Living It Up

Whether it's dinner, a movie, or kicked-back conversations over a few bottles of wine, having company over is one of my favorite ways to enjoy our home. In the short time Chris and I have lived in Hampton Court, we have already celebrated several birthdays, engagements, weddings, and babies! There is nothing like having friends and family come together to make your place feel truly like a home.

When it came to designing our living and dining rooms, I focused on decorating for happy times. My goal was to create an easy space that could accommodate intimate gatherings as well as larger occasions. It had to look pulled together and polished, but also needed to be functional and practical so that we are not afraid to live in it and use it.

Everyone loves a good ol’ Before-and-After, so here are some listing photos for your reference:

And, voilà! Our new living room!

The furniture arrangement is a casual spin on a formal setup. I designated a traditional dining space that is separate from the living area while keeping the entire room open for bigger groups and conversations.

Oh, remember my ridiculous DIY brick wall project? It was a true labor of love, and it was completely worth it! The brick accent wall helps to bridge the two seating areas together. It also offers a good amount of soundproofing, which is great because our gatherings tend to get a little rowdy!

With most of our budget dedicated to renos, my goal was to design around all the pieces we already had. I am happy to say that with the exception of a media console (our old one from Target started sagging in the middle) we did not have to purchase any new furniture for this room!

Our sofa was the first piece of furniture Chris and I purchased together as a couple, and it holds a ton of sentimental value. It is such a welcoming spot to snuggle up for a movie, a book, or a good heart-to-heart, and you'd be surprised how many of our friends have fallen asleep on it! :) The shag rug is also super comfy and offers additional casual seating, but it sheds like a mofo.

I recently threw in a few new throw pillows to give our sofa a pretty update. A fur throw also elevates the cozy factor on a chilly night!

Speaking of cozy...

Chris brings home flowers every Friday after work. It is incredibly sweet and romantic, and I just love having fresh flowers in our home!

This mirrored chest keeps all our DVDs and video games organized and out of sight.

Our elephant family, collected from all around the world.

Sweet mementos.

A few of my favorite coffee table books.

Our new media console was a true investment piece. It is humongous and did not fit in our elevator, and two very kind delivery men carried it up to our 4th floor apartment. Needless to say, it is staying put for a while! It stylishly houses electronics, favorite books, board games, and sentimental objects.

The sectional subtly separates the living and dining areas while allowing both to remain open and inviting.

Lighting is a vital part of setting the mood for any occasion. We installed this orb chandelier in order to illuminate the room and define the dining area as a separate space. I love the way the openwork iron sphere plays off the rustic feel of our brick wall while the sparkling inner chandelier provides a nice dose of glam. It casts the coolest shadows on the walls.

A bar conveys good old-fashioned hospitality. It readily offers refreshments and also doubles up as an additional surface to serve food and hold extra dinnerware.

An antique Turkish kilim rug accentuates the dining area. This fun unexpected pop of pink shakes up our overall neutral palette, and its pattern is busy enough to forgive food stains. Because life happens!

I love the view from our living room window, especially around this time of year. Just look at those colors!

With the holidays right around the corner, I am really looking forward to hosting some very special get-togethers with our loved ones! Hope to see you guys soon!

Office Ours

A relaxing weekend for me doesn't necessarily involve sleeping in and lounging around all day. It's more about spending time completely immersed in something I truly love.

I'd been feeling a bit run-down lately and was in dire need of some downtime to unwind. So, this past Saturday, I shut myself in a room and just painted to my heart's desire! For fifteen hours straight. By the time I was finished, I felt absolutely refreshed, revitalized, and happy.

It is wonderful and very important to have somewhere to go and just get lost doing something you are passionate about. Our office is my favorite place to catch my breath and let my mind loose. Here's a peek inside!

As you can see from these listing photos, our second bedroom was previously an adorable little boy's room. Since we don't have any kids yet, Chris and I decided to utilize this space as a home office. This serves as a practical space for managing all our household affairs, but I like to think of it more as a studio…  a laboratory for exploring and experimenting with ideas.

This is where we come to make things happen. I love coming in here with a cup of coffee - it's always a good time. The serene atmosphere fosters a wealth of creativity and productivity.

The office is connected to the living room, so I decided to replace the original solid door with a glass paned one. This allows us to spend time alone in here without feeling completely isolated from each other. It also lets Wonka peek in when I am working on messier projects that he isn’t allowed to sniff around. After surviving the move, my pinboard is starting fresh – a blank canvas for new inspiration and mementos (and parking tickets).

This room has the best view in the apartment. All you see is trees when you look out the windows. With such splendid scenery, it is very hard not to feel inspired. What a lovely place to read, write, sew, paint, draw, sing, and pay bills! :)

With all the foliage surrounding this room, it only felt right to bring some of that green inside. This sunny corner makes a happy home for our fiddle leaf fig tree. The bench is a comfy place to hang out and read a book, and it is one of Wonka's favorite napping spots.

This is where I hoard my arsenal of crafting tools and supplies. Practical storage solutions play a vital role in keeping everything organized and Chris’ sanity in check!

And here is my finished painting! It makes me smile :) I am really looking forward to working on many more projects in this happy space.

If These Walls Could Chalk

Well, it certainly has been an eventful summer! Chris and I have been enjoying back-to-back soirées - birthdays, baby showers, bachelor/bachelorette trips, weddings, reunions - it has been nonstop. There is so much to celebrate! Life is good :)

I’m always happy to find a little downtime in between the all the confetti and champagne to work on projects I’ve been itching to tackle. I recently took advantage of a quiet Sunday afternoon to add a chalkboard wall in our kitchen! This was a relatively easy project that transformed the entire wall into a fun and useful surface.

When we first moved in, Chris and I were surprised to discover that our fridge is not magnetic. This project was the perfect opportunity to add that additional handy functionality to this wall.

I used three coats of Rust-Oleum's Magnetic Primer, which dries to a deep grey finish. *Tip* When using this stuff, make sure you stir thoroughly before pouring the paint, and keep stirring throughout the painting process. The heavy magnetic "goo" tends to sink, so you need to make sure it stays suspended in order to achieve an even application. I used a foam roller to get a super smooth finish. The smoother the finish, the stronger the magnetic attraction will be. Allow 30 minutes between each coat.

I was pretty shocked when I opened the chalkboard paint. It looked blue! I triple-checked the label to make sure I had purchased a "black" formula, and even upon confirmation, I felt uneasy. It just looked very blue...

I got even more nervous when the paint went on the wall. It was definitely blue. I threw down the roller and rushed to Google "Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint + blue". Not a single person on the internet mentioned their black chalkboard paint looking blue! But then I saw that the paint only came in "green" or "black" - blue wasn't even an option. I decided to take a deep breath and keep going. I applied two layers of paint, allowing 4 hours between each coat.

Thankfully, the paint dried to a satin black finish. Whew!! :)

After allowing the paint to cure for three days, it was time to season the wall. It's important to season a chalkboard before writing anything on it because the surface is very porous. Seasoning easily prevents ghosting, which is when chalk lines are "burned" into the board and never fully erase.

Seasoning is easy - just turn a piece of chalk on its side and shade in the entire surface. Rub the chalk top to bottom, left to right in order to get into all of the pores. 

Once the entire surface is covered, simply erase, and you're all done!

Now the fun can start! I was never good at writing neatly on the board in school, so it's definitely going to take a while before I get a hang of it and start creating any real chalkboard art.
But that's the beauty of chalkboards - If you mess up, just erase and start over! Practice makes perfect :)

The magnet wall lets us share sweet mementos and reminders of upcoming events!

I thought it would be fun to start a gallery wall as a neat way to display all our random notes and doodles.

Wonka has his own little gallery! His first two installments? Portraits of his Mini-Poodle mama and Yorkie daddy :0)