Apartment Tour
My roommate and I have been in our little 900 square foot apartment for a little over a year now. I feel so lucky to have a roomie that was so willing to let me take the lead on decorating, and I am so proud of everything we have created for our little space. I thought it might be fun to take you on a mini-tour of the apartment and share some of my favorite details and where we got them.
We created this little gallery wall in the living room, matching our pink, green, and neutral color pallet. My roommate and I painted the top center and the bottom right. We found the photo of the beach on the top left at the Rose Bowl flea market. The bottom center is a gold foil map of the Paris metro system that my mom had gotten me. And finally, my favorite, the Where The Boys Are movie poster, refers to the song that both my roommate and I had as our solo in the 6th-grade choir show.
I got this green velvet couch at a consignment store. It was the first piece of furniture we got for the apartment, purchased even before we signed the lease. The coffee table was found on the letgo app for like $10. I low key collect coffee table books because they are so much fun to flip through like this 1970s home decorating book.
I’ve never really had house plants before, but now we have a growing collection of them. We buy all of our plants at this locally owned shop called Mickey Hargitay Plants and we totally reccomend them to any one in the LA area.
Unfortunately, Obi loves plants too, but more as a snack and a toy. We’ve had to make some adjustments, and they don’t all get to live on the floor like this anymore.
We got these bookshelves for free at a garage sale, which was a huge win. For the longest time, we had no idea what to put on the bottom shelf, but it has quickly become Obi’s little corner for him to have his meals in.
This terrazzo painted canvas was another DIY project, my roommate and I did. The dining table we got from my roommate’s parents and the chairs we got from my grandma. They aren’t fancy, but they get the job done, and they were free.
Our kitchen is the most dramatic before and after project. It looks so dramatically different from when we moved in; y’all don’t even know. The first thing we did was buy these floor tiles. The entire apartment had polished concrete, but we wanted the kitchen to have different flooring to define it. Secondly, and more recently, we updated the cabinets with this vinyl. Before it was this ugly brown fake wood, so we covered that up with the black for a sleeker look. It’s honestly the best decision we’ve made. We also found these framed vintage ads at a consignment store, so we had to get a couple.
One thing we didn’t notice about the apartment before we moved in was that there was no pantry. At first, we were trying to use some of the cabinets to store food, but it just wasn’t working, but then I found this video. My dad helped us out by building this amazing space saving pantry.
This is what the inside of the pantry looks like. It’s just the perfect amount of shelf space that I don’t know how we would have gotten through without it. Also, here’s a little peep at the statement wall we painted mid-quarantine after getting sick of staring at the same white walls every day. I love it so much, and it makes the space look less like a temporary place we are just renting for a while, and more like home. And the plant against that was is this secret litter box I found on amazon. Our space is so small there was no place to hide a litter box, so now it’s just hidden in plain sight.
This is my bathroom. Originally the counters and cabinets were the same as in the kitchen, but as I already said, we hated the fake brown wood, so I bought even more vinyl to customize. I used this navy vinyl for the cabinets and this marble for the counter. It ties everything in from my pink and navy towels and beauty products on the counter.
Like would you guess this is just stickers if I didn’t tell you? Cause I wouldn’t.
This is my bedroom. Some highlights here are the custom map prints I got on Etsy of all the places I’ve called home. I found this floor lamp on Amazon, and I love how simple it is. My side table is from Sobro, and I bought it as a Kickstarter backer, and it took years to get to me, but it was worth the wait. Probably the most high-tech thing I own, but I love the thing.
Another one of the free bookshelves we got at a garage sale, full of kink-knacks and books. This little record stand I was something I found in my grandma’s garage, and it just fits perfectly.
I guess I took this picture of my desk near the beginning of quarantine as the countdown there says. The desk is from Target, the chair is from Amazon, and the file cabinet is also from Target. The vintage suitcase and file case are both from flea markets that I have found over the years. My desk is usually a mess as it serves as a workplace, vanity, and sewing table at different times. I got these wire grids on amazon because I like having lots of photos and inspirations in front of me when I’m working.
This is my little patio space. I’ve really dialed this in since I’ve been spending more time at home. I put up these bamboo walls so Obi can safely hang out with me. The rug is from Wayfair(purchased before all the scandal), and this table and chair set is from Ikea.
This plant stand is also from Ikea and fits perfectly to fill some of the dead space.
Our space is always changing, and there are some spots I’ve already got big plans to give new life. Let me know what you think in the comments and let me know if there is anything you’d like to see more of!
Julia Carrington
