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It took me a little longer than expected to settle into my new apartment. It's hard to believe I've already lived here five months and am only just putting the finishing touches on my bedroom decor. Our living room is also still a work in progress, so (hopefully) stay tuned for another decor post in the next month or so.

My bedroom walls had been looking a little bare up until this point, so one of my "winter break" projects was to create a frame wall with some of my favorite photography. I don't know if it's my lack of geometric ability or what, but the whole project kind of stressed me out and it took a full two weeks to come to fruition. Deliberately scattering frames but making it look like you just randomly tacked them up is a lot harder than I thought. Also, I can't actually nail anything into my walls, so they are being held up by Command strips that I'm fairly convinced will fail me during our next earthquake...

Overall, this room is a mix of new and old. I kept a lot of the same decorations from my college apartment, but I think they look better with the dark wood furniture I got from my grandma (as well as the vintage nightstand I picked up off the street—one of my finer hoarding moments.) As silly as it sounds, having a finished space makes me very happy. I really value my alone time, so having an area like this where I can read (don't judge the fascinating/trashy Bachelor paperback...I've got some better books on my reading list, too) and blog and just be is super important to me.

Plus, I still can't get over my movie studio view. It doesn't get much more "LA" than that.

New Year, Same Me

I'm never quite sure how to feel about New Years posts. When it finally comes time to write one, I always feel like I'm at a loss for words—overwhelmed at the task of summarizing an entire year in a single post. And I'm not sure who these posts are really for, since my personal (old school scribbled, not typed) diary might give you a much different story than the one I'm sharing on this blog. But, I'd like to think that somewhere in my jumbled stream of consciousness that I'm anxiously writing in the last two hours of January 1 (because after that, who really wants to read a reflective New Year, New Me post?) there may be a few relatable bits and pieces.

Let me start off by saying that even if I could, I wouldn't change a thing about this year. Because even with the memories I kind of want to erase (and yes, there are more than a few)...I learned something important about myself and about others. It's been a crazy, terrible/terribly wonderful 12 months. There have been a lot of emotions. Of uncertainty, of anxiety, of passion, of loneliness, of excitement, of newfound independence...that all cumulatively feel like some sort of twenty-something right of passage. The kind of feelings that make me think maybe T-Swift was onto something.

2014 was a year of transition for me. It was my first official year out of school...even though I pretended to be in college until June. And getting used to the 8 to 5 lifestyle (or let's be honest, 7 to 7 lifestyle because commuting is a real life thing that actually sucks) isn't as easy as I thought it would be. But at the same time, it's been great. I honestly think I may be having more fun as a postgrad than I did in college. PSA: Life doesn't end after college. Especially when you're lucky enough to have best friends to brave this uncharted territory with you. In fact, there's something liberating about this newfound independence, this quasi-adulthood. As challenging as working full-time can be, it can be just as fulfilling. And paying Big Girl bills yourself is also kind of rewarding—especially when you finally accept that you have no actual concept of personal finance and that that's OK, at least for the time being.

I decided to post a photo of my cozy post-college apartment, because it's been my little refuge for the second half of the year. It was a move that came at a time I desperately needed to be pulled out of a rut, and centered me when I had felt like a postgrad hobo bouncing between empty apartments, sublets, and my hometown for an entire summer. Also, if you need a remedy for a broken heart, moving to a new place and focusing all your energy on custom framing and decorative throw pillows can help. I think the saying goes something like: The best way to get over someone is to get under...a new Anthropologie duvet? Jury's still out on that one, but it certainly didn't hurt.

I'm not very good at making resolutions, and even the ones I do make are too vague to keep. (Eat healthier, exercise more. Does more imply "more" than once?). But there is a kind of resolution I do want to keep this year, since whether I want to admit it or not, a lot of 2014 felt dictated by a number of personal relationships. So for 2015, I want to be the one in command of my own happiness. I've got a diary full of reasons behind this resolution, but nothing is more blog-worthy than that simple statement.

So, cheers to 2015!  It's a new year, but it's the same me. This time, actively taking control of my own well-being.

Postgrad year #2: I'm ready for you.

Apartment Style

Decorating my bedroom (that I share with my best friend, Jennie) in my new LA apartment has been a fun project for me. Because I was abroad this past semester, I was only able to do furniture shopping the weekend before I moved in...hence why pretty much everything is from IKEA. (Also, side note: building four different pieces of furniture in one weekend is not a good idea. If it wasn't for my friends helping me...I think I may have had a mental breakdown.) Because my IKEA furniture is all white, I wanted to add pops of color to other parts of my room to off-set its simplicity. I used mustard accents on items like my rug and lamp base to match my purple, navy, and mustard bedding.

For my desk, I decided to not nail up the magnetic backing on the side facing my bed to make my room look more open. However, the fiberboard was exposed in the back, so I stapled sheer craft lace over it to cover it up. I then used the extra fabric in a couple of my mason jars (along with some spare clothespins), and cut small pieces to decorate the outside of two vases. On the left magnetic wall of my desk, I used decorative magnets as a fun way to display photographs from my semester abroad. And, as a way to display some black and white photographs, I strung some of my favorite shots up over my bed using twine and clothespins—a craft that I had seen on Pinterest and wanted to try for the longest time!

On my dresser drawers, I swapped out IKEA's standard knobs for six different knobs from Anthropologie that went with the color scheme of my room. It's amazing how a few different pieces of hardware can completely change the look of a piece of furniture. I also swapped out the plain knob that came with my nightstand for a more decorative black and yellow knob.

Ever since coming back from Europe, I have been loving maps. So, I invested in a big floral world map print, a monogram "M" (maps and monograms: two good things in one place!), and put up the "Cities" calendar Andrew got me for Christmas. If I had more room, I would have bought this scratch-off map from Urban which I think is the coolest thing ever!

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Apartment Details:

IKEA—Bed frame, Nightstand, Desk, Chair, Dresser, Table mirror

Anthropologie—Bedding (similar), Dresser knobs, Homegrown mug

Urban Outfitters—Map print, Map letter, Herringbone rug, Jewelry organizer (similar), Mirror organizer

Cost Plus World Market—Mason Jars, Chalk Board, Yellow lamp base

Target—Lamp Shade, Clothing organizer, Ivory basket

Rifle Paper Co.—Cities Calendar

Ruche—Bottle Cap Magnets

Aaron Brothers—All Photo Frames

Joann's Fabric & Crafts—Lace Fabric, Flowers

P.S. check out my home inspiration board on Pinterest for a collection of all the home decor that inspires me...I have been re-pinning interior design photographs like a mad woman lately!