Since I’m officially out of San Diego and back in DC and in my apartment (yay! more on this to come so stay tuned!) I have been pretty focused on 2 things: project apartment and finding a job. When I first moved into my place almost two years ago, I never really decorated it, I did the bare bones to make it livable and feel somewhat homey but I was traveling so much I never really got around to taking the time (or spending the money) to really make it feel like home.
For the first year I had my apartment I barely lived in it, I was gone almost every weekend and then spent most of last summer gone between Bali, visiting friends and planning my move to CA. As a result, I had a lot of AirBnb people in and out and was pretty much only ever there to grab a clean suitcase full of clothes and occasionally sleep. Now that I’m back, and don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon I’ve been kind of obsessing about the apartment and it’s been so much fun. I’ve already started preparing some DIY projects and figuring out exactly how I want the finished project to look but since I’m really just window shopping right now I thought I’d share a little inspiration!
Project apartment: biggest challenges and priorities:
Space // while the apartment certainly isn’t the smallest, isn’t also the biggest in the world so I’m really trying to maximize the space I have to make it as useful as possible! Just because it’s small doesn’t mean I need to compromise on the designs I love, just figure out a way to adapt them to smaller spaces! The living room space is definitely the most challenging, it’s small and not the most ideal shape so it’s tough to work with.
Budget // Moves across the country are expensive, especially when you do them twice in one year, so I’m working really hard to keep this project budget friendly. While I definitely want to graduate from Ikea furniture I’m not thrilled about graduating from the price point!
Design // I love a lot of things, and can be a little all over the place, so it’s going to be interesting incorporating my traditional New England coastal vibes with the newfound love of all things West Coast plus there’s a pretty consistent tug between modern and traditional happening in my brain. Like I said, it’s going to be interesting.
Light // My biggest struggle right now has been moving from quite possibly the brightest, most airy apartment out in San Diego back to my apartment in DC. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my DC place, I bought it for a reason. But it does face an alley and doesn’t get a lot of natural light so it can feel a bit dark at times. A huge priority with this project is to try and brighten the space up, make it feel lighter and brighter without having everything be all white, because let’s be honest, I will inevitably spill red wine…
I’ll be sure to keep y’all updated on project apartment as I move forward and if you have any tips or suggestions I’d love to hear them!
