Decorating Inspiration

Disclaimer: All photos showcased in this post are from The DIY Playbook blog (see link below). This is not a sponsored post, but I seriously recommend checking their page out- it's a wonderful blog to get lost in.

When I was growing up, I wanted so badly to have a beach-themed bedroom. I had palm tree bedding, a huge conch shell from a garage sale (more on that later), hideous home made tropical frog curtains, the whole bit. But I was like 10, so while I thought I knew what I wanted, I didn't really know how I wanted it.

That's all changed. I went away from the beachy gawdy makeshift decor I had, and ended up just accumulating a lot of stuff I wasn't in love with. But I'm going back to my childhood wants of having a beachy feel to my space. Only this time, I know how I want it to be (thank god, goodbye frog curtains).

Anyone who knows me knows that I am truly in love with the DIY Playbook blog. Seriously, these two girls have the color palate of my dreams, and the same love of thrifting, Ikea, and Target as I do. I am constantly looking at their projects and their home tours and thinking, "I really need to do that," or, "This is exactly what I want my home to look like someday."

They're a little bit nautical, a little bit local (they're both from the midwest), and a little bit rustic. So seriously, they're the perfect duo to use for my inspiration during this purge.

Just check this entry-way out. It has some function with the mirror and shelf (great place for your keys and to double check your face before you leave), and some aesthetic features (I mean they even have an elephant here, people. They're grown up versions of myself, clearly). It's a great way to dress up a small wall space next to your front door while giving some purpose to the space.

They even have hooks for your purse or small accessories so that they don't get haphazardly thrown to the side and inevitably lost in the couch cushions. Brilliant!

Everything looks so clean and organized, but also has a little personality to it. 

Next, their living rooms. So obviously, mine will not look quite like this, as a) my couch is a medium brown leather and will darken up my space, b) they have tons of natural light, and c) they both have what seems to be more room to play around with. But the colors, the pieces, the placement, everything about these rooms seem like something I would absolutely love to have my home look like (these girls should just come up a bit north and decorate my house when I have one).

And who wouldn't love to have an office/reading nook that looked like these? Again, my space will be much smaller, my furniture darker, and I'll have less couch, more desk in my room, but I just adore the punches of personality everything gives this space. Everything just looks so put together, and their houses just seem to flow together, despite them being two completely different spaces. Every room goes with the others, and it has the feel of a clean beach resort no matter what room you're in (or in our case, looking at). Who wouldn't want their house to feel like that??

And lastly, the bedroom. Both of these women have gorgeous rooms, with more of the grey and blue tones that I'm so in love with. But I take a particular liking to Bridget's nautical room. It has a few more pops of color, and that white boarded wall is just a little extra detail that makes the space unique.

Hopefully I can recreate the feeling of some of these spaces in our apartment with the things that I already own. I have a lot of blue and white items in my collection already, and a lot of wooden items (like some Ikea shelves very similar to theirs, and an old cedar chest for the living room), so I'll be off to a good start, at least for the main spaces.

There may be a "real" post later, I should have a chance to take some pictures (or a video) of the new place now that it'll be all clean and finished up. Just gotta wait to hear back from the landlord; she texted me earlier saying there were a few last things she needed to finish up before we moved in. Hopefully it'll be ready early on so that I can get started setting up some of the little stuff (like putting the dishes in the cabinets and such. That is, if I can get to those boxes in the monstrosity that is my storage unit).

Well, the kitties are wrestling and Abu is doing his Spanish meows (he likes to sound like he's rolling the letter "r" sometimes...they're both weird), so I better pay some attention to them before Sarabi brings out her fighting words.

I hope everyone is able to avoid getting fooled today (or your pranks are pulled off perfectly). Have a wonderful Wednesday!