Living Room Inspiration
The New Space
I moved! I’ve touched briefly on the subject of moving and downsizing a few months back but haven’t talked too much about it since the move happened back in April. This move dominated my free time for the first half of 2020. Going from a four-bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment was a lot of work. There were so many things that needed boxing, sorting, donating, and cleaning in order to make the move possible. Not to mention the logistics of figuring out how to safely donate or resell usable items and physically move everything into a new place safely during the COVID-19 pandemic in a state with a Stay At Home order. In the end, the move went a lot smoother than I expected. I am very grateful for that, and even more grateful to have the whole thing done and behind me.
As I’m writing this, I’ve just passed the 10-week mark in my new apartment. It’s an odd feeling of both, “How on earth has so much time passed already,” and, “How on earth has it only been 2.5 months?” My concept of time has felt a bit off this year…anyone else feeling the same? For as much as I enjoyed my last place, I love my new apartment. The new space is a 950 square foot, historic 1940s 2-bedroom in one of my favorite areas of Portland. The complex has beautiful gardens that my living room and bedroom windows look out on. The vibe of the place is lovely and cozy on dreary days (of which we have many—even the summers can be rainy). The best part? The apartment has a lot of windows that let in the perfect amount of sunlight. I feel very happy in the new space.
the Living room
I spent the first couple days in the apartment unpacking everything and haven’t really change anything since; you can see a tour of the place as it’s first set up here. However, that all changes in August! When I moved to the place, a close friend moved into the second bedroom. She’ll be leaving at the end of July, and I’ll finally live my dream of having an adorable, historic apartment all to myself. I’ve had some great roommate situation over the years but I am very excited to be living alone again. I’ve been waiting to transition out of roommate life for years. I’m excited to have a space where I don’t have to worry about my “annoying” habits—like blasting music, podcast, and audiobooks through the entire place while I cook and/or clean. I’m excited to be the only person generating trash in the space so I can get a more honest gage on how good/bad I’m doing on my zero-waste goals. And most of all, I’m excited to have complete control over the organization and decor in my apartment.
This brings me to the living room. Overall I really like this room—it’s where I spend the bulk of my time at home. It’s nicely sized for the space and the layout is pretty much ideal. The current couch, an oatmeal-colored modern piece, belongs to my roommate and really sets the tone for the whole room. The couch leaving gives me the very exciting opportunity to redecorate!
Desert Bohemian
You ask most anyone who has seen where I’ve lived and they usually describe my personal style as “bohemian.” The different tones within that have changed over the years, or even season to season. I’ve gone through Scandinavian phases, beachy, colorful and cluttered, Parisian and even some Southwest Asian influence. But as I’ve transitioned from my 20s to my 30s and invested in higher quality furniture pieces, I’ve found myself constantly gravitating to more natural tones. I’ve slowly been swapping out white furniture and brightly colored rugs for beautiful walnut, natural woods, and neutral accent pieces. I’ve been enjoying more creams and terracottas and loving darker blues and sunset tones. So when it came to picking a “design aesthetic” for the new place, a more desert bohemian vibe just felt right. I’ve been taking a lot of inspiration lately from The Joshua Tree House and the New Darlings. Something about the color tones they use just make my heart flutter. Though I’ll still feature some of my favorite pieces I have from Hawaii and Asia throughout the apartment, all the larger pieces I’m investing in will have more of the desert hues.
With ideas already brewing, I met with a professional design expert from West Elm to discuss recommendations. Why West Elm? My coffee table and living room chairs are from West Elm so it seemed like a great place to start. For anyone looking for a bit of one-on-one interior design help, this can be a great resources. (I “met” with a designer virtually, allowing her to see the space without having to leave my house during a pandemic… oh, and did I mention it’s a free service?) Excitingly, her recommendations after seeing what I already own were right in line with my own vision: a light leather couch to bring out the desert colors while complimenting the dark blue chairs, as well as the darker wood media consult and coffee table. To round out the look, add a natural-toned area rug, banana leaf ottoman/stool, cream-toned throw pillows, plants, and a few desert prints above the TV. There are a couple of photographers on Society6 with some Joshua Tree prints that I adore.
These are the basic pieces I’m envisioning adding to the living room space. I’m currently unsure on if I’ll end up getting an area run for the apartment (or if this will be the final rug choice—there are some really great desert inspired rugs on The Citizenry as well). For the moment, I’m really loving the wood floors. They are a light, oaky color and absolutely beautiful so I’m on the fence about covering up too much of the wood. I also find the current wood floors very comfortable to walk around barefoot on.
I can’t wait to share the updated living room space once it’s finished. Until then, let me know where you are drawing inspiration from in your own home.