My Little Living Room

Alas, here it is. The last photo shoot of my humble little San Francisco apartment. Luckily I took these right before I began packing and basically ransacking my apartment into an unseemly state. It’s actually quite sad looking at what could have been. I’m going to miss this little corner of Alamo Square and all the dear friends nearby. Well, here’s to the old and onto the new!

Marc Jacobs playing cards and a coffee table scored from the Alameda Antique Fair for $35.

I keep a weird collection of booze and nic-nacs on my mantle. The Butcher & Baker book I found at Liberty London during my recent trip there.

Definitely super into the whole picture rail concept. It’s so much easier and less damaging than actually hanging frames!

Interesting owl coasters scored in Thailand for about $4.

Some of my favorite coffee table books. Minus the Thistle, which is just there because it’s also large format.

Moving to New York

I haven’t updated this blog in awhile, mostly because I’ve been traveling but even more so because I will be moving to NYC in a month for a new job. It’s funny because the first thing anyone asks me when I tell them I’m moving is, “but what about your cute apartment!?”. It’s true that my time here on Pierce street was dramatically cut short, but I’m actually incredibly excited to start the decorating process all over again. That’s the fun part about moving somewhere new, after all. New York’s romantic brownstones and exposed brick will be a different aesthetic to attend to, though I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for these San Francisco victorians. 

I’ll be passing on my place (and this blog) to my friend Gopal. It’ll be interesting to see the apartment’s evolution into a full on bachelor man-cave, I can’t wait! Until then, there still a living room to photograph and my adventures in New York apartment hunting to document. Stay tuned! 

Before & After: Bathroom

For anyone who’s interested, here is a before and after comparison from when I first moved in (the old tenants left their shower and window curtain) to now, in which I’ve officially decided I’m done furnishing my bathroom. Also if you really want to scare yourself you can look at the photo from the original listing.

Bathroom.

Without further introduction, here’s my photo shoot with Xiang from In The Mood for Heart. My bathroom is so tiny that it was even a tight squeeze for two tiny girls to be in there trying to take pictures, but I have a feeling we made it work. Thanks, Xiang!

Bathroom Photoshoot Preview

I’m off to London for the week, but here’s a little sneak peek from the photo shoot I did of my finished bathroom with my good friend Xiang (of In The Mood For Heart).

Progress Photos

Some more progress photos of how the apartment is coming along so far. This weekend I got around to finally hanging up all of my framed posters and prints. Also bought some flowers so I can finally start using some of the vases I bought from CB2. 

Romantic & Girly Bedrooms

I’ll admit it, I strive to make the more public areas of my home appear cool and eclectic. However, when it comes to my bedroom I am unabashedly girly— and why shouldn’t I be? It’s my private sanctuary, for my personal comfort and escape, a room that should be totally ‘me’. In a way its aesthetics indulge my guilty pleasures. I am a sucker for lace and frills and pink. I’ve become surprisingly more comfortable with this fact as I’ve gotten older. In fact, I recently replaced my plain white bedsheets with a fresh set in blush pink. The rest of the room will follow suit— romantic victorian details, dresses on display, a vintage-inspired vanity. It’s the stuff dreams are made of.

DIY Copper & White Plant Pot

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the color copper. It’s shine is a lot more subtle than gold or silver, and I love the rosy tint it gives off in natural light. I knew I wanted to place a plant in my bathroom to take advantage of the humid atmosphere (I am keen on long, piping hot showers) and originally intended on using a simple white pot. My bathroom already seemed to have a lot of ‘white space’ if you will and I’m not a very committed minimalist so I thought, why not spruce up that plain white pot?

So I started off with this very simple rounded white pot I got on sale for $6 at Target. I figured it would be best not to spend too much money on an experiment that could go awry…

Next step included some ghetto wrapping. I mean REALLY ghetto. I was too lazy to even run out and by painter’s tape so I used scotch tape and a plastic bag to cover the parts I wanted to remain white. The spray paint I used is by Rust-Oleum. I’m not actually sure how long metallic spray paint will last on glazed porcelain… like I said, just a little ghetto.

So after two coats of spray painting the exposed top and letting it dry for 24 hours, I unwrapped the tape and plastic to reveal the finished pot! I intentionally ‘swooped’ the tape around the pot to give it more of a dipped look. As you can see I did make a few mistakes where the scotch tape was probably not sealed tight enough or some excess paint fell into an air bubble. I kind of don’t mind because it makes it look a little more handmade and once the plant’s actually in there you don’t really notice it so much.

So last but not least was potting the plant itself. I went to Paxton Gate in the Mission this weekend and picked up a fern (they thrive in humid areas) for about $6. I particularly wanted a plant that would drape well over the pot in order to obscure those tell-tale mistakes. So, there you have it! A pretty easy project with a look I imagine would go well with whatever your bathroom aesthetic might be. I’m also now taking name suggestions for the fern, if anyone has any suggestions!

Missoni x Target Tumblers

My co-worker and good friend Max surprised me at work with these Target x Missoni cups as a housewarming gift! It was such a sweet surprise and so thoughtful since Max reads my blog (Hi Max!) and saw my previous post about Missoni Home. The cups are so cute and I for-see sippin’ on many summer drinks from them.

Knives Chow

I got this colorful knife set on sale at One’s King Lane. I haven’t had a chance to use them yet since I’m waiting for some other cooking supplies to arrive, but just looking at the bright citrusy colors brings a smile to my face. The only downside is they almost look like toys and I sometimes forget to handle them properly!