Friends, I'm really so glad to be back in this space. It feels so invigorating to know that I get to sit down here, in the quiet of the night, and share things that I'm passionate about, or things that bring me joy, or things that I just want to share, but I also want to apologize in advance for the backlog of sharing! I've had a running list of upcoming blog posts for a few years now!
Something that I really want to share, for a few different reasons, is the completion of the apartment tour. We haven't lived in the apartment for almost three years now, but it's a part of my life that I want to document here. It is also a part of my journey, our journey-personally and professionally, that I want to remember. If you know me personally, our time in Baltimore, has served as much comfort in the early (and not so early) times after we moved. I lovingly remember our old apartment-it was remodeled before we moved in so everything was fresh and clean. It was small, but it was new, and I was able to decorate and organize. One of the perks of moving so much is that you get new spaces to create. Most of the three years in my current space, has only caused me much stress, anxiety and resentment, but I'm finally able to start appreciating the space I'm currently living in as we're slowly doing renovations. My old apartments will always be a comfort to me, as lots of love went into them, precious memories of family and friends, a life that was lived and dreams accomplished.
Welcome to my boys' room...this is the view from the door. My decorating preference is to stick with a color scheme as oppose to a theme of the room. It allows for easier transitions as they age and the pieces can last for much longer. My boys have had the same color scheme for about eight years now. I've changed out pieces here and there, but the main pieces are able to stay, and if they can't stay, if they're neutral-they can possibly find a new home in your house. So it helps reduce cost, it also helps items be reused, but it's also less stress for me to need to create a space that's age appropriate. I will detail this information throughout the post so you can see how it practically plays out.
This is the view from the door. The goal of their room was to keep their toys separate from the main living space, so I needed to keep as much as I could here. The IKEA Kallax bookcase is perfect for that. The flat surface served as the perfect lego storage too!
The baskets are also from IKEA and held smaller toys.
In the corner, are the anywhere chairs from Pottery Barn. I previously had a tee-pee, but it didn't last long. However, they kept many toys in that corner with a few baskets, namely the super cute gray striped baskets from The Container Store.
The cartoon map is from Home Goods, and was the perfect mix of a realistic art piece with a cartoon twist for kids.
So, where are these pieces now? The Kallax unit is presently in one of their closets. It serves somewhat similarly to a closet system. We added the drawer feature to some of the cubbies and it holds things like socks, underwear, undershirts, etc while also having room for picture albums, games, and bins for toys. The chairs are no longer an age appropriate item for them, but I did keep theirs for the younger girls and I plan to get new slipcovers. We got rid of the rug because it was stained and Marshall's crate was just sitting on top of it. We recently got rid of his crate and I plan to repurchase a rug of sorts. The picture was donated since there was not enough wall space for it. The striped baskets are currently being used for Ella's toys in our eat in kitchen area.
Next we have their dresser, also from IKEA. Each child gets two drawers. I don't remember sources for the lamp. My boys are still into collecting coins, I mean, who doesn't love collecting money??? I bought the jar from The Container Store and had the label made on Etsy.
These chatchkes tins are from The Container Store, and I had the label made for them off of Etsy. I purposefully instituted the rule that any "junk" could be kept as long as it fit in that bucket/container, I need to institute that rule again!
All of these items are still in use today just as you see them here. We added another dresser to the mix in their current room, so one is in the closet and one is our. The items on top of the dresser are split between the two.
To the right, was their bunk bed. The duvet cover is from IKEA, and the white sheets are from Target. We no longer have the bunk beds since they broke, but we did replace them with bunk beds from IKEA that we keep as individual twin beds. The duvet covers and white sheets are still in use-and I just updated their room, and they made the cut!
The pillow cases were custom made by VixenGoods whom I still work with today! She makes quality pillow covers and her customer service is great. Pillows aren't cheap so I feel good knowing I'm getting a quality piece and supporting a small business. The other huge draw for me is that given the nature of selling pillow cases vs pillows is that they're removable and washable. So many decorative/throw pillows aren't, and with kids I knew I needed something that was. I don't remember where the clip on lamp was from but that's an easy way to provide some extra light. Neither of these items are presently in use-the pillow cases got updated and the lights didn't fit on their new beds.
At the foot of the bed, was another IKEA Kallax book case. The blanket on the end of their beds is from IKEA.
We still have this piece, it is presently in the basement for our playroom. The bean bags are still in use, as are the blankets. The bean bags were from Home Goods, but I've found some pretty cute dog beds that can possibly fit the need for a floor seating option and it's way cheaper.
When you live in small apartment, multipurpose is the name of the game. The door was an extremely crucial part of our apartment. These cute dog hooks are from IKEA but we no longer have them since we didn't want to drill into the door and we're severely lacking on wall space.
A basketball hoop is also very important for apartment life. Although, my boys still use it on the regular.
The boys' room has always been one of my favorite rooms in the house. I love the gray and turquoise. It's also not overly "boyish" and has been able to mature with them. I don't mind walking by with the door open-even when it's a mess, I see a beautiful space.
You can check out our entryway HERE
You can check out our dining room HERE
You can check out our living room HERE
You can check out our hallway HERE
You can check out Hannah's room HERE
You can check our Hannah's nursery HERE
I can't wait to share our new spaces with you!
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