Decor Dos and Don'ts From My Past 5 Apartments
While purging a bunch of stuff from my home office last week, I came across a bunch of old hard drives with all my photos from the past decade. After diving in and wasting an entire afternoon down memory lane, I thought it might be fun to compile all the photos from all my apartments over the past 10 years to see how my style has evolved.
Once I had a chance to look through all of the ways I’ve decorated my home over the years I wanted to share a post about all the design and decor dos and don’ts that these places have taught me! I’ve definitely learned a lot along the way, but going through all of these photos makes me excited to see how my style will continue to develop and change in the future.
Read on for a list of some of my favorite takeaways (and some embarrassing pics of how messy I used to be…insert cringe emoji):
1. LA Beach Cities Apartment, 2009-2013
This was the first apartment me and my husband Brett ever shared starting way back in 2009 (for tips on moving in together check out this post). We fell in love with this place the second we walked in!
DO: Look for pretty details like tiles, fireplaces, and beams
The beams and the tiles on the fireplace totally sold me on this apartment. It had really old carpet (which the landlord refused to replace…sigh) but the pretty Spanish style details were worth it!
Looking for built-ins or unique features like a fireplace is always a great idea, because a lot of the charm is already baked in.
DON’T: Be afraid to make it your own and change what you have permission to
We all know the limitations that come with renting, but some things are super easy to change.
These hilarious curtains in our first apartment’s kitchen were so loud and out of left field (if you can’t tell they feature two cartoon chefs making pizza), and though I always planned to change them we thought they were so funny that we never actually did (for FOUR years, haha).
DON’T: Go insane and try to fit all of the things ever
This is pretty obvious to most people who aren’t outrageous maximalists, but I used to be pretty convinced I could fit all. of. the. things. in my tiny place.
We were also not the most organized people if you can’t tell. I considered whether or not I should even include this pic because it looks so chaotic but in the spirit of being real, here you go!
2. Nashville Loft Apartment, 2013-2015
We moved from LA to Nashville in 2013, and after a brief stint at a place we both hated we moved into this beautiful loft with super high ceilings (and a spiral staircase!). It was a really inspiring place to make music and art.
DO: Look for lots of natural light
I never realized how much of a difference natural light made until I moved into this place. And it made an even bigger difference because it rains in Nashville A TON. So even if I couldn’t be outside on rainy days I felt connected to nature.
DO: Get creative and make your own “closet” if you don’t have one
One downside to this apartment was the very large lack of closet space. I decided to take an empty corner in our bedroom and just create an open air closet out of a few clothing rods, and having it out in the open was a great motivation to keep it tidy!
DO: Try softening the visual weight of a TV with a gallery wall
To be honest, I was still not over my majorly maximalist phase in this place. Though nowadays I wouldn’t have this much stuff going on, I still love this gallery wall that we created to soften the stark contrast of the TV against the white walls.
DON’T: Put a bunch of furniture on your balcony without considering your environment
This apartment had an uncovered balcony, and I furnished it with a bunch of big outdoor furniture before I really knew about the amount of rain that Nashville gets. I was CONSTANTLY running outside to cover up the chairs and table before a downpour.
Also - if you live in an urban area and put chaise lounge chairs on your balcony, pigeons WILL make a bunch of nests underneath. This happened to us several times and it was a gigantic mess (scroll to the next pic to see what I mean).
3. LA Westside Townhouse, 2015-2018
We moved back to LA from Nashville in 2015, and this time we rented an airy townhouse on the west side.
DO: Decorate with plants
My major plant lady phase started at this apartment, and it made all the difference in our house to have a bunch of greenery.
Not too long ago we shared a post about 4 of our fave easy, low-maintenance houseplants to try that you can find here!
DO: Work with what you’ve got (and what you can’t change)
This house was beautiful, but nearly every single wall in it was painted beige. It worked with the style of the house, but I have never been a big fan of beige walls.
Since it would’ve been a crazy undertaking to paint the entire house white and then paint it back before we moved out, it made more sense to lean into the warm tones and accent the color of the walls with boho pillows and details that made it feel warm and inviting.
DON’T: Be afraid to mix different chairs at a dining table
We got our first real dining room table in this apartment, because it was the first place we’ve ever lived that actually had a dining room.
We pretty much spent our whole budget on the table itself though, so instead of buying a matching set of chairs we just improvised and just used a hodge podge of extra ones we had from old offices etc. It ended up having a fun, casual boho feel.
4. Paris Latin Quarter Apartment, 2018
We spent most of 2018 fulfilling our lifelong dream of living in Paris, and the tiny apartment that we called home was one of my favorites ever! I shared a full tour of this apartment in an earlier blog post that you can find here.
DO: Maximize outdoor space, even when it’s tiny
It was very hard to find Paris apartments in our budget with a balcony, so when we found one we jumped on it.
Even though this bistro table and chairs just barely fit, they made all the difference! Having dinner and drinks outside became a daily ritual and it made the whole place feel even bigger.
DON’T: Try to fit standard furniture in a small space
To be fair, this place was pretty much fully furnished when we rented it. So although I can’t take credit for the design and furniture choices in this place, they did a really great job of choosing pieces that were right from a scale standpoint.
This apartment really taught me about how to make a home feel cozy without overcrowding it (clearly I hadn’t learned that lesson yet in some of my earlier places, lol). Both the double bed and the apartment sofa were little, but they were right for the space and were more than enough for us the entire time we lived there.
5. Central LA Vintage Charm Apartment, 2019-present
This brings us to our current home back in LA! I love that this place, like our first apartment and our Parisian pied-à-terre, has tons of built-in vintage charm.
DO: Consider picking a color palette for the whole house
After coming back from Paris, I wanted to recreate that zen, airy feeling that our French apartment had. I realized I would have to dial back on some of the loud colors I used to be drawn to, and decided to go with a more natural palette for the whole place.
No matter what your taste is and even if you love bold tones, it can help keep the whole house feeling cohesive if you stick with a color palette of 3-5 colors.
DON’T: Be afraid to experiment and go slowly
Most of the time, I’m the type of person who feels very tempted to get everything decorated as fast as possible when I move into a new apartment. I feel like I’ve heard this advice from so many people, but it’s kind of hard to follow in practice because it feels so good just to get the house DONE.
Luckily, in this house more than any other I’ve been allowing myself to experiment and decorate slowly. The decor on and around the fireplace changes quite a bit, and it’s been fun to test things out and live with them for awhile before committing.
(here’s a link to a DIY for those painted pumpkins)
For more photos from my current place, check out our main bedroom tour and my studio home office tour!
So those are my major dos and don’ts from the ghosts of apartments past! It’s so crazy to look back at places I used to call home sometimes, especially right now when we’re all spending so much time at home. It makes me really grateful for how they all made me feel safe and inspired over the years.
Do you have any major decor dos and don’ts? Drop them in the comments!
