the beginning and the elephant in the room rule

Last year at this time I was living in an apartment where I never opened the curtains, always had the air conditioning on, and it was so. Not. Me. And then I moved out, and started the search for a perfect apartment that would fit my lifestyle. I had a BILLION ideas in my head about what I wanted in an apartment and my list was super long and talked to a realtor and saw a ton of places and all of them were just…. Okay.

And then, by luck, or chance, or all of the energy in the universe working in my favor, a friend got engaged and announced her moving out of this place. So I sent her a text message at like 3am one day (sorry!) and told her I would basically sell my soul for her apartment. And it was 98% perfect.

It’s beautiful. First of all, it’s super cheap, for the area. It’s huge- big enough for Lilli to have her own room/share it with me so that I can have an office. There are more windows than there were in my childhood home (wuuuttt?) and the landlord *literally* said I can do whatever I want to the place and he will fix it when I move out. 

Hyperventilation and high school girl style squealing, commence. 

I was planning out a beautiful, huge, all white bedroom for months even when I was still living in the old place. I was going to have all of these gorgeous gigantic windows and perfect lighting all day, I wanted everything to be bright and airy and ‘pinterest-perfect’ (get it? Not picture-perfect..) I Pinterest-boarded a billion all-white rooms, saved a thousand photos in my “Apartment Ideas: Bedroom” folder, and then realized when I was shopping that white is… boring. I kept seeing color and patterns that I loved and thought ‘well, I can’t buy that… it’s not WHITE.’ So I said, f*ck the all white room. I’m not an ‘all white’ kind of girl, anyway. So I started with a set of lightly patterned sheets from Target, and the rest is history.

Oh yes, my bff "Teddy" still hangs out on my bed during the day.

Instead of a 'traditional' headboard, I wanted something that I loved looking at on a daily basis. Original drawing found here.

I love him!

I love having lots of blankets and pillows on the bed.

Nightstand necessities #1: a low light lamp, two books, affirmation cards, a catch-all 'drawer'.

Night stand necessities #2: a jewelry dish, a hardy plant, Nivea lip balm, my favorite lipgloss, a lovely smelling candle, and a plastic tray to gather them together.

House shoes. They might become my cycling shoes this summer.

My happy, peaceful bedroom.

I would love to say that I don’t follow any decorating rules, that I really honestly and truly just buy only what I like and what I want and don’t give a damn about what “convention” says, but that’s not 100% true.

In order to keep all of the random things I buy looking like they belong together, I do follow a few rules for almost all of my decorating schemes.

Rule number 1: You can mix patterns, but mix sizes, too. If you have 5 different patterns that are all repeated at the same size and space, things are going to start looking kind of crazy. Vary the intensity of the pattern and the size of the pattern, and you can mix whatever you want! For example, my pillows have similar pattern sizes, but the negative space created by the shapes in the pattern makes them go together nicely

Rule number 2: Pick a color that you like. Or love. And use that color EVERYWHERE. But not like, everywhere where the entire room is dripping in easter pastel pink. Use it a little bit in everything, to keep your different patterns and textures cohesive. For example: I love turquoise blue. All shades of it. I have variations of it on: the rug next to my bed, the pot holding the watercress, the jewelry dish on my nightstand, the pattern in my sheets, the blanket on top of my bed, and the floral pattern on the sleeping bag. None of them are overpowering, but they help tie all of the different elements in my sleeping area together. I swear, this tip will help you marry a billion patterns and styles together.

Rule number 3: Use a lot of nature. Always have fresh flowers, a plant, a few twigs or feathers in a jar, or something that brings the outside in. I have come to realize that if you’re ‘missing something’, it’s probably a plant. Terrariums are great because they are low maintenance, and herbs are always nice to have around in the house for fragrance and use.

Rule number 4: Decorate slowly. Yes, I love Target. Yes, I could create an entire home from everything that Target has to offer. But then... I would basically be living in Target. And that’s really not cool, or comfortable. Many (like… 99%) of my things are second hand or thrifted, a lot of them are gifted, and very few are bought and used the way they were intended. Which brings me to my last rule.

Rule number 5: Make yourself happy. If you love chinoisierie, then use it all over your house. If you love neon pink, paint a wall neon pink! If you love porcelain dogs, collect a whole bunch of them and display them proudly! I call this, the elephant in the room rule. Nobody wants to admit it, that they feel like their home is 'never up to the design world standard'. Decorating your house or apartment is not a contest with HGTV designers or with that girl you follow on Pinterest/Instagram/Blogger (ha ha.. but seriously.) Decorating is what makes your place feel like home, and that is what this blog is about. If you are comfortable with it, then use it, and be happy.