Apartment Tour: Living Room
“I feel so intensely the delights of shutting oneself up in a little world of one’s own, with pictures and music and everything beautiful.” — Virginia Woolf
This post has been a long time coming, and I greatly appreciate the patience you’ve all had with me. I’ve wanted to show you my new place for ages, but wanted to a) mostly finish decorating, and b) show my closest friends in person first. Keeping it off the blog until now has been a major exercise in restraint, believe me.
But now that both of those things have been accomplished, let me finally show you around my new apartment! (Those sneaky instagram snaps don’t count.)Since there’s just too much to show and tell in one post, I’m splitting it up into a few chapters. This first one is going to focus on my living room/dining room. In case you spot something you like, links to various items will be embedded throughout.
Come on in!
This is what you see standing in the kitchen, overlooking the kitchen pass-through. There’s the dining area, and behind it – the living room.
When I was apartment-hunting, two things that were high on my checklist were hardwood floors throughout, and lots of natural light. I was so lucky to find both of those with this place!
Here, hang up your things. I found this neat little hook from Urban Outfitters, and it hangs right by the entrance doorway to hold onto my keys, phone pouch, and whatever bag I’m currently wearing.
Ignore that room in the background… we’ll get to the bedroom in a later post. I promise. :)
So here’s what the whole main room looks like. A dining table that seats six, a bookcase, couch, coffee table, a matching ottoman, and a chest of drawers. That door at the back leads onto a little Juliet balcony, which I will certainly enjoy more once the weather warms up.
(Right now, it’s where I befriend local pigeons.)
On the door to the balcony is a little poster I designed and framed.
Here’s what it looks like standing near the coffee table. There’s the entrance door, a peek into the kitchen, and the dining area.
Since I live high enough and don’t have any neighbours in buildings directly across from me, I don’t really need curtains for privacy – but I picked up these beautiful sheer gauze ones simply because I loved the ethereal way they looked.
Here’s a little glimpse at part of my book collection! So many good memories enclosed in those thousands of pages.
This is the floral centrepiece I have on my dining table at the moment. I love real flowers to death (literally), but silk ones are great in terms of bang for your buck. Plus, they look gorgeous forever and you don’t have to do any work maintaining them.
I found this lovely ornate mirror at IKEA of all places, and hung it up above the couch.
I had to allow myself one fangirl decor purchase, and it was this one: a replica of the Union Jack pillow that lives at 221B Baker Street, in BBC’s Sherlock. (Pillow insert here, pillow case here.)
I wanted a white couch, but since I’m not the world’s neatest person, I wanted something that was wipeable in case of spillage. So: leather!
I love words, and I have beautiful quotes displayed all over my apartment. On mugs, framed on the walls – even on my throw pillows!
“Enjoy the little things” pillow here, “Paris is Always a Good Idea” pillow here.
Speaking of quotes on the walls, here are some more. I’ve decorated my walls with a selection of things I find beautiful, and words that inspire me. Here’s the view from sitting on the couch.
This one was an image I found on 
These are the flowers I have on my coffee table. A combination of roses, ranunculus, and peonies. It was hard to decide which angle to photograph them from – they’re stunning from any side!
I’ve dreamed about having this print on the wall of my own apartment way before I had an apartment at all. It was one of the first decor purchases I made after signing the lease.
Get this Rifle Paper Co. London illustration here. I also have a smaller sized Paris one beside it.
On top of my cabinet I have a few decorative items, like a bouquet of flowers in a silver mint julep cup, a Bath & Body Works candle, Kate Spade notepad, and a few choice books.
Beautiful books by some of the world’s most talented authors are the perfect inspiration I need when I’m suffering from a bad case of writer’s block.
Because who can motivate better than Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?
Storage box and white roses are linked. Unfortunately the Kate Spade iPad case is no longer available, sorry!
I felt this was the most appropriate way to label a box full of various charging cables.
I can’t even express how much I enjoy having my own place. I can’t seem to stop singing and dancing all the time, and it’s been so much fun getting to express myself through decorating my apartment.
I wasn’t sure which direction I was going to go in when I first started, but I had a few vague ideas and the vision became more and more clear in my head as I went.
Though I may make a few more changes, and hang a few more things on the walls, I’m very pleased with the way it has turned out. It feels very “me”, and I think that’s important in a home.
Pride and Prejudice Darcy quote mug | Kate Spade coaster | Rifle Paper Co. iPhone case
Thanks for being on this journey with me, and stay tuned for a tour of my bedroom, kitchen, and washroom! xx
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