Redecoration Sneek Peek- The Living Room!

Painting in progress

It's d-o-n-e! I'm very excited to share these pictures with all of you of our redecorated living room! From being a plain Jane living room to a bright, warm, cozy (there's my favorite word again!) space, it has really come together; I'm really happy with how it turned out! We spent a day painting the space and decided that an accent wall would work best in the space, mad painting skills yo, and then put up a picture wall full of things (art), pictures, and sayings that fit with what we keep close to our hearts. I love every bit of it and I'm so glad that it's done. I cannot wait for our first (eek!) dinner party this weekend to show off the place. Gawd, dinner parties, I'm so adult that I can't even stand it! ; D

I've always dreamed of a white couch (yes I dream about this stuff #DesignNerd). It's so comfy that I could nap for days on it.

I got A LOT of inspiration for how to set up a picture wall from Pinterest! So many amaze examples, here and here.

I also got many examples for how to make a book shelf look aesthetically pleasing from Lauren Conrad, ya we go way back to the days back in So Cal...well that or her blog is full of helpful tips (which I'm obsessed with btw).

Dear Books and tree ornament, you make me happy.

 I love coming home to our space. My Pa always tells me that one should be happy coming home, to just be able to be happy in that space with the people and things that surround you (not in a materialistic way) but feeling calm about what you've decided to fill your within your home. (Okay now I'll stop talking about my dad because whenever I do it makes me weepy) anyway I think I've finally found that balance between experiencing the space outside of my home and being in it as well. I used to feel so restless at home, I actually didn't like spending time at home, I always felt an urgency of going out, going here and there. Looking back and reflecting on what my Pa always told me I realize that there were multiple reasons why my home wasn't desirable for me to stay in (I felt incomplete, bad memories of a past relationship, not being surrounded by things that soothe my soul, etc.) So over the last few months I've made a conscious effort of nurturing my connection with my home and therefore the life that I've worked so hard for. I took up baking, I take bubble baths on a regular basis, I just SIT for hours and read, update pictures around the apartment to reflect what's going on /who's in my life, and make silly videos around my room and send them to my family.

I feel so calm and happy at home now and I've even starting reading this book by Gretchin Rubin who wrote The Happiness Project called Happier at Home which discusses how on a:

Sunday afternoon, as she unloaded the dishwasher, felt hit by a wave of homesickness. Homesick—why? She was standing right in her own kitchen. She felt homesick, she realized, with love for home itself. “Of all the elements of a happy life,” she thought, “my home is the most important.” In a flash, she decided to undertake a new happiness project, and this time, to focus on home. And what did she want from her home? A place that calmed her, and energized her. A place that, by making her feel safe, would free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wanted to be happier at home, she wanted to appreciate how much happiness was there already. So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicated a school year—September through May—to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love. In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family’s treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster. Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions—and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well. With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy, and experimentation, Rubin’s passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives.

What makes you happy at home?