apartment tour

Hi guys! My long awaited apartment tour is finally here! For those of you who follow me on instagram, you guys have seen glimpses into my apartment but never a full tour. I moved into a 1 bedroom apartment in Echo Park about two years ago and have never felt like my place was "ready" enough to show anyone. I still don't think it is, but I realized that "ready" is not really a thing I will ever be. My taste is always changing and I am constantly improving each room with things I collect over time. So here are shots of my apartment in the current state that it is in, the good, the bad, the ugly. It's all here! My favorite room in the apartment is my living room. It's where I spend most of my time. It's where I create, relax, eat, and entertain friends. It is the most colorful and inviting room. My least favorite and the room that needs the most work is my kitchen. The floor tiling is not pretty and the appliances could use a serious upgrade.

I am no expert in interior design, but I am proud of the place I created for myself. My home is not just a place where I sleep, it is a place I truly love to be at. Here are some of my tips and things I wish someone told me when I first moved out.

1. Take your time! I feel like this is the most important advice I can give. When you are in a rush and especially when you are on a budget and in a rush, you tend to impulsively purchase pieces that are just "good enough," not pieces that you will love forever. If you give yourself time to feel it out I promise you will find pieces that you will fall in love with. Those are the pieces that you will want to keep for a very long time.

2. Don't go for the cheaper option just because it is cheaper. I get that we are all on a budget, but I have made so many bad purchases based solely on the fact that the item was cheaper than the item I truly wanted and I have regretted it every single time. I end up replacing it and spending twice as much, when I could have saved up and invested in the one I really wanted in the first place.

3. Always compare prices. This correlates to the statement above. For an item I want, especially electronics and appliances I always compare pricing of the same item at different stores. I use sites like wikibuy to help me find the lowest price of the exact item I am looking for.

4. Purchase big items one at a time. This is especially helpful if you are on a budget. What I did for big ticket items like my couch and velvet swivel chair is I used affirm which is basically like credit and you pay items in affordable installments. I paid my couch off in small payments over 6 months and when I was done with that I bought my swivel chair. This makes your dream items much more attainable. The best part about affirm is that they are very transparent and you will know how much you are paying in total including interest up front.

5. Flea markets, Thrift stores, and Craigslist are your best friends. I found a lot of my favorite mid century pieces at flea markets and for a fraction of the cost than they would have been in antique stores! My favorite flea markets in So Cal are the Pasadena Rose Bowl and the Long Beach Antique Market. For example, I bought the 80" mid century dresser in my bedroom for about $400! I have seen similar ones at antique stores for over $1500! Also, at flea markets you can always bargain with the vendor too, especially if you are paying cash! For decorative trinkets and glassware I always find cute quirky items at Goodwill! They also have a pretty decent coffee table books selection. PS buying vintage/thrift is good for the environment! It is a form a recycling =)

6. Pintrest is a great source of inspiration. I might be stating the obvious here but I did rely heavily on pintrest for inspiration when I was decorating my place. The key is to not copy the exact style of something but borrow a few ideas here and there and put your spin on it. This photo of The Wing, DC is what inspired my living room color scheme. I loved the idea of green velvet + pink velvet and added my own personality to it. I also really love Apartment Therapy as a source of inspiration. Their home tours are really great! They feature so many different styles and break it up by style (my favorite is the 'eclectic collector' category).

7. Mix a few different styles in your place. I know that my style is more on the eclectic side so this works really well for me. But in general I think it is a good idea to add splashes of different styles in one space, no matter what your taste is. It's sort of like an outfit. Mixing high and low, vintage and designer is what always gives the best outcome. As you can see my style is more on the artsy vintage side, but I still throw a few cali bohemian pieces (like the swing chair and gold bull head) in the mix because it creates an interesting and unexpected contrast.

8. Art and plants really liven up the place! Contrary to belief, you do not have to spend a ton of money on art or in nurseries on plants to decorate your place. You can find really affordable prints on Etsy. And if you don't want to spend money on prints you can DIY your own art! For example, the 4 frames I have above my desk with words on different colored backgrounds is something I made on Photoshop years ago. I just googled a few words I liked and typed out their definitions. I took the files to the nearest Staples, printed it, and got frames from an art supply store for dirt cheap. Framing items like feathers or leaves is also a really cool and affordable idea for artwork. As for plants, I get a lot of them at Home Depot! I find that they are super affordable compared to nurseries and as long as you take care of them, they will live for a long time!

That's it for my favorite tips on home decor. If you made it this far, I hope you found them helpful. And if you have any tips you want to share with me please let me know! I'm still learning and exchanging ideas would make me super happy!

apartment tour

Monday, August 6, 2018

Hi guys! My long awaited apartment tour is finally here! For those of you who follow me on instagram, you guys have seen glimpses into my apartment but never a full tour. I moved into a 1 bedroom apartment in Echo Park about two years ago and have never felt like my place was "ready" enough to show anyone. I still don't think it is, but I realized that "ready" is not really a thing I will ever be. My taste is always changing and I am constantly improving each room with things I collect over time. So here are shots of my apartment in the current state that it is in, the good, the bad, the ugly. It's all here! My favorite room in the apartment is my living room. It's where I spend most of my time. It's where I create, relax, eat, and entertain friends. It is the most colorful and inviting room. My least favorite and the room that needs the most work is my kitchen. The floor tiling is not pretty and the appliances could use a serious upgrade.

I am no expert in interior design, but I am proud of the place I created for myself. My home is not just a place where I sleep, it is a place I truly love to be at. Here are some of my tips and things I wish someone told me when I first moved out.

1. Take your time! I feel like this is the most important advice I can give. When you are in a rush and especially when you are on a budget and in a rush, you tend to impulsively purchase pieces that are just "good enough," not pieces that you will love forever. If you give yourself time to feel it out I promise you will find pieces that you will fall in love with. Those are the pieces that you will want to keep for a very long time.

2. Don't go for the cheaper option just because it is cheaper. I get that we are all on a budget, but I have made so many bad purchases based solely on the fact that the item was cheaper than the item I truly wanted and I have regretted it every single time. I end up replacing it and spending twice as much, when I could have saved up and invested in the one I really wanted in the first place.

3. Always compare prices. This correlates to the statement above. For an item I want, especially electronics and appliances I always compare pricing of the same item at different stores. I use sites like wikibuy to help me find the lowest price of the exact item I am looking for.

4. Purchase big items one at a time. This is especially helpful if you are on a budget. What I did for big ticket items like my couch and velvet swivel chair is I used affirm which is basically like credit and you pay items in affordable installments. I paid my couch off in small payments over 6 months and when I was done with that I bought my swivel chair. This makes your dream items much more attainable. The best part about affirm is that they are very transparent and you will know how much you are paying in total including interest up front.

5. Flea markets, Thrift stores, and Craigslist are your best friends. I found a lot of my favorite mid century pieces at flea markets and for a fraction of the cost than they would have been in antique stores! My favorite flea markets in So Cal are the Pasadena Rose Bowl and the Long Beach Antique Market. For example, I bought the 80" mid century dresser in my bedroom for about $400! I have seen similar ones at antique stores for over $1500! Also, at flea markets you can always bargain with the vendor too, especially if you are paying cash! For decorative trinkets and glassware I always find cute quirky items at Goodwill! They also have a pretty decent coffee table books selection. PS buying vintage/thrift is good for the environment! It is a form a recycling =)

6. Pintrest is a great source of inspiration. I might be stating the obvious here but I did rely heavily on pintrest for inspiration when I was decorating my place. The key is to not copy the exact style of something but borrow a few ideas here and there and put your spin on it. This photo of The Wing, DC is what inspired my living room color scheme. I loved the idea of green velvet + pink velvet and added my own personality to it. I also really love Apartment Therapy as a source of inspiration. Their home tours are really great! They feature so many different styles and break it up by style (my favorite is the 'eclectic collector' category).

7. Mix a few different styles in your place. I know that my style is more on the eclectic side so this works really well for me. But in general I think it is a good idea to add splashes of different styles in one space, no matter what your taste is. It's sort of like an outfit. Mixing high and low, vintage and designer is what always gives the best outcome. As you can see my style is more on the artsy vintage side, but I still throw a few cali bohemian pieces (like the swing chair and gold bull head) in the mix because it creates an interesting and unexpected contrast.

8. Art and plants really liven up the place! Contrary to belief, you do not have to spend a ton of money on art or in nurseries on plants to decorate your place. You can find really affordable prints on Etsy. And if you don't want to spend money on prints you can DIY your own art! For example, the 4 frames I have above my desk with words on different colored backgrounds is something I made on Photoshop years ago. I just googled a few words I liked and typed out their definitions. I took the files to the nearest Staples, printed it, and got frames from an art supply store for dirt cheap. Framing items like feathers or leaves is also a really cool and affordable idea for artwork. As for plants, I get a lot of them at Home Depot! I find that they are super affordable compared to nurseries and as long as you take care of them, they will live for a long time!

That's it for my favorite tips on home decor. If you made it this far, I hope you found them helpful. And if you have any tips you want to share with me please let me know! I'm still learning and exchanging ideas would make me super happy!