An Interiors Mood Board

We are moving in a couple of weeks and I could not be more excited about it! Obviously I'm incredibly excited to be moving in with Brad, but I'm also really excited about the prospect of building a little home in a very conscious way, with pieces that we will want to keep for years to come. I've aways loved interiors, which I think mainly comes down to the fact that my dad works in construction and home renovation and my parents spent a lot of my childhood renovating our own home with the help of some family friends who were incredible interior designers. I also am someone who is very much affected by the space around me. My mood changes so much depending on how I perceive the space around me, which is why I always feel so stressed when there is any sort of mess in my space. 

We are just renting our new apartment, so doing any sort of permanent changes are out the window at the moment, however we have a really great blank canvas to work with in our new place and I think we will be able to make it feel like our own in a lot of other ways. We don't have a ton of furniture, but we definitely have enough to be able to live comfortably. One of the good things about having a pretty minimal furniture collection is that we can wait to buy certain pieces that we know we will want to get a lot of longevity out of. We aren't planning on buying everything as soon as we move in, but rather plan on getting furniture piece by piece so as to guarantee we are finding our favorite pieces.  Both Brad and I are very much drawn to the mid-century look, but neither of us want to get everything to look like it came straight out of a West Elm catalogue (although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that). A lot of the pieces we have our eye on definitely lean towards the mid-century look, but we are planning on breaking it up with some more traditional-looking pieces to keep a balance and just put our stamp on the place a bit more. 

I've been finding most of my inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram, although it's obviously much easier to find specific things on Pinterest. I want the whole space overall to feel very relaxed and cozy, so I'm sure there will be a lot of throw pillows and blankets involved in our decoration process. The apartment also has really nice soft light and I think that'll just enhance the cozy feel we want the place to have. Of course there will be tons of plants everywhere, and to be honest all I want to spend money on at the moment is plants and furniture. 

I'm incredibly excited to document this whole process on the blog, although I'm sure there will be some significant time between when we move in and when we'll feel like it's totally done. I'm very happy that none of this process feels rushed and that hopefully we'll have a place that we will want to stay in for years to come!

A Bedroom Refresh

As part and parcel of moving back to San Francisco, I moved back in with my parents into my childhood bedroom. I absolutely love that room. When my parents did a massive renovation on the house about eight years ago, my sister and I got to move into separate rooms and our parents let us pick out most of the details of the design of the room from the bed frame, to the wall color, to the lighting fixture. Because of all of that this room has always felt like mine, rather than a room that my parents designed for me. While I love the major aspects of the room, it felt weird to be 22 and be living in a room that had been reflective of my teenage self. In other words, it was due a refresh. 

I started the whole refresh with my bed, I had my old bed frame since I moved into this room and while it was a nice one, I wanted something a bit more minimalist and modern. I luckily already had an IKEA Malm bed frame from my apartment in college and just decided to swap out my old one for this one. I also replaced the bedding with this duvet cover set from Urban Outfitters, again to go along with the more modern aesthetic. After moving back from college I had my full book collection so I rearranged my bookshelf above my bed to be color coordinated because its just so darn pleasing to look at. 

My bedside table was due a rejig so I bought a new frame and put some of my favorite polaroids in it. I also bought this dreamy Boy Smells candle, which not only looks great but smells incredible, it's making me very much look forward to autumn. I also invested in an Echo Dot, which has replaced my rather outdated and clunky iPod speaker/alarm clock. 

It wouldn't be a bedroom post if it didn't include my cat bailey. I've had this Papasan chair for five years or so and I replaced the throws I have hanging over it just to make that space look a bit more pulled together, but still cozy. Clearly Bailey thinks its a cozy spot. 

One of my favorite corners of my room is where I have my guitar and amp. Not only do I think they add a lot to the room in terms of looks, but I like having them be front and center so I remember to actually pick up my guitar and play it on a regular basis. I also bought this 2018 calendar of 60s rock posters from the Summer of Love exhibit at the deYoung Museum. 

The final and biggest part of this bedroom refresh was replacing my desk. I previously had a huge desk with a giant hutch that took up a huge portion of the wall. While it was a functional desk, it got cluttered really easily and I no longer needed a desk quite as big. I opted for the IKEA MICKE desk, which is super simple but actually can store a lot. I love how much getting a new desk has changed the whole feeling of my room. It also opens up the opportunity to start putting together a gallery wall, which I will definitely write a blog post on once it is finished!