ALL SANDBOX NEW

Decorating has always been a challenging process for me. It's completely different than how I am with fashion and styling - where I often dream up outfits in my head and know instantly if a piece of clothing will complement other pieces in my closet. Finding decor for my home takes me a lot more time. That's why design sites like Minted are perfect for someone like me. They make searching for art really easy, they frame it for you, and their inventory is filled with unique and affordable options from a community of independent artists.

My husband and I moved to DC from FL and loved the idea of bringing a piece of the beach into our city apartment. I used Minted's search filters to find a landscape, beach style and voila!, out popped Mint Beach by Alexandra Feo. I love how the perspective of this photograph puts you right in the sand, looking into the water as people enjoy the shore. The best part - it only took a week from the day I ordered it for this piece to arrive at my door.

If you're looking for art, home decor, stationary, or even last minute gifts, I recommend checking out Minted. Here are more pieces I love from Minted.

My husband and I move in to a new apartment this week, and I cannot be more excited to start decorating!! We've been doing a lot of pre-planning for the new place (as I do with most everything in my life) - he's planning all the meals he's going to grill on the roof every night, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to fit all of my clothes and shoes in our new closet. I absolutely love living in DC. The grocery store, restaurants, bars, my gym, National monuments, and everything I enjoy in life are all at my finger tips (DC was just ranked #1 for most walkable metropolitan city), but the tradeoff is that the living space is small (ex. our current apartment is 555 square ft.). Remember the DIY shoe rack we had to create? As I look around me, I keep asking myself - does one person really need all this stuff? I really want to simplify and declutter. This feeling of wanting less stuff around me has been growing every year. So I'm taking this move as an opportunity to go through everything we own and decide whether or not we truly need to keep it. The process, though a PITA, has been extremely therapeutic and up-lifting. I literally feel lighter.

There are still some key furniture pieces that we currently don't own that I'll be looking for to help make our new place feel like home. It's out with the old items that don't provide the right utility and in the with new. I've been pinning away on my "home sweet home" Pinterest board and am about to burst with inspiration. On my list of items I would love to add to our new place are barstools, a coffee table (we're currently using an old trunk), a bench for the foot of the bed, plants (fiddle fig, succulents, herbs, etc) and a large storage furniture piece - almost like an armoire or wardrobe but I'll be storing various items there. I really love the look of a faux cowhide rug but am concerned about it staying in place. Does anyone have any experience with them? My color palette, for now, is mostly white with grey, black, and brown accents, but we'll see how that evolves as I start searching for the right pieces. Even though it's currently empty, I love how bright and light our new place feels with the bleached hardwood floors, and I want to do my best to keep that feeling going while still making it cozy.

I'll be sharing my decorating progress with #aloyalloveofdecorating and would love for you to follow along. Here's a picture of my kitchen.

Also, it's been 6 years since my last move. Anyone recent movers have any lessons learned that I may not be thinking about?