Despite its size, I love my little kitchen. With its blue and white ceramic tile, natural light and charm it works well for me. Although I wouldn’t be mad if the countertops were level. Setting an egg on the counter is asking for trouble. But alas! Old apartments, amirite?

I recently added a vintage kitchen cart and practically doubled the counter and shelving. Insane, right?! So here it is! My kitchen!

This is one of those #latenightcrafting things. Electric tape stripes! Such an easy and fun DIY from the sisters at A Beautiful Mess! That clay pizza magnet was a happy mishap from making hexagonal shaped clay magnets. I had cut a piece and saw that perfect little pizza slice lying there begging for red pepperoni circles. I was really just doing what the clay wanted me to. I love that I have a fridge to put old pictures and cool magazine art on. The fridge is the most underrated place to put art, I say. 

The cart! After a really good cleaning she fits in PERFECTLY between my full size oven and the boxed up water heater. (What a waste of space! At least they tiled the top!) Here I house my coffee cups, small appliances and spices I use regularly. Much safer than opening the cabinets directly above the stove while I’m cooking!

Oh boy. These shelves. Remember in the living room tour where I talked about what a pain putting those floating shelves in was? THESE. These are where it all began. At 10pm one night I thought it would be an easy enough project. But holes in my wall later and no shelves + a sorry attitude, I threw (literally) in the towel. Once I figured out it was okay to ignore the directions and pre-drill a hole, these suckers flew on the walls. I love the openness and life they give my walls. Plus, I didn’t have room for these dishes otherwise! 

Lil’ guy keeps me company while I hand wash the dishes. No dishwasher here! I actually like it better. It forces me to wash dishes more often. (Look, ma! I’m adulting!)

How cute it this?! The kitchen was screaming for some pink. This wooden knife block was the perfect amount! #latenightcraftingCheck out that archway! This is the arch between the dining room and living room. I struggled for several weeks to find a place for this garland. The muted dining room was just asking for it. Here’s the other Urban Outfitters rug I bought a couple years ago. It’s doing fine! I’m planning to give this one to my sister for her dining room and move the current living room rug in here to add more color. It’s so gray!I’m planning a post about what I did to this lamp and how it turned out, but I scored this wire shade for $20 at a thrift store. Honestly, it was probably overpriced because it’s basically an old shade with the fabric torn off. But what I was planning to do was much more expensive! Should I paint it or leave it undone?

Still to do:

-Stop rust on cart + possible repaint?
-Add shelving beside bartop for coffee cups + cookbooks
-Add art on dining wall
-Swap rug for living room rug
-Replace drop cloth curtains for sheer white ones
-Add hanging planters between dining room windows
-Set up coffee area (not shown. it’s a mess.)
-Add hanging herb garden outside kitchen window

And there we have it! Still some mini projects in addition, like spray painting those alphabet magnets and adding/updating my kitchenware. But it’s completely functional! What do you think? Should I leave the ‘gallery’ wall as it is? Or rearrange and add more color and art? Leave your suggestions in the comments!

xx

One of the things that was nearly a deal breaker for me when apartment shopping was a patio. I’ve always been a huge fan of outdoor spaces, porches, patios, outdoor living… sigh. When I walked into my apartment and saw that patio it sealed the deal. It was home. Since moving in, I haven’t done much but put a $5 chair I had out there plus some cacti. It’s finally getting cool enough that I can put tealights outside without them melting! #texas

I recently cleaned the outside of both windows and the patio door. SO MUCH more light flooded in! It was insane! I’ve got big plans for this tiny space. One being updating the furniture. I’m dying for something like this! (Know anyone who’s selling something like that? I’ll be your best friend.) I’m thinking of adding shelves to the outside of these windows. They would have to be shallow at 3-4″ wide and 40″ long, but it would triple the space I have to put plants and candles. I would only do it on one window, as the chair fills up the other one. How would you do it?

Snake plants are the new big thing in house plants lately. They’re crazy easy to take care of, they tell me. I’m a new mama to this thing and I’m trying hard not to kill it. It needs a repotting in the worst way in a super cool pot. It’s huge and I’m thinking of splitting it up! What do you think? Also, can you tell me why the tips are brown? I set it next to the window to dry it out because I think I over watered it.

Yet another #latenightcrafting project. Hanging planters are all the rage right now too, and I saw someone make one out of leather cord. And I thought, “Hey! I have leather cord! I can tie knots! Let’s do this.”The light that pours in through these windows is incredible. The first week, I think, I bordered the door with these Instagram prints that were above my bed at my parents’ place. I love the life it gives those gray walls. And yes. That is a camel garland with bells! World Market sells them, and the Indian brand it comes from, but I bought them from Gaudy Me in Tyler, TX, where I worked. It gives a really nice chimey sound when I open the door. This isn’t actually on the patio, but it’s my palm! It’s doing okay, I think. I’m really stellar at cacti and succulents because they require, like, no care. I’ll be a terrific mother. That’s an old letterpress drawer I bought at an estate sale a couple years ago housing mini dinosaurs and pins from my teenage years. (Relient K, what!)This owl has a sister that lives with my sister. We bought the pair at the same time. Shel’s owl got a silver chrome makeover! Does this gal need a paint job? I bought this little rug the same time I bought my bedroom rug from West Elm. It was $10 and was a cool orange and white before I decided to test its limits on my patio. A rain came and basically made it solid orange. It needs to be washed and then layered on top of a proper outdoor rug, like I should’ve done the first time. Here’s the view standing in the middle of my living room. The whole patio is shaded by a big crepe myrtle, so I feel comfortable enough leaving the blinds open even at night. Out of the twelve units in my building, only six have patios and only half of those are shaded! I lucked out big time.

So there we have it. The last of the tour. Did you enjoy? How would you spice up the patio?

Still to do:

-Buy retro wicker furniture
-Add a small, short plant stand
-Replace outdoor rug with an actual outdoor rug
-Plants!
-Cushions for the furniture
-Possible window shelves

Anytime you need a gal pal to share an iced coffee with, my patio’s open. Pepper will lick you all over and we’ll laugh ‘neath the myrtle. Just BYOC. (Bring your own chair.)

xx