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.

Decorating my home has always been a very...slow... process. Most home decor is not like fashion where you can find things on super sale and change things up with your mood or the weather. Furniture and home items are often a big investment, and you need to think about their longevity. However, like fashion, you can refresh your home style with a few new accessories. This weekend I gave my apartment a little new year refresh thanks to Marshalls. It's amazing how adding a few small home accessories can completely change or upgrade any room. Check out all the new home pieces I #FabFound at Marshalls.


Bedroom Additions:
If I could make my entire home all white, marble errrthang, I probably would. So this marble box sent to me by Marshalls could not be more perfect. I placed it on one of our nightstands and filled it with all of our ultrasound pictures. I love keeping those images protected and close by.

One of the last things I do before bed is realize that I still have all my jewelry on. I'll sleepily take off every piece but my wedding rings and put them on my nightstand. Then I'll wake up in the morning in a panic when I realize one of my earrings has fallen on to the floor. Adding this small jewelry box\tray to my other nightstand prevents any jewelry loss.

I have a lot of decorative, bedroom pillows - the kind you don't sleep on. (My husband's not a huge fan of this.) Each night before bed we've been stacking them all in an empty plastic laundry basket. It's a bit of an eyesore, and so I replaced it with a large, weaved basket. It is so much nicer to look at. The best part is when it isn't being used, you can just slip it under the bed. My husband is a fan of this.

Living Room Additions:

Speaking of pillows, I also added two new ones to my couch. Previously, I only had knit black pillows and furry white ones (from Homegoods). I added another white pillow with texture, and then broke up the solid colors with a leopard pattern pillow.

I also added this magnifying glass, another piece picked out for me by Marshalls, to our coffee table. They really know how much I love black and white.

Nursey Additions:
You're probably already thinking it. Yes, I'm nesting. BUT I'm trying to nest in the most minimalist way. I want to buy things that are truly functional - especially since we'll be creating a nursery within our one bedroom apartment (more on this later). We've already created some space in our closet for baby clothes and supplies. This little storage flower box was perfect for the pieces that don't currently have a hanger or can't be hung up, and how could I say no to this adorable hippo?! SO CUTE! I also picked up a set of sleeping gowns with little duckies on them for only $7! That's $3.50 each!

At Marshalls furniture and home items don't have to be a big investment. Their prices always make it easy to say 'yes'.

Disclosure: I have received free products or value from Marshalls of The TJX Companies, Inc. in connection with my affiliation with Marshalls Project FAB. All opinions are my own.

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?