Apartment Bar Cabinet Reveal + Styling 🍸

      Ryan and I recently finished my favorite home decor project to date: our bar cabinet area! This is such a glow-up from how this area of space in our apartment used to look before. I shared all the details on my Instagram last week, but I wanted to share here on the blog as well.

2022 Apartment Christmas Tree + Decor!

      I'm a bit belated in getting this year's apartment holiday decor blog post up, but even though it's late I couldn't skip the tradition to document it on my blog. Here are a few snaps from my second Christmas season in my little Virginia Beach apartment!

How to Host a Favorite Things Christmas Gift Swap Party.

       Last weekend, I hosted my 2nd annual Favorite Things Christmas Party. After sharing some snippets from it on IG Stories, I got several questions. So, I thought I'd write a blog post on how I do this party and why it is always so much fun! This is also a great type of holiday party to host if you live in a small space like I do. You don't need to have a giant entertaining space in your home to host a favorite things gift swap.

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Gallery Wall

     Saved the last part of my Virginia Beach apartment tour for last... the massive gallery wall that I hung between the kitchen and living room! I love gallery walls and I've always wanted to do one that's this big. This apartment seemed like the time to finally go for it!

 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Bedroom.

      Moving along with my Virginia Beach apartment tour today! So far I've shared my kitchen + bathroom, and the living room. Next up is my bedroom! 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Living Room

     Continuing on with my Virginia Beach apartment tour today! (I recently shared my apartment kitchen and bathroom in this post.) I really loved the living room layout that my room Abigail and I had in our shared Charlottesville apartment. I knew that the size of the living room would be smaller in my Virginia Beach apartment, but I was still determined to make things look similar, especially since I'd still be bringing my same couch, upholstered chair and TV stand. 

Virginia Beach Apartment Tour: Kitchen + Bathroom.

     I'm excited to finally be sharing my Virginia Beach apartment tour with you! I've had so much fun turning this little one bedroom apartment into my ultimate bachelorette pad. I've probably had more fun decorating this apartment than anywhere else that I've lived. I love how everything has come together! I moved the majority of my furniture that I've had in past apartments with me to Virginia Beach, but I did add in a lot of new décor, and arranged some of my older pieces differently here.

     I'm starting off this apartment tour with some shots of my kitchen and bathroom. Soon I'll share the living room and bedroom with you!

Using a Professional Home Organizer is WORTH IT! My Review of NEAT Method Virginia Beach.

      Last week, I had the chance to work with a local professional organizer to re-do two of the closets in my Virginia Beach apartment. I can't wait to show document the before/after photos and share more about the process with you! I worked with the NEAT Method Virginia Beach, and local owner Alayna, and had such a positive experience all-around.

2021 Apartment Christmas Tree + Decor!

      The first year that I went all out and decorated for Christmas was the year that I graduated college and was living back in my first apartment.  Since then, I've never missed a year in sharing my Christmas decorations and tree on the blog. This year I only had time to snap a few quick iPhone photos of my living room, but I'm glad I was still able to capture a few photos. It is my first Christmas season living in Virginia Beach after all- and that's worth celebrating!

DIY Peel and Stick Kitchen Backsplash!

      The week after I moved to Virginia Beach, I did the most fun and relatively easy DIY project that transformed my basic little apartment kitchen! It'll be a little while before my new apartment is 100% decorated and I can share a full tour with you, but I did want to get this post up sooner as I'm still so excited about it. Here's everything you need to know about my peel and stick kitchen backsplash!

   

What I Purchased for My New Apartment.

      As difficult as moving can be, it can also come with some fun perks. The excuse to purchase new house related items is definitely one of the positives! A new space is a great reason to start fresh with some new furniture or decor. Here are all of the miscellaneous items that I purchased last month for my new Virginia Beach apartment.

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Home for the Holidays: Christmas Tree + Decor 2020.

     I can't believe it's already that time of year when I share my apartment Christmas decor on the blog! 2020 was the slowest year in some ways, and the fastest year in other ways. It seems like yesterday that I was sharing last year's version of this blog post. In past years, I've sometimes dressed up when sharing my apartment Christmas decor (I definitely did in 2017!). This year it only seemed fitting though to share this post while wearing festive pajamas... it is 2020 after all, and I've never spent more time at home. Welcome to our apartment!

Future House / Apt. Dreams.

     With all the unexpected extra time spent staying safer at home this year, I've found myself spending a lot more time dreaming about possible future homes. If I could be staying home this year in my absolute dream living space, what would that look like? It's always fun to dream big, especially in a year where dreams seem to help me cope better with the everyday. 

Home Decor for Geography Lovers: Meet Honey + Hank.

     I am so excited to introduce you today to one of my new favorite small businesses: Honey + Hank! This brand is turning a love for American geography into the most gorgeous home decor items. 

10 Best Recipes From My Quarantine Kitchen.

    If there's one thing I've been doing a lot more of while staying home, it's cooking and baking! I've loved both of these things for many years, but never in my life have I eaten this much at home and tried to rely as much as possible on my own culinary skills. Today I'm rounding up my 10 favorite recipes that I've made over the past two months! There's a mix of dinners and desserts- but one theme here is that most of these are comfort food items. With all the stress going on in the world, I've craved comfort food more than ever. Some of these recipes might not be the healthiest... but at least they're homemade right? 😉

    The photo below is of my very first cheesecake, which I baked a few weeks ago. The irony of me sharing this photos is this is probably the worst thing that I made in the past two months, haha! I labored over it one Saturday morning, and when it was finally ready to eat I was so proud that I made my roommate Abigail take my picture with it. Turns out that it was nice looking on the outside but didn't taste good in the slightest. You will most definitely not find the recipe for it in today's post. Oh well! 

Renting vs. Buying as a Single Woman.

     Today's blog post is a fun one, and hopefully it will be an informative one as well! One of my best friends, Ciera, is joining me to co-write this today. Every now and then on the blog I enjoy having friends help me write posts on a subject that they know a lot about, and Ciera was the perfect pick for this subject.

    I met Ciera during freshman orientation at the college that I went to freshman year, which was now almost eight (!!) years ago. Even though I transferred colleges sophomore year, we remained good friends for the rest of undergrad. Ciera moved to Charlotte after she got her first job, and we lived together as roommates for our first year post-grad. Upon the end of our year-long apartment lease, I moved to Vermont in April 2017 for my first radio job and began a lease on a one bedroom apartment. Ciera meanwhile stayed in Charlotte and bought her first HOUSE at the ripe age of 22! I was so excited that she closed on it just before I moved, so I was able to see it with her before I left for Vermont. 

     Since we parted ways as roommates three years ago, I've gone on to live in two more apartments here in Virginia, and have remained content as a renter during my 20s. Ciera ended up successfully selling her first home in Charlotte, and bought a new one in Texas when her job transferred here there in 2018. Renting has 100% been the right choice for my lifestyle since college, and buying has been 100% right for Ciera and her lifestyle. What we have in common is both of us are 25, four-ish years out of college, and single (Ciera has a boyfriend but I mean single in terms of not being married). Yet our living situations are very different.

    I'm going to share what I think are a few of the pros and cons for renting as a single 20-something, and then Ciera will share some pros and cons that she's experienced with home ownership. It can be tough as a single woman to have to figure out decisions for your housing and future on your own- we both know that firsthand! When you're married or in a serious live-in relationship, making a choice on housing is completely different as you most likely have two full-time incomes, with two people to take on the responsibility of whatever type of home you choose. It's very different when you're a single adult, which is why I wanted to write this blog post.

How To Design Color-Coded Statement Shelves.

     One of my favorite things about my current apartment is the color coded statement shelves that I've designed in the living room! I've never had bookcases be the center of a living room in past apartments, but now I'm obsessed and think I'll always do something similar with shelving in future apartments or homes that I have. Designing these shelves was a lot easier than I expected, and I'm excited to share more in today's post! 

    This post has been on my editorial calendar for quite some time, but seems even more appropriate now given social distancing and spending more time at home! This would be an easy project to stay busy with indoors.

Charlottesville Apartment Tour: Before/After Pictures of My New Place!

     I'm excited to finally share the before and after shots of my new Charlottesville apartment on the blog today! I suppose "new apartment" is a loose term... I moved in during Labor Day Weekend which was already several months ago, and this apartment is much older than my previous one. 😂But either way- it's still my newest home! 

Christmas Decor 2019.

    How are we already less than a week out from Christmas? As per usual, December has absolutely flown by. I have a different fake tree this year than I've used for the past few years, so I wanted to be sure to snap a few photos of this year's tree and decor before the season ended for the blog! I plan to share a tour of my whole new apartment on here in January.

Renter Friendly Apartment Decor: How I Added a Polka Dot Border Wall.

     Happy Sunday!! I asked on Instagram Stories yesterday if y'all would rather see this post today or at the end of next week (since I don't usually do blog posts on the weekends). The answer was overwhelmingly to post it today, so here we go! I'm so excited to be sharing a review and tutorial for using these renter-friendly wall decals, and more info about the Etsy shop that sells them!

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