 post, and Tuesday's Living Room tour post. One of my favorite parts about this apartment's bedroom are the two large windows; The morning light that comes in is just beautiful! Berlioz loves them too, as you can see from one of the pictures. From a decor standpoint, not much in my bedroom has changed since last year, though I think the few small additions I've made have a bigger impact than you might think. I really only changed my curtains, acquired a new desk chair from my parent's house, and got a new desk lamp. (Finally! The architect's style lamp I've been wanting for forever!) 

 

The bedroom square footage is just a little less than last years' apartment, which is no problem. I do miss the large "master" bath I had; this one is tinier, and so Berlioz's litter box is therefor next to my desk. Not the ideal place, but better than awkwardly out in the living room! The walk-in closet is also a bit smaller, but that's fine because I have way too many clothes anyway, so it's an excuse to be more thoughtful about what I keep and what I buy. 

As far as where I got everything, most of the accessories & pillows are from Marshalls/Home Goods/TJMaxx because I just love those stores! The quilt and small throw pillows were handmade by my mom, and the sheets are from Stein Mart a while back. The desk and nightstand are Target (see my nightstand DIY here), and the dresser was a thrift find that I updated the hardware on. 

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my bedroom! Tomorrow, check back in for details & tips on how I created my living room gallery wall.

--Caroline

This Styled Life Apartment Tour: Living Area

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

Decorating 101: Starting from Existing Pieces

It's Apartment Tour Week on This Styled Life! Are you excited?! Because I am!

Bouncing off of my previous post Decorating 101: Starting from Scratch with Invaluable, today I'm sharing how I went about decorating my living room in my new apartment. Going from living with roommates to living on my own meant I could make it 100% mine, which I looked forward to. Being in college, obviously I was limited by budget and needed to use a lot of existing pieces. But being an interior design major, I had the perfect look I wanted in my head and knew that if I didn't come close it would drive me crazy. In the words of Barney Stinson, challenge accepted!

So I started by assessing what I already owned: yellow rug, vintage trunk as a coffee table, dark walnut dining set (the dining room, living room, and kitchen are all one room in the new apartment so this was important), and a tan side chair with travel-inspired lettering on it. I knew these pieces would have to be the basis for my design, so I developed a color palette off of that. 

After yellow, tan, and brown, I decided to add navy blue, a bridge between the lighter and darker colors that would add some sophistication to the yellow. I kept this all in the back of my mind, and then went to Italy on study abroad for the summer. There, I collected art piece after art piece after art piece, eventually deciding that I would want to put all of these pieces up on a gallery wall display. 

Upon my return, I was inside Home Goods and was drawn to a pillows set that had navy, mustard yellow, burnt orange, and teal colors against a tan background. They were the perfect piece to bring the colors I was envisioning together. From there, I purchased navy curtains, and frames for all of my art. (I'll be posting on Thursday about my gallery wall and my tips & tricks with that!) This all happened before I even had the keys to the new place, but I was just so excited to start the decorating process!

 

(The cool architect's lamp was actually for my desk in my bedroom, and you can see some of the first frames I bought and already put art in!)

Once I had keys in hand, I started piecing the rest together! The bookshelf that was in my bedroom became my entertainment center. Kyle and I picked out a couch that would work for this apartment of mine but that would also move with us to our next place together. One weekend I re-painted my trunk to make it work better in the space.

The end result is pretty darn close to what I was envisioning, and I'm really happy with how my first (and only) solo apartment looks! Check back tomorrow for the full living room review. You know I just had to keep up the suspense. :)

--Caroline

Apartment Tour Preview

Get ready y'all, because next week I'm devoting the whole week of blogging to a visual tour of my new apartment! {large crowd applause} Now, I've been giving little snippets on Instagram over the past several weeks, so I thought I'd share them all with you today. Making this final college apartment of mine home is very important to me, because it'll be my only 100% solo bachelorette apartment ever. After I graduate and we get married, Kyle & I will be making our home together, so this is my chance to decorate it just how I want to. 

I'm so in love with how it's turning out...

And then, a never-before seen teaser of my dining "room"... {ooohh, ahhhh}

Make sure you check back next week for the full tour! I'm starting off Monday with a "Decorating From Existing Pieces" version of my "Decorating 101: Starting From Scratch With Invaluable" post. I'll also be sharing some of my tips for downsizing & living in smaller spaces, and, of course, how I decorated my apartment! 

I hope you have a fabulous Monday!

--Caroline

Big Girl Apartment

Next fall, I will be moving yet again (seriously, it's not like I enjoy moving!) so naturally I'm already thinking about decor. This next place will be all by myself, so I have full design control and I'm so excited! Today, I'm sharing some ideas that I'm already thinking of...

I love this fun and easy way to add color in the kitchen. Definitely will have to do this! (Source)

There is something very sophisticated about the look of a bar cart as a shelf, especially here as a desk addition. I'm also picturing it being a cute entry way table? We will have to see! I'm hoping I could find one at a thrift store for cheap... (Source)

The complex I'm moving to comes with all white walls (blah!) but they do allow you to paint as long as you cover it before you leave. I love this one bright accent wall here, and I will have a similar sized wall I might could recreate this with! (Source)

I already have a vintage trunk, but it's black and I'm feeling like it might be time for an upgrade, so I have plans to paint it a different color! (Source)

Speaking of color, I am of course also thinking about the color palette. I already have a yellow rug , a light tan side chair, and dark brown wood dining set. I love the idea of navy, but I also like the idea of more of a cornflower blue, cobalt, or even a periwinkle tone. But then I saw these pretty pastel colors, and I realized that I always gravitate towards the more bright, bold colors, and maybe I want to challenge myself! I'm not 100% sure yet, and I know that lot of it will be driven by what accessories speak to me when it's finally time to shop! (Source)

I'm excited for this next adventure in my personal design. Growing up I have always been excited to have a "big girl" place of my own and now it's happening for my last year of college! I will of course keep you all updated as things progress, but thinking about next years apartment has definitely been a nice creative break as the semester comes to a close. Just a few more projects and tests to complete this week, and then I will be done with my third year at FSU!

Happy Monday!

--Caroline

Fresh Updates

I think it's nice to add a couple new things to your living spaces every so often, just to keep things fresh and fun. Recently, I've made a couple small updates to my bedroom, just enough to give me the feel of a change but without going overboard (because that could totally happen). I added some new light-blocking drapes (my thinner brown ones were not so effective, and had some kitty claw marks in them!), a new accessory to my bookshelf, and some new art above my desk. See the before here. 

With today being the start of Lent, I thought I'd share what I'm giving up and taking on! I have a small list, and I actually have started giving these things up already (rather, attempting to):

-- I would like to give up coffee for Lent, an amazing feat which will be difficult considering the long days I've been having with my major. 

-- I'm trying to go back to being gluten-free, so I've started to limit that in my diet and will keep going with Lent. I feel much better when I go gluten free, but it's a challenge when you just received your Girl Scout cookie order... eep!

-- In an effort to help relieve stress, I'd like to commit to yoga in the morning, meditation at night, and a relaxing bath once a week. Last night I took a nice relaxing bath and it put me to sleep so fast I forgot to meditate, but I think that's a happy mistake. 

What are you giving up or taking on for Lent? And do you switch things up in your home decor often?

--Caroline

Five Friday Favorites

Classes started this week, 2015 is in full swing, and I'm already a little overwhelmed! But that's life when you are in school I suppose. Anyway, this is what's been happening this week in my world...

1. I put together this cute outfit for running errands. I'm loving sage green paired with cobalt-- a combo I might just have to play more with!

2. When I got a new calendar, I needed to do a little rearranging of the art over my desks. I love the way it turned out! Sometimes it's nice to mix things up with your decor here and there.

3. I caught Berlioz sleeping like this... I suppose it's comfortable? 

4. Three words: NEW SCHOOL SUPPLIES. Pens, sketchbooks, a new pencil case... I had fun getting some new things for the semester! Does anyone else love shopping for office and school supplies?!

5. I came across this picture by way of Pinterest (shocker) and it just might be one of the many things I'm inspired by for my first Studio 3 project. Any guesses? :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend! See you back here on Monday!

--Caroline

Welcome Home: Closet & Bathroom

I hope you all had a great weekend! I'm kicking off the week here on This Styled Life with the last installment in my Welcome Home series. Welcome to where the magic happens behind the scenes of my outfit posts: my closet and bathroom!

I'm not OCD, but I do like to keep things pretty clean, neat, and organized, something that is especially apparent in these two spaces. To keep my closet under control, everything has a place; shoes neatly in rows, all clothes on the same style hanger and organized by type, and accessories in order on the back of the door. In my bathroom, I keep my essentials on the counter, makeup in an organizer in a drawer, and items grouped in my shower by type. When either of the places get too out of sorts, I have a hard time sleeping! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tour of where I call home when I'm in school! Be sure to check out my Outdoor Spaces, Living Room, and Bedroom for more!

--Caroline