Home Is Where the Style Is

Our living room: I'm a huge fan of patterned pillows, different textures, and cute knick-knacks. Our gallery wall is also dedicated to artworks picked up during our travels and my random attempts at painting.  

Recently, the hubby and I got the spontaneous urge to thoroughly clean our apartment. While we were a few months late for spring cleaning, our cleaning efforts and productivity rekindled my love for home decorating. In addition to the deeply satisfying feeling of having an organized bathroom cabinet and tidy shoe rack, we finally put up a board in our bedroom to complete my home office space. I kid you not, that board (which we bought randomly at Home Sense) had been sitting on our bedroom floor for more than a year. 

After we had finished about five trips to the storage to put away unused shoes, books, and other household clutter, I felt like our place had almost become once again a blank palette to decorate. While we still have much that we want to buy and change (ex. new dining table and chairs, floating shelves, black-out drapes, floor-length mirror, and organizers), I feel like we've truly made our apartment into a home over the past two years.    

Candleholder: Home Outfitters; Lamp: Home Sense; Succulent: Art Knapp; Pine Cone Decor: Chapters Indigo

I decided to make this one table an all-white space, as well as the home to one of the few plants in our home. Usually, I use this area to relax on the La-Z-Boy while reading my latest book. 

Mantlepiece Knick-Knacks: Urban Barn: Tray & Coral Decor: Home Sense

When the new television was too large to mount onto the wall, we decided to fill up the space left behind by the old T.V. with a random painting of the Italian coast. However, we have plans to purchase prints from our wedding photographer of gorgeous West Coast landscapes to create a more meaningful display-- hopefully I will action that task in the near future.

Cacti: Art Knapp

Frame: Home Sense; Urchin: Chapters Indigo

More recently, I tried my hand (not very successfully) at dressing a windowsill. While the items I used have changed from time to time, I usually stick with this framed, uplifting quote and this golden "urchin" decoration; as well, my beloved cacti live in this well-lit area to ensure their survival despite my "black thumb."

Desk: IKEA; Chair: Home Sense; Pillow: Chapters Indigo; Cups: Chapters Indigo & Kate Spade

File: Chapters Indigo; Board: Home Sense; Candle: Housewarming Gift

The area that sparked all of the recent home decor changes: my home work space. I have been "working" on this area for a long time now with little progress. I am most proud of the desk-- I laboured for almost an entire day to assemble the desk by myself. I assure you that it was no small feat! I love how the orange, blue, and pink have added light touches of vitality to our bedroom (which is in desperate need of them). Next project: making our bedroom space presentable enough to be "Insta-worthy."

Clock: Home Sense; Bookshelf: IKEA

While this is far from being a great photo, this area is one of my favourite relaxation spots due to my affinity for Netflix-ing. The marble and rose-gold clock was the very first clock to grace this apartment-- prior to that, we relied solely upon wristwatches and phones. We were lucky enough to find this piece while randomly browsing the sales section at Home Sense. For the small price at which we bought it, this clock certainly added a whole lot of style that was previously lacking. As well, it certainly retaught me how to tell the time in a more traditional sense.


This IKEA bookshelf was yet another triumph over the challenges of assembling IKEA furniture. I also chose its red colour to match with our gallery wall frames and dining table chandelier-- red, white, and gold was my original colour scheme for my decoration plans. However, who knows where the future will take us!

Geometric Shapes: Lofty Living; Coffee & Ice Cream Boards: IKEA; Hanging Geometric Holders: Chapters Indigo

One of my favourite local decor shops, Lofty Living, was responsible for my obsession with geometric decorations-- as evidenced in this particular section of our home. I love how they instantly dressed up those previously blank spaces in an interesting, yet simple, manner.

While I love my current home, I have so many exciting plans to implement in the near future. We were recently considering moving closer to downtown; however, until the housing market cools down a bit, I'll be quite content to stick with this cozy abode. If I actually manage to get some of my to-do's done, I'll be sure to share them in a future post! 

What are your favourite tips for home decorating?